Free art idea #63
The artist and a friend or two artists are to stand next to each other. They both need to be men or male identifying persons. Each is to have a sign. One says “Toxic masculinity hugs”, the other one a sign saying “New manhood hugs”. They are to both offer hugs in the busy streets of a big city. The toxic masculinity hugs should feel similar to the new manhood hugs.
The goal of this piece is to introduce people to the idea that both manhood standards are almost unrecognizable from each other. That the difference lies elsewhere than in an outright statement. That manhood, more and more, will be defined in subtle ways and intimate settings. Men will soon stop catcalling women, they will stop acting like bullies. When that day comes, it is the way a man handles his emotions in relationship to friends and lovers that will define his manhood. Not the way he hugs.
