Hello comrades, it's time for our first discussion thread for The Will to Change! Please share your thoughts below on the first two sections of the book. There's quite a lot to talk about between hooks' discussion of masculinity discourse within feminist circles, the ways both men and women uphold patriarchy, and the near universal experience of men being forced to suppress their rich emotional worlds from a young age. I'll be posting my thoughts in a little bit after I'm done with work.

If you haven't read the book yet but would like to, its available free on the Internet Archive in text form, as well as an audiobook on Youtube with content warnings at the start of each chapter, courtesy of the Anarchist Audio Library, and as an audiobook on our very own TankieTube! (note: the YT version is missing the Preface but the Tankietube version has it) Let me know if you'd like to be added to the ping list!

Our next discussion will be on Chapters 2 (Understanding Patriarchy) and 3 (Being a Boy), beginning on 12/4.

Thanks to everyone who is or will be participating, I'm really looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts! feminism

  • Melonius [he/him]
    ·
    26 days ago

    WRT what hooks says about anger being the only acceptable emotion for men. I went to therapy some years ago to deal with some anger issues and I realized that anger feels like a "safe" emotion.

    I relate to this. In my teen years I kept getting in trouble for my anger, too, so I "learned" to not express that either. When my sister came back home after a long hiatus she said she was impressed with how I had gotten my anger under control. Which yeah was good for everyone else but I have nothing left