He begins the book by sharing an example of how a local police department received a call about how a man’s brother had been missing since January. The vehicle was discovered 6 months later in the parking lot at a major store. In the trash and his personal items, they found his decomposed body. He struggled with depression, loneliness, and addiction. The store is right across from the police station and they never noticed. No had reported him missing for 6 months. The vehicle was there for 170 days. He used this example to covey how men tend to struggle with mental issues and they don’t like to talk to about it.
He shared how masculinity has changed over the years. In the last 150 years, the focus has been on making money and chasing after wealth. Men used to be measured on their farming skills and then industrialization confused men how to be involved as fathers. Men are now measured by their professional achievements. He looked at how men express their loneliness differently than women do and how it can cause men to become more aggressive. He explored how men also go after the idea of the perfect workout body. Instead, we need to become body awareness and we must realize this is a part of our mental awareness. Men tend to avoid going to the doctor until there is a major health issue. He explained how avoided his own health until he had a tore vertebral artery and a stroke that almost ended his life. It took almost 6 months for him to regain fully his strength. This caused him to ask himself what he was running from.
One of the most heartbreaking stories he revealed was about Sammy. He lost his own dad at age 16 years old when his dad walked to his mailbox. He was shot in the chest and killed by his neighbor. His dad confronted his neighbor when he was yelling at his wife and children. He would threaten them and his dad would even call the police on him. This led to Sammy dealing with emotional trauma and he would feel angry about people being bullied at work or even socially and this was causing problems in his engagement. The author was trying to help him in counseling. This story was just one of the powerful stories in this book.
I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is seeking a book on masculinity. I liked how he wasn’t afraid to discuss sexuality, angry, shame, and much more. He was very knowledge in studying the issues men face and how they have involved and changed over time. I liked how included true and false type questions and the answers with a detail explanation. He enclosed helpful questions readers could answer. This is one of the best books I have read about the issues men face and how to work through the process.
“I received this book free from Globe Pequot for my honest review.”
If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Masculinity-Compassionate-Guidebook-Mental-ebook/dp/B0CPHF9NHH/
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