No idea where to start? Here’s good.
Whether you’ve never heard of men’s work before, you’ve just started your journey, or you’re a seasoned expert at the inner work - these resources are an excellent foundation for any man to start or continue his path to betterment and healing.
What is men’s work? Click here.
The Man Enough Podcast
JUSTIN BALDONI, LIZ PLANK, JAMEY HEATH
“The Man Enough Podcast explores what it means to be a man today and how rigid gender roles have affected all people. The show creates a safe environment for a range of perspectives to meet and stay at the table, exploring how the messages of masculinity show up in relationships, body image, privilege, fatherhood, sex, success, mental health and so much more. Instead of polarizing and demonizing men and masculinity, it invites all humans to participate and thrive in the world.
This Webby-nominated podcast is hosted by filmmaker, actor & author Justin Baldoni, author & journalist Liz Plank, and President of Wayfarer Studios & award winning music producer Jamey Heath. It’s currently in Season 2 and is in the top 1% of most followed and shared podcasts on Spotify, beloved by men, women and people of all genders.
New episodes release every Monday on all podcast networks and the WeAreManEnough YouTube, featuring honest conversations with celebrities, thought leaders and change-makers.
If you’re interested in learning in real time, deepening your connection with yourself and others, and being reminded that you are enough, this is the podcast for you. ”
The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love
bell hooks
This book by bell hooks is one of the most essential texts for anyone to read if they wish to understand men better. While relatively short, this treatise on patriarchal masculinity is profound - each paragraph and chapter have countless gems that will have you re-reading and reflecting on the immense pain and “emotional self-mutilation” that boys must commit in our patriarchal world in order to become accepted as men. This book is the gold standard for feminist authorship on men, and is a bookshelf and bedside table necessity.
For men specifically, you will read this and feel heard and understood (by a woman, no less!) in a way that you’ve never felt before. It is confronting to be truly seen for your hardship amidst a world that appears overly critical of you, but the challenge is worth it.
The Mask You Live In
Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom
This is a MUST WATCH as an entry point into why men’s work is necessary. For men, for boys, for parents, for educators, for anyone - Hey Brother Co. wholeheartedly recommends you watch this film.
“The Mask You Live In follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.
Pressured by the media, their peer group, and even the adults in their lives, our protagonists confront messages encouraging them to disconnect from their emotions, devalue authentic friendships, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflicts through violence. These gender stereotypes interconnect with race, class, and circumstance, creating a maze of identity issues boys and young men must navigate to become “real” men.
Experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media also weigh in, offering empirical evidence of the “boy crisis” and tactics to combat it.
The Mask You Live In ultimately illustrates how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men.”
Rethinking Manhood Podcast
DESTYN LAND
“Rethinking Manhood is all about bringing men together to unlearn patriarchal masculinity, and intentionally making space for men to heal, grow, and learn in community.”
Hey Brother Co.’s own Johnny Cole featured as the guest in Season 2 episode 8 of the podcast “Patriarchy & Romantic Relationships, Sex, & Touch” which can be found here.
This podcast is a great resource for all, and does an especially good job at highlighting how patriarchy specifically affects Black men and expressions of masculinity in the Black community.
For The Love OF Men
Liz Plank
Liz Plank’s compassionate, data-informed exploration of men and masculinity is a thought provoking companion to anyone who is, loves, has loved, or will love a man. Which is almost everyone.
If you’re a man, this book will compel you to reflect on your own experience with masculinity and the patterns of behavior you’ve adopted which may not be organic parts of your personality. It will challenge you to evaluate your familial, romantic, and social relationships, and it will devastate you in the harsh reality of self harm, suicide, and loneliness statistics taken from global surveys of men.
If you’re not a man, this book is an excellent introduction to understanding the challenges that men face today, providing clarity on the roots of harmful male behavior and some practical antidotes. It will level up your ability to empathize with and have compassion for men at a time when they desperately need it, and urge you to hold them accountable in new ways.
Liz Plank is a renowned scholar on gender, award-winning journalist, and compassionate human who wants a world where men are doing better than they are today.
OF BOYS AND MEN: WHY THE MODERN MALE IS STRUGGLING, WHY IT MATTERS, AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Richard Reeves
“Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace, and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even worsened.
Our attitudes, our institutions, and our laws have failed to keep up. Conservative and progressive politicians, mired in their own ideological warfare, fail to provide thoughtful solutions.
The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His new book, Of Boys and Men, tackles the complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood.
Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.”
“Richard V. Reeves is a senior fellow in Economic Studies and the Director of the Future of the Middle Class Initiative. His research focuses on social mobility, inequality, and family change. Prior to joining Brookings, he was director of strategy to the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister.”
MAN ENOUGH: UNDEFINING MY MASCULINITY
Justin Baldoni
“A GRIPPING, FEARLESS EXPLORATION OF MASCULINITY
The effects of traditionally defined masculinity have become one of the most prevalent social issues of our time. In this engaging and provocative new book, beloved actor, director, and social activist Justin Baldoni reflects on his own struggles with masculinity. With insight and honesty, he explores a range of difficult, sometimes uncomfortable topics including strength and vulnerability, relationships and marriage, body image, sex and sexuality, racial justice, gender equality, and fatherhood.
Writing from experience, Justin invites us to move beyond the scripts we've learned since childhood and the roles we are expected to play. He challenges men to be brave enough to be vulnerable, to be strong enough to be sensitive, to be confident enough to listen. Encouraging men to dig deep within themselves, Justin helps us reimagine what it means to be man enough and in the process what it means to be human.”
BECOMING A VISIBLE MAN
Jamison Green
“With profoundly personal and eminently practical threads, Green clarifies transgender experience for transgender people and their families, friends, and coworkers. Medical and mental health care providers, educators, business leaders, and advocates seeking information about transgender concerns can all gain from Green's integrative approach to the topic. This book candidly addresses emotional relationships that are affected by a transition, and brings refined integrity to the struggle to self-define, whether one undergoes a transition or chooses not to.
Emphasizing the lives of transgender men—who are often overlooked—he elucidates the experience of masculinity in a way that is self-assured and inclusive of feminist values. Green's inspirational wisdom has informed and empowered thousands of readers. There is still no other book like Becoming a Visible Man in the transgender canon.”
“Jamison Green is an author, educator, public speaker, independent legal scholar, and consulting expert in transgender health and employment discrimination litigation. He serves as a policy consultant for business, educational, and governmental institutions, and is a past president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).”
