In my experience, society is the problem. It is a toxic environment that through its process of pervasive and extensive conditioning takes men away from their hearts and into the world of ego, pride, power and greed which, in turn perpetuates the creation of toxic, unbalanced, emotionally repressed people within society. I'm female but I do believe the making of a man is far more than just his genitals. I also, believe women have the same journey to make (and battles to face) in our own 'becoming'.
2 weeks ago (edited) | 38
This is so interesting from my point of view as a mum of two boys, one a tween, the other a teen/young man. It's so hard to know when to 'let go'. I understand that up to a certain age my boys needed my nurturing side, for basic care, love, comfort, softness, guidance. They need something else now that I alone can't give them.I have tried to compensate, but regardless of many hikes and outdoor activities we try, I have to except that I am not part of how they become men and develop that identity.They need me still, but more so now they need a strong positive male role model to guide them.As I have come to understand from other AOI videos, past generations/cultures had their own traditions and rights of passage to help mark the transition into manhood. It feels like the loss of accountability and connection with others, in our community, family, peers, lack of religion or spirituality, the attack on the family unit, has warped what we once held dear and robbed men of their sense of purpose. What can I do for my boys? Young men, grown men and older men, what helped or hindered you when you where dealing with this stuff?
2 weeks ago (edited) | 13
You will never hear the term REAL MAN that is not a form of manipulation for someone else's purpose. When you hear it, give 'em the word...
2 weeks ago (edited) | 63
Before leaving home, mother brushed off the shoulders of my uniform and said, "Don't worry, son. If you die fighting for your country, your soul will go straight to heaven." Not what I wanted to hear, mom. How about a reminder of what you often said in my youth, "Son, you could fall into a bucket of shit and come our smelling like a rose."
2 weeks ago | 3
Most men that try to look masculine aren’t at all. This is an attempt to try and outwardly show to others “look I am masculine”. You never really know until the SHTF and before your eyes the dude with Sperry topsiders and khakis suddenly earns everyone’s respect by his actions and, most importantly, lack of emotion during extreme circumstances. You can’t tell by looking at him that he has slayed dragons.
2 weeks ago | 2
Being “grown” “adult” are just terms when you reach a point where you have to hold yourself accountable it’s not anyone but you.
2 weeks ago | 2
One of greatest woes of modernity. And I am in the painful process of straightening it.
2 weeks ago | 47
Something about Trials and Suffering makes True Men stand out from other men.
2 weeks ago | 14
I just started reading a book called King, Warrior, Magician, Lover which, im not far into it, but it touches perfectly on what it calls boy psychology and how patriarchy doesnt just supress the femenine aspect in men and women but also it greatly supresses the ability to mature from man to boy for males. And it touches on the subject of why it seems so many men who are in high positions over a state or nation acts as such a manchild and the fact that man children fear a boy growing up into sothing greater than what theyve achieved, so they supress lash out and thus patriarchy falls in effect. It also states that the reason for our large emergence of males stuck in an infantile tantrum like mindset that ocillates between both fear and controll- or rather fear of not having control (fear of meaninglesness and nihilism perhaps) is because once long ago we had rituals to go from boyhood to manhood and that would aid us greatly in discovering the masculine within, but now the closest thing we have to a initiation ritual is going into the military or a gang, but that is usually a halfbaked initiation, they call a psudeo-ritual, because you dont typically find a father figure in the military and you typically come out with trauma and a fracured psyche and some kind of mental illness distorting your faith and hope into somthing far more existentialy frightening and meaningless- which then gives society an easy victm to exploit for their desperate vunerability, often ironically they are agendas of manchildren themselves. But what we lack is a true personal and fulfilling meaningful way to initiate NATURALLY into somthing more masculine. And it is found in their studies that meditation, prayre, dream analysys, psychedelics and active imaginate all seem to be personal gatways to awakening such archetypes from within, but if you are still psychologically a boy you dont want to fall in the trap of thinking you can do such things alone. You can, but perhaps you might want to find some guidence because everybody is different!
2 weeks ago (edited) | 19
Here’s some good advice from a self improvement coach I like: “I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don’t have love.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ERV You could even add “though I lose all the weight with Ozempic, if I don’t have love I am nothing.”
2 weeks ago | 1
On a practical level, this is extremely difficult to change in a marriage. I'm attempting to reclaim my role as a husband, spiritual leader, provider, protector. There is an innate resistance on the part of the woman to allow this to happen, never mind the emotional habits I need to change inside myself that have contributed to this over the many years I've been married. I'm doing this for me and for her, even though she does not see this. The virtues of courage, truthfulness and patience are what's needed.
2 weeks ago | 5
Why do you think "coming of age" stories are so prominent? Depending on the culture, there's some "rites of passage" one must complete before being considered a man.
2 weeks ago | 2
There are more fake plastic flamingos in the world than real ones. The same is true of men.
2 weeks ago | 24
Manhood is the understanding of the state of being a man in the given context of life. It is all about taking the proper actions and adopting the appropriate behaviors and practices in regard to that understanding. That is all.
2 weeks ago | 0
This strive for independence now even explored as independent manhood is ludicrous especially with the knowledge that a societal definition and weaving of manhood is a fraternal issue that is meant to pave the way for dependence and interdependence in the group. Striving for a personal independent manhood is flowery but doesn’t serve any community.
2 weeks ago | 1
I will never grow up. I have the same mindset as I did when I left my abusive home at age 14... Now I am 60.
2 weeks ago (edited) | 0
There are guys in my workplace at the puzza shop who act more like kids than genuine men, which is depressing if you think about it.
2 weeks ago | 1
Academy of Ideas
We've just released the first video in our new 6-part series — The Psychology of the Man-Child: The Neurosis that is Crippling Men. This series has been over two years in the making and includes more than two hours of content.
Access the entire series - academyofideas.com/members/
Drawing on the works of Carl Jung, Erich Neumann, James Hollis, Marie-Louise von Franz, Mircea Eliade, and other great thinkers, we combine psychology and mythology to explore the forces that prevent men from cultivating independent manhood. As always, each video is accompanied by timeless art that brings the ideas to life.
Anyone interested in masculine psychology, or struggling to cultivate independent manhood, will find this course enlightening and helpful.
2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,787