finally an optimistic yet moving piece on the male loneliness epidemic, which imo has largely been ignored. worthwhile (long) read about this dude ranch retreat that combines the cowboy lifestyle with empathy training for men to learn applied emotional intelligence. thoughts? gq.com/story/confident-man-ranch-profile
would post this in farcastHIM for ~*the men*~
At first I was like do we need more boi confidence? but damn loving how this focuses on empathy training. Huge unlock
7mins into this I can confidently say that to respond, more characters than 300 would be necessary for a proper discussion
cc would love honest opinions and reactions from @cameron, @hyper, @farcasteradmin.eth, @july and @nonlinear.eth — men i admire for their honesty and thoughtfulness (and, often, cheekiness). ChatGPT summary below since it is a long article.
The theme reminds me tangentially of a great episode of Fleabag (Season 1, Episode 4). Phoebe is at an all-women silent retreat. It is happening on the same property as an all-men "A Better Man" retreat, where they are learning how to communicate with women in a less bitter way (through practice with a woman doll)
Good concept but I can't help but think The Confident Man Ranch Retreat is a huge branding fail
Whatever works to help us evolve For me, these things can feel forced, but even completely arbitrary contexts can be fun & rewarding where there's quality time for connection & reflection
Honestly teared up at some parts. In a way it’s “You’re Kenough” branded so it can actually break through to men that would never watch the Barbie movie. The confident man shtick probably feels cringe to online + younger people, but I think it’s unironic modernist presentation is perfect for…
We need to reclaim the definition of healthy men as "warrior poets": men who create culture and love others well...but are also willing and able to fight for the culture they've created. From the Fianna, a Gaelic tradition which trained young men in the art war...and poetry. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fianna
"confident man ranch" sounds more an SNL skit with phil hartman in it tbh
hot take as a minority born in the US on the other side of 50, partnered to the same person for over half that time - this reads as a midlife crisis (I may be just projecting) wasn’t this the unspoken trade off of privilege - now marketed as toxic masculinity hard to see past the cis white male gaze