Rethink Manhood: Healing-Centered Masculinity Conference
A conference for education and service practitioners in support of healing for boys and men.
Explore why 9 out of 10 boys say they are “sad, afraid, and lonely” behind the mask of “happiness, athleticism (bravado), and jokes.”
Examine the importance of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and mental health access in the life trajectory for boys and men.
Analyze and respond to the intersection between toxic masculinity and the impacts/manifestations of trauma in boys and men.
Build resilience and men’s capacity for safety through human connection, coping skills, and life competencies.
Work toward gender equality, ending men’s violence, and ending mass incarceration.
Promote healing-centered, trauma-informed, and humanizing masculinities through shared knowledge, skills, curricula, and programs.
““Depression in men often doesn’t look like depression in women. It manifests itself in other ways like anger, drug use or alcoholism.””
Who should attend?
Artists, Counselors, Civic Leaders, Behavioral Health Processionals, Educators, Community Organizers, Human Services, Medical Professionals, Policy Professionals
Why a professional conference on masculinity?
Rethink Manhood designed this conference for male accountability and redemption. To end men’s violence in its many headed forms (domestic violence, homophobia, gender pay gap, rape culture, etc.), we must approach the dismantling of patriarchy with a clear pathway forward-a pathway to healing. We are calling education and service professionals to analyze our place in history, practice healing-centered masculinities, and seek policy solutions that counter the status quo. We invite practitioners to share knowledge, skillsets, and healing pathways to dismantle patriarchy through courageous humility, critical consciousness, trauma-informed practice, and radical feminism. Our goal is to hold a conference to take on the psychological, economic, health and spiritual impacts of toxic-masculinity, whereby we can identify and implement solutions to address the following areas:
Men’s Mental Health
Learn to give and receive support for:
alcohol, drug, and porn/sex addiction
anger & violence
anxiety & depression
grief & loss
relationships & trauma
self-harm
suicidal ideation
Education & Unlearning
Scaling Curricula & Programs:
Consent
Relationship Education
Social and Emotional Learning
Ending Men’s Violence
Re-Entry
Self-Love & Redemption
La Cultura Cura (the culture cure)
Love is Love
LGBTQI:
Acceptance
Advocacy
Allyship
Research & Policy Solutions
Create & Sustain Trauma-Informed Systems
End Mass Incarceration
End Domestic Violence
End Gun Violence
Why a conference on healing-centered masculinity?
As described by Tony Porter of A Call to Men, the “cult of masculinity” prescribes rules for "acting like a man” which he terms the “man box.” He continues, “The tenets of the man box are both symptoms and enablers of a culture of domination that restricts the mentality, sentimentality and behaviors of men and boys.” The man box leads men to disrespect, mistreat, and abuse women and each other through demonstrations of power, aggression, toughness, repression of emotions (except for anger), homophobia, and the objectification and commodification of women’s bodies (Porter). The man box leaves men emotionally ill-equipped to cope with the trauma inflicted by other men’s violence as well as their own.
Creating social conditions and capacities for men to unlearn male supremacy and entitlement, by challenging the rigid gender binary of the man box, offers a path to liberation and dignity for both men and women. Answering a call for gender equity pushes back on the cultural expectations of the man box which adheres to a series of don’ts: don’t cry, don’t show weakness (emotion), etc. Similarly, a series of dictated standards also applies: be strong, be tough, be a hard worker, be a provider. To put it another way, the man box or man creed serves as the dominant culture’s measure of manhood by his capacity for strength and violence. In contrast, a call for emotional intelligence establishes a measure of manliness as one’s capacity for safety. A real man is a safe man. Freeing oneself from the false man-creed is a liberatory practice that improves our health, helps us connect with our children and deepens intimate relationships.
Calling:
Arts • Communications
Academia • Education
Government • Policy • Advocacy
Health Care • Social Services • Mental Health
Re-Entry for Formerly Incarcerated
Schedule:
Friday, October 30, 2020
7:45 Breakfast & Expo
8:45 Welcome & Acknowledgments
9:00 Keynote 3
10:00 Break
10:20 Workshop #3
11:40 Lunch & Expo
12:30 Keynote 4
1:30 Break
1:50 Processing Circles
2:50 90-Second Testimonials
3:30 Close
Thursday, October 29, 2020
7:45 Registration, Expo, and Breakfast
8:45 Welcome & Acknowledgments
9:00 Keynote 1
10:00 Break
10:20 Workshop #1
11:40 Lunch & Expo
12:30 Keynote 2
1:30 Break
1:50 Workshop #2
3:10 Break
3:30 Processing Circles
4:30 Close
Submit a workshop proposal:
We invite practitioners to share knowledge, skillsets, and healing pathways to dismantle patriarchy through courageous humility, critical consciousness, trauma-informed practice, and radical feminism. Please align your workshop to one of the four focus areas:
Education and Unlearning
LGBTQI
Men’s Mental Health
Research and Policy Solutions
Details:
Proposal Deadline: May 1, 2020.
Workshops are 80-minutes in length.
Audiovisual Needs and Handouts: Rethink Manhood will provide a projector and screen for the presentation. All other audiovisual needs must be provided by the presenter— including laptops, adapters, speakers, etc. An electronic copy of the presentations must be uploaded to a digital folder prior to the conference.
Registration Information
Up to two (2) co-presenters will receive free registration for the conference and must cover all expenses associated with travel to and from the conference, lodging, and meals (other than those provided during the conference).