Throughout our summer 2020 Learn and Earn experience, we allow students to work with industry mentors to pursue career interests for our younger students. These interests are later explored when they make their way into secondary education to begin to start a life of their own. Our YES veterans are doing just that. Using their collegiate education as a catalyst to contribute to society through our programming. Glen Almon, Keith Jamison, and Selena Williams started a podcast for their individual project over the summer. Keith and Glen are passionate about bettering themselves as young men and eliminating toxic stereotypes that come with manhood. Hence the reason for the idea of the podcast title, Deconstructing Male Fragility (DMF).
Both Keith and Glen have become aware of toxic male practices. Glen mentions, “Dominating women,” which was taught to him at an early age. Forcing dominion over the opposite sex has be practiced in a vast majority of cultures. Keith touches on the stereotype of men always needing to be the “breadwinner,” in the household. This creates an unsafe environment for women and stems from the patriarchal dominated system circulated world wide. So they dedicated DMF to sharing different perspectives.
The group gave input on how they would define a man. Keith describes characteristics of a man as: introspective, honest, and open to criticism. Glen’s input was on men being “radically vulnerable.” All are great attributes to a man’s character, many which are not applied often to stereotypical men; especially “radical vulnerability.” Vulnerability is pegged as an issue among men, who dislike the feeling of openness. Which leaves men with untapped emotions that can lead to destructive outbursts harmful to themselves and others if emotions are not handled responsibly.
We are proud of the DMF team, going above and beyond the status quo to reconstruct what it means to be a man and help eliminate toxic male practices. We look forward to more radically vulnerable discussions.