(Spring) Week 4: Healthy Relationships

Hey Guys,
After where we left off last week it seems logical to jump to relationships, why they're a central part of many people's lives, how we tend to not be that great at them, and how we can exlpore what it means to be in a "healthy" relationship. 

There are lots of different ways to talk about relationships, especially romantic or sexual ones, and here are a couple things that might help us get the conversation going:

Men and Physical Intimacy - A bit on how our relationship to each other (as men) is very much a product of the social expectations and norms of our time.

What Constitutes a Healthy Relationship - This is a really great site that gives an overview of the components of a healthy relationship, and some of the different ways that relationships can look.

And lastly, this is a TED talk that has been widely popular because she asks that we do something terrifying in order to be able to develop meaningful connections with the people around us: willingly make ourselves vulnerable.  PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT!

The Power of Vulnerability

Brene Brown

 

 

(Spring) Week 3: Masculinity and Healthy Sexuality

Hey Fellas,
So this week we'll be talking broadly about how masculinity and sexuality interrelate in various ways.  The big question of the week is:

What does it mean to foster/encourage/embody healthy sexuality? 

This question is a really important question for us to be asking because from what I've seen, there are very few people trying to genuinely answer it. 

-What types of conversations about sexuality do men have?

-Why might it be difficult for men to have honest conversations about sexuality more regularly?

-What are the messages that we as men have gotten around sexuality?

-How can some of these be problematic?

-How does homophobia relate to masculinity and gender?

-How have expectations for men's sexuality been constructed? 

-And ultimately, what does it mean to have a healthy sexuality?!

For this discussion we'll be working from a "sex positive" framework.  Please read the following article (it's short) before the session so we can incorporate sex positivity into our discussion: http://lacigreen.tv/what-is-sex-positive

Ok, I hope to see you all there and I'm excited to hear what ya'll have to say!