Out of the Man Box: Out of the Man Box

Friday, February 20, 2015

Out of the Man Box - FAQs

What is Out of the Man Box?

Out of the Man Box is a curated collection of articles originally appearing in wide variety of on-line sites and presented in a pleasing, easily browsed format. Currently there are two versions; one on Flipboard and another on Tumblr.

On the pages of Out of the Man Box you will find article titles, associated photos or graphics, and links to the original source. I will update these collections continuously as good material comes to my attention. I plan to do major updates every three weeks.

**What content are you collecting in Out of the Man Box?**

I am aiming to collect the best writing about liberating masculinities from 'the box' of conventionality. [for more on the concept of the 'man box' see Tony Porter's excellent TED talk.]

Gender relations are changing along with our understanding of gender identity in our lives. More men are realizing that they can have better lives for themselves, their loved ones and their communities/nations by engaging the opportunities for change.

The content of Out of the Man Box will be varied:

problems many men experience with a sense of isolation and with depression;

organized efforts to reduce sexual abuse and gender conformity bullying;

stories of men doing extraordinary community and family work;

what we are learning about masculinity from transgender people;

instances of effective alliance with women's organizations;

the complexities of dealing with male privilege and the structures and behaviors of domination; and

the joys (and risks) of breaking free of conventionality.

**Why should I bother to follow Out of the Man Box?**

The answer is all about my role as curator. The curator spends hours looking for the best writing and then collecting it in a convenient place for you to browse it and then read what you chose on your tablet, phone, or computer. Good content -- easy to access. For now this content will be posted on two Internet platforms: Flipboard which has a pleasing magazine look and is optimized for reading on tablets or 'smart' phones. I will also publish a slightly different version on Tumblr. Visit (and please follow) either that suits your taste.

Who is the curator?

My name is Charles Knight. I have been following the engagement of men in gender relations change for a couple of decades now. I have experienced both the difficulties and the great benefits of change. I have contributed a bit to the literature. I am on the advisory board of Voice Male Magazine and BKNation. I am a founding associate of the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinity.

Out of the Man Box is affiliated with Voice Male Magazine edited by Rob Okun. Voice Male is published quarterly in both print and on-line versions. I encourage you to take a look and subscribe to this excellent publication.

How do I send my suggestions and comments to the curator?

Your suggestions for content to include and your comments on the publicatons are most welcome. Please email the curator at: outofthemanbox (at) gmail.com. Please follow on Twitter: @outofthemanbox

about the editor, this blog & associated publications

I have been following the engagement of men in changing gender relations for a couple of decades now.

I have experienced both the difficulties and the great benefits of change. I have contributed a bit to the literature. I am on the advisory board of Voice Male Magazine and BKNation. I am a founding associate of the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinity.

I have worked [now semi-retired] as a national security analyst. I am a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.

In that work I write critical studies of U.S. defense policy. I also spend time making information about national security issues available on the Web so that millions of people in the United States and around the world are better informed and therefore better prepared to engage in the politics of security.

In 2004 I watched while George Bush and Karl Rove successfully called John Kerry’s masculinity into question around a war in which Kerry had served with distinction while Bush had used family connections to avoid going. Given conventional gender performance expectations of men this seemed like an unlikely formula for political success!

But Bush and Rove used male insecurity and female attachment to the most fundamental of bargains in patriarchy (men protecting the women folk) to build an election victory.

I realized that in order to make it harder for men like George Bush to lead us into unnecessary 'wars of choice' we need to free as many males as possible from the tyranny of wondering if they are ‘real men’ -- so that they can confidently say ‘no’ to war (as well as other destructive behaviors!) And that will take men organizing their own liberation from the confines of conventional masculinity.

A friend called my attention to the literature of people who have trans-gendered. Reading their stories brought home to me how much of what we experience as our gender is socially constructed and can be reconstructed by our own agency.

If we allow ourselves to think outside the confines of the binary Male/Female, the possibilities for liberating males is huge and obvious.

In this blog I have sought to build out ideas and practice for the liberation of positive new masculinities. I call attention to instances of the expression of new masculinities and to collective action in support of liberation and an end to gender violence.

I started this blog in 2006. In 2015 I associated it with a curated publication called Out of the Man Box (on the Flipboard platform.)

This publication collects the best writing (also videos) I find on liberating masculinities from the so-called man box of conventionality.

Out of the Man Box is published in association with Voice Male magazine.

Charles Knight

Out of the Man Box

Man in Box