The Will to Change

For most of my life, I learned and was taught about feminism. The only masculinity I ever knew about was toxic masculinity. It was refreshing to read a book about masculinity. This book is a journey that emphasizes the need to love masculinity and men. The book is fairly simple to read and understand. In fact, I had a lot of people ask me what book I’m reading and as I talked about why I’m reading it, other males were intrigued. This was my first bell hooks book that I have ever read and I’m happy it was my first. The content I read is going to help me further reach full freedom. I would recommend it to any male but also any females who are trapped under patriarchy. There’s no bibliography.

I was surprised by how little there was for me in this. It doesn't seem like a truly transcendental idea that men are also people who are harmed by patriarchy? I didn't feel like hooks had much to say about that, and mostly repeated herself: men have feelings and needs they can't express & explore under patriarchy, this paucity of outlets hurts men and others who relate to them, anecdotes illustrating this point and then a few recaps. Maybe I've just already done a fair bit of thinking about men and masculinity, so the core thesis of this document didn't need to inspire much new thought for me?

There's a lot here that I have direct experience with or is adjacent to my experiences, and the cutting descriptions help crystallise my thoughts on masculinities and the issues around them, and how it relates to feminism. Well worth reading, particularly if you're struggling with your own masculinity. Sometimes it felt a little vague or hopeful without focus, which is probably useful for some people, but seemed a distraction to me.