I ran across this site the other day. Looks like some sort of new-agey mix of Zen, 12-steps, Native American mythology, and lots of drum banging. There are other sites with other groups doing more or less the same stuff. Apparently they think men have gotten too in touch with their feminine side, and want to counter that (without becoming insensitive pigs). Another thing that comes up is that lots of men have unresolved problems with their mothers.
Anybody have the Straight Dope on these orgs. The ManKind site basically says, “we’re not going to tell you much; pay your money and trust us.”
I just wish someone would explain to me how beating drums and hanging around newagey types is supposed to make you manly. Shouldn’t men be, like, fixing cars or watching football or porn or something? Isn’t that manlier than achieving spiritual oneness?
If might want to read Robert Bly’s Iron John. Though the Mens Movement (by whatever name it’s called) predates that book, Bly did a lot to popularize its main issues. At least as Bly tells it, the main issues largely deal with mythic archetypes (in a Jungian, Joseph Campbell-ish kind of way) regarding masculinity, and how modern society has moved away from these myths and in the process, lost touch with what it means to be a man.
All that drum-beating is supposed to remove you from your normal existence, situating you in an aesthetically-induced environment in which you can get in touch with your inner self. Or something like that. If you’ve ever experienced a good tribal drumming session, it really can be a moving experience–though it’s debateable whether or not those masculine archetypes are really valid constructs.
This review offers an interesting summary and critique of the book: