The Mankind Project: Does it really help men become more authentic beings?

This question is prompted by another question I recently asked…and by experiences in my life (and that of my women friends). So many women have been hurt by men who are abusive, controlling, manipulative and many have also been betrayed by infidelity. Some men are just totally shut down…and this is especially true in Great Britain. You can just drive around on a Friday or Saturday night and see grown men drinking themselves into oblivion to “have a bit of fun” but it really is just another way of anesthetizing themselves so they can’t feel what is really happening. I think it is really sad.

I often shake my head and think (especially in cases of betrayal and abuse or the divorce that comes out of nowhere), “Why couldn’t something have been done early on to stop this avalanche when it was just a pebble skirting down a hill?” And what I keep hearing from men is: “Well, I didn’t know how to tell her that I was angry…” or “I didn’t know how to control myself so I hit her…” or “I was really grief-stricken by my dad’s death and I acted out inappropriately by sleeping with a barmaid…” or whatever.

I have heard of the “Mankind Project” and wonder if it is an answer to the “stuff your feelings and get on with it” mentality that has plagued so many men and driven them into antisocial behavior, hurting women and most of all lying to themselves. I am not saying this as a criticism. I am saying that men have also been in pain…there is no way that men would hurt others if they themselves were not in pain or disconnected totally from their true soul callings. (I am not saying in all cases, but for the normal guy…I think he really does want to do the right thing and sometimes doesn’t have the support or the tools so to speak to begin to uncover his authentic self…so he puts on masks just to get through…hope this is making some sense.)

I have often said that I would not date someone who had not been in some form of therapy or who hadn’t really look deeply into his own issues. But I look at what the Mankind Project has to offer…and feel that this looks really promising as a way for men to bond with each other and talk about what they “feel” as men rather than just sitting around with a beer and talking football stats all the time. (Not that you wouldn’t so that if you were a self-individuated man, okay?)

I may have it all wrong…if you have participated in this program…how did you feel about it? Did it help you? Do you think it is a viable program? Did you feel that you were finally able to open up a bit? (And no, I have no affiliation with this program…nor do I know whatever really goes on. I’ve just visited their website and it sounds really great. I don’t think it is connected with any religion, either.)

The truth is..I love men. I grew up with mostly men. I count three men as some of my closest friends on earth (and some of them are in a lot of emotional pain at times.)

I want men to be free…because when men are free…women will be free, too. And when all of us are free…then all of us can live peacefully. And that’s the only way we can move forward out of this painful paradigm into a better future.