Beginning in the late 1960′s, researchers intensified their studies of the way gender affects a person’s psychological functioning and experience in the world. Feminism of course sparked the inquiry, and small groups of men, spurred on by feminist friends, began meetings and discussions about some unusual questions. What is it to be a man? How do men view the world? What are some stereotypes about men? How do I compare to those stereotypes? How do men communicate? How do men relate to their emotions? What is the sound of one male psyche clapping? (oops: those were the Zen men’s groups)
Having thus ‘specialized’ in men’s issues in psychotherapy, I have attended men’s conferences, met in men’s groups, drummed in men’s circles, read poetry about men, read books by adventurous men, led for seven years a men’s interactional psychotherapy group and studied the psychological literature about men and their worlds. Here are more of my thoughts: