MENSIGHT: The Journal of Conscious Masculinity On-line Magazine of TheMensCenter.com
A Service of the Men's Resource Network, Inc Now with over 500 Pages of male positive content
Men who are Fathers from all Walks of Life in the Millennium throughout our global village have quickly discovered that a magic formula for raising children simply does not exist. No one taps them on the shoulder and whispers in their ear: “To be a successful parent and to raise happy, well-adjusted children, you need to do ‘x, y and z’.” Married Fathers, Divorced Fathers, Single Fathers, Custodial Fathers, Non-Custodial Fathers, “Stay-At-Home” Fathers and “Long Distance” Fathers from all Walks of Life throughout our global village – sometimes under the most difficult set of circumstances – nurture, mentor and love their children. Selflessly and unceremoniously, they go about the business of developing and implementing plans that they will move their families forward. Each new day brings a new set of challenges and unanswered questions for Married Fathers, Divorced Fathers, all Fathers from all Walks of Life throughout our global village. Men like Stephen Baskerville, Ph.D., Muhammad Nasser Bey, Randy L. Collins, Leonard Dantzler, Warren Farrell speak from the depths of their souls about the roles and responsibilities of Fathers and the universal search for answers to questions and resolutions of issues directly and indirectly related to parenting from a male perspective which Men who are Fathers in the Millennium have embarked upon. BookDescription...
Book Excerpt... by Diane A. Sears Introduction In many ways – and for many reasons -- Fatherhood transcends the boundaries of geography, ethnicity, religion, language, culture, politics and economics. Men who are Fathers from all Walks of Life throughout our global village experience the joys and challenges of raising children as they discover that a magical formula for parenting does not exist. Read article
Guest Article... by Randy L. Collins The Universal Culture of Fatherhood: Raising Emotionally Healthy Children Afamily unit has been historically modeled as a man, woman and child, with the extended family to include grandparents, aunts, uncles and on occasion, nieces and nephews. In whatever model you choose, the man or father was usually the protector and breadwinner, while the responsibility of physical care, initial training, and emotional well-being fell to the woman or mother. These “models” reflect how man as a social creature used sub-groups to reduce conflict and allow larger groups to co-exist. While this is an anthropological description, it allows us to compare and highlight the differences seen in likely social models of tomorrow. These models of the family unit have gone through little significant change until the last fifty years, when there was a dramatic shift in the roles played and by whom. It is no longer true that the father is the sole breadwinner. Economic realities dictate that the woman (mother), too, must contribute earnings to the household budget. This creates a void of absentee parenting being filled by the public education of our children. Go to Article
COYOTE... monthly column by Dick Prosapio The Day the Buffalo Came and My Daughter Left
"Holy Cow"! is what I would have said if I were 14. But when I walked into my office and saw four buffalo grazing just outside my windows my exclamation referred to more basic cow by-products. Go to ArticleCoyote Archive
Guest Article... by Trudy W. Schuett Change This: Domestic Violence Programs This is a complex, long-standing issue, so bear with me for a few paragraphs as I go back about thirty years to the beginning of what we now know as “women’s shelters.” The first one I’m aware of was established in England in 1971. This one, as well as those that soon followed, were established as places where women in immediate danger of physical injury or those being repeatedly beaten by their husbands could go and begin to get some help. Back then, it was difficult for a woman to find any assistance in these cases. Society did not want to admit this kind of problem existed, and these shelters and programs were limited mainly due to reasons of funding and staffing, etc. These were practical difficulties, rather than those of a theoretical or belief-based nature. Go to Article
Guest Article... by Warren Farrell, Ph.D. Highlights and Findings from Father and Child Reunion
Part 1
The Family Arrangements that Work Best for Children Father and Child Reunion (2001) is a meta-analysis of hundreds of studies from the U.S. and other countries. Many of the studies look at what leads to children doing the best and worse after divorce. The documentation for these findings is in Father and Child Reunion. Go to Article
DADS, DON'T FIX YOUR KIDS... monthly column by , M.A Fathers and Small Things
How to stay in touch with your kids during busy times is often a father's dilemma. Men tend to focus on one thing extremely well for long periods, but this can lead to trouble. Shifting from work to your family life isn't always the easiest thing to do. And if you don't show your kids that you're thinking about them, they may assume that you're not. Go to Article
JEFF'S LIFE... monthly column by Jeff Stimpson Child's Play
Yesterday afternoon I had a few hours alone with Ned, and he claimed he wanted to go to the playground. So we set out across 72nd Street toward Central Park, where there's a playground. We entered the park and I told Ned to turn right for the playground. "Naw," he replied. "That's for kids, daddy." Go to Article Jeff's Life Archive
GuestColumn... by Alison A. Armstrong Why Men Don't Ask For Directions
A complaint so common it is a frequent subject of jokes and TV comedies is the unwillingness of lost men to ask for directions. Almost every woman has a story about a man who drove around for hours looking for someplace and refused her entreaties to stop and ask. To women, this seems like the ultimate display of male arrogance and stubbornness. But what if it isn’t? Go to Article
TOWARD MANHOOD... A book in progress by Larry Pesavento A Journey to the Wilderness of the Soul
From chapter 5 - Part 1...Addictions: Life Behind the Wall George Santana once said that he didn't know who first discovered water, but he did know it wasn't a fish. We are an addictive society. It is hard for a man to recognize his addictions in the sea of addictiveness around him. Addictions keeps a man artificially connected to a ready source of numbness at the very time he needs to face initiatory pain. Addiction is like pain insurance and a policy comes very cheap in our society. Read Chapter 5 - Part1
MILITARYHONOR ROLL... Pay tribute to the Veterans or Active Duty military in your life on our perpetual Military Honor Roll page Go to Military Honor Roll
FATHERS HONOR ROLL... Pay tribute to your father (grandfather, great grandfather, etc.) on our perpetual Fathers Honor Roll page Go to Fathers Honor Roll
MENSIGHT Magazine is another free service of The Men's Resource Network, Inc. (MRN). It has grown out of the response that we have received from articles posted on TheMensCenter.com (TMC), our official web-site. The first issue went on-line on May 1, 2000. (Archive)
MENSIGHT is dedicated to publishing diverse articles for and about men. We believe that there are valuable lessons to be learned from the advocates of all the various men's issues.
MENSIGHT will publish articles, stories and information that will be welcomed by many and controversial to others. We offer the magazine for your edification but you are free to disagree or reject what you do not like. Be advised that we do not necessarily agree with every position that is expressed here.
We hope that you will be entertained, informed, educated, stimulated, and/or motivated by what you read here. We seek to empower men to be the authority of their own lives. We do not seek to tell men what to think or feel.
