“Yet life has shown me that any time a single man dares to transgress patriarchal boundaries in order to love, the lives of women, men, and children are fundamentally changed for the better.” – bell hooks
Unhealthy and toxic masculinities are harmful to everyone in our communities. Violence perpetrated by men remains at epidemic rates with one in three women still experiencing some form of intimate partner violence, as well high rates of sexual and physical violence against transgender people, Indigenous women, and other men. Further, men and boys are conditioned to repress their emotions leading to significantly higher rates of suicide. In New Mexico, which had the highest national suicide rate in 2018, three quarters of those who committed suicide were male. Men and boys do not simply uphold and reproduce patriarchy, they are deeply harmed and constrained by it themselves.
Today, we are thrilled to announce the launch of the New Mexico Healthy Masculinities Toolkit, a collection of readings, workshops, and exercises that engage communities in conversations and activities around the topic of masculinity. This free resource was created by the NM Healthy Masculinities Collaborative which is comprised of NewMexicoWomen.Org (NMW.O), NM Health Equity Partnership (NMHEP), Tewa Women United (TWU), Together for Brothers (T4B), and the Transgender Resource Center of NM (TGRCNM). Visit our website at masculinitiesnm.org to download the toolkit and to sign up for announcements about upcoming “train the trainer” workshops and funding opportunities.
Also, join us on Wednesday, April 13th from 5:30 – 7:00 pm for a virtual launch event, hosted by Together for Brother’s BRO Program (register here). And tune into our month-long campaign where we will explore issues of masculinity. Follow each organization’s social media pages and use the hashtags #masculinitiesNM and #healthymasculinities to see examples from the toolkit, hear inspiring stories and access resources for this critical work.
We are in a crisis of masculinity and gender, with profound impacts upon our children, families, and communities. Exploring healthy masculinity and reimagining gender frameworks are essential to our work for gender justice and healing.
*Se proporcionará traducción para el evento a pedido.
