64 books
—
21 voters
“In the digital age, the troll is essentially a caricature and embodiment of all the worst traits associated with masculinity. They’re culturally and intellectually shallow. Angry. Violent. Aggressive. And, after years of wading through graphic images, postmodern stew, racist propaganda, and disgusting and misogynistic pornography, they have grown into nihilists with no other purpose besides punishing the world while laughing to prove they’re stronger than their humanity.”
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
“In these years we did the tried-and-true masculine things. We watched ball games on the TV, fished for catfish and bluegill in stripper pits in the Greene-Sullivan State Forest, shot guns, stood out in the garage, as is customary, and generally bullshitted. But what was most amazing, other than my father’s apparent transformation, was that Dad, seemingly exhausted by years and years of near-silence, began to speak openly about the burden of masculinity.
He told me the expectations he’d carried, as a father, as a son, as a man, had sabotaged his relationships and prevented him from expressing himself, or really enjoying intimacy, emotionally or intellectually, his entire life.
Shocked at the depth of frustration and despair my dad had suffered, I listened and realized, for the first time, that the masculinity I’d sought, the masculinity I’d been denied, had always been an impossibility. Deep down, I realized that masculinity, as I knew it, as it was presented to me, was a lie.”
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
He told me the expectations he’d carried, as a father, as a son, as a man, had sabotaged his relationships and prevented him from expressing himself, or really enjoying intimacy, emotionally or intellectually, his entire life.
Shocked at the depth of frustration and despair my dad had suffered, I listened and realized, for the first time, that the masculinity I’d sought, the masculinity I’d been denied, had always been an impossibility. Deep down, I realized that masculinity, as I knew it, as it was presented to me, was a lie.”
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
“Unfortunately, you’re wrong. Motivation does not come first, action does! You have to prime the pump. Then you will begin to get motivated, and the fluids will flow spontaneously.”
― Feeling Good: Overcome Depression and Anxiety with Proven Techniques
― Feeling Good: Overcome Depression and Anxiety with Proven Techniques
“The attack in Charleston prompted a brief national debate on guns that pivoted to the Confederate flag, which Roof had been pictured with multiple times. As pressure began to mount over the symbol, there were several black churches set on fire in the South. I drove from one decimated house of worship to another and found the areas teeming with more Confederate symbols, as well as frequent scrawlings of swastikas and hate speech. There seemed, at that moment, to be something incredibly ugly and dangerous starting to seep out from under the country’s veneer.”
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
“That afternoon planted the seed of crisis. Even just a fleeting moment of approval from my father was enough to set me in a direction that would irrevocably change my life. I’d been searching for years for shortcuts to acceptance. Fitting in as a man was an impossible task, a Sisyphean effort that could never be conquered. As a boy the masculine world seemed alien and incomprehensible with its jumble of contradictory expectations. Every one of the men around me had seemed in conflict with themselves and the world. In high school, none of the available personas offered any comfort. I’d resolved, by the time I turned eighteen, to live outside of the paradigm, had decided masculinity, with all its warts and foibles, was something I could simply opt out of.
What I didn’t know then, and what I’m only coming to understand nearly twenty years later, is that because patriarchal masculinity is built into the structure of society, there is no such thing as opting out. It lies dormant in every man, regardless of his acceptance or denial. It permeates everything, reverberating throughout our language and tainting our power structure; it plagues our every action and thought. Because it is presented as reality from our nascent beginnings, it continually colors our perception regardless of how we might fight against its influence.”
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
What I didn’t know then, and what I’m only coming to understand nearly twenty years later, is that because patriarchal masculinity is built into the structure of society, there is no such thing as opting out. It lies dormant in every man, regardless of his acceptance or denial. It permeates everything, reverberating throughout our language and tainting our power structure; it plagues our every action and thought. Because it is presented as reality from our nascent beginnings, it continually colors our perception regardless of how we might fight against its influence.”
― The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making
Computer Science
— 143 members
— last activity Oct 27, 2018 02:18AM
Group to catalog computer science and software engineering. Please add books you are currently reading or have read, and would recommend to others.
Mathematics Students
— 569 members
— last activity Aug 11, 2022 03:15AM
This group is for people interested in mathematics at the college level. All are welcome. Professor and students never stop learning mathematics, henc ...more
Mathematics Book Club
— 103 members
— last activity Mar 31, 2020 08:08PM
Objective: We only read books about mathematics; the goal is to read one book a month.
Mohamad’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Mohamad’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Mohamad
Lists liked by Mohamad


























































