Leaving Isolation

At every point, at every stages the way out to elegant human functioning is to leave the isolation that keeps men trapped in the confusion of the conditioning. The key to the men's liberation is ending isolation. Every struggle for liberation that men must make becomes possible to win when there is real human contact and safety. These are the struggles against exhaustion, over-work, over-responsibility, violence, fear, addictions, depression, blame, desperation, self-hate, numbness, competition, rejection, war and militarism the rape and sexual abuse mentality. They are the struggles with fathering, unemployment, prostitution, pornography, pretense, oppressor roles. Men have acquired layer upon layer of isolation- isolation from oneself, other men, women, and children. It is ending of isolation that makes it possible. In men's struggles to reclaim their deep inherent maleness, to play, to listen, to reclaim the natural healing process, to love, to be close, to get the addictions off sex, to have time for relationships and family, to get justice, to rest, to unite with men and other groups, to lead men's work.

Telling Ones Story

When men first join men's groups and start telling their story and get to hear other men's stories, there is a stunned relief. Other men have just the same kind of issues. After a life-time of hiding how bad each of us feels about ourselves, especially as men, it's a huge relief to find that it's not oneself that's the problem it's the isolation and oppression. We don't have to keep trying to be "more of a man". When it gets obvious just how impossible it has been to be male, to stay close, to feel, to really live, the feelings come and the emotional discharge process begins. When you get to real listen to any man's story you can only be proud of him.

Ending Oppression

Social institutions in their use of rewards and punishment to organize people, are contributing to the problem. As humans we have simply not yet discovered how to organize the whole of society on friendship. Struggles for freedom and justice in the world today need to be based on building relationships of respect, and support as the basis of organisation. Change must take place on both a personal level to heal the conditioning, make relationships and on an institutional or cultural level to organize to end each form of humans harming humans.
Paul Whyte phone +61-2-9879-4979 fax +61-2-9817-0650
Secretary Sydney Men's Network