“Maleness strikes me as…

"Maleness strikes me as a lovely little fandom, as long as folks dont get all rigid about how to do it right or whos allowed to join up. It will, of course, be even nicer once we men give notice from the various rather horrible jobs (violent enforcer of hierarchy, compulsive dominator of discourse, numb agent of production, brutal hoarder of resource) weve stumbled into (and assigned ourselves) under patriarchy. The whole patriarchy thing, seriously bad call on our part. (When Im not thinking well, I feel panicked and guilty about this; when I am thinking well, I manage to feel angry about it). I am lucky enough to have relationships in which getting called on my shit  figuring out which parts of my mind are bullshit to be thrown out, and which parts are worth fighting for and reimagining  is one of the best parts of my life..." -- Benjamin Rosenbaum

-- "Navigating Masculinity: A Roundtable".

Thanks to L Timmel Duchamp and Aqueduct Press for first publishing this piece, in the WisCon Chronicles 9: Intersections and Alliances, and then allowing me to reprint it. Thanks to Elliott Mason, Jim C. Hines, Na'amen Tilahun, Michael Damian Thomas, Jed Hartman, David Moles, and Benjamin Rosenbaum for participating in this discussion. I found it entirely fascinating, being your roundtable host.