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Kids don’t expect you to know everything. What they’re really looking for is a safe adult—someone who listens without judgment, tells the truth without shame, and makes it okay to be curious. The conversation about porn isn’t just about screens or sex acts; it’s about the bigger things: values, relationships, respect, and safety. It’s a chance to help your son understand the difference between performance and connection, between what he sees online and what he deserves in real life.
Read MoreIn honour of a seventh grader I know whose friends just accompanied him to his first-ever Pride parade, here are are the four best films from the last few years telling the still-emerging story of young queer masculinity.
Read MoreWhile Adolescence is telling a devastating story, it is also telling a limited one. We see adults acting professionally and adults falling apart, but this show doesn’t show us what curious and compassionate adults look like in the face of boys’ pain and harm. We see angry boys and hurt boys, boys carrying fear and boys bluffing with bravado, but we don’t see the thoughtful, clear-eyed and gentle masculinity that is already being championed by boys who will become the next generation of men.
Read MoreWhen they come through the other side, they inevitably become something more than they were before. They have a new sense of capability. New stories. New relationships and responsibilities, and a new sense of themselves as boys becoming men.
Read MoreThe premise of Breaking the Boy Code has always been that boys’ voices are worth listening to—even when it’s not easy or convenient. Their lives and their stories matter. These boys matter. So without further ado, I’m honoured to introduce the voices of season four.
Read MoreThe research that has defined Next Gen Men’s work for a decade tells us that the single most important factor for resilience is having at least one close, confiding relationship in which one feels truly known, accepted and valued. That’s how you overcome challenge.
Read MoreAs part of our ongoing mission to support boys’ well-being, my colleagues and I decided to take on a research project designed to better understand their feelings, stresses and needs. What we uncovered was a surprising distance between their beliefs and attitudes about toxic and positive masculinity, and their lived experiences—particularly online.
Read MoreIs supporting women’s sports one of the key’s to men’s liberation? Friend of NGM, Samantha Nzessi, explores this topic to find out.
Read MoreHair loss is both common and distressing to many people. We’re curious, how have patriarchal gender expectations shaped our experiences of hair loss?
Read MoreFor the first time in my life, I was free of the endless internal verbal abuse I would typically subject myself to. Within this newfound reprieve from decades-old self-loathing, I finally saw that there was hope for me.
I was beginning to feel what it meant to be free, and understand that this kind of freedom was attainable.
Read MoreYou’ll notice that the traits associated with tallness — competence, wealth, status, leadership — are also traits we associate with masculinity. So, what is the association between patriarchal gender norms and height in our culture?
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