Coming off the winter break and a lot of gender equality soul searching, this season will approach gender bias from a different direction — exploring the “man box” and how it impacts us all. While many definitions and terms abound, the man box generally refers to the societal expectations we place on men — to be “men” — that can restrain their full expression of themselves and constrain their ability to speak up or act out against gender bias.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey as I learn about the man box and share what I learn, for the benefit of men and women. I’m not sure where this will lead, but at a minimum, I hope to bring awareness to how the man box affects us all and perhaps offer some suggestions of how we might release ourselves from its grip, to the benefit of us all.

I will share resources along the way, from those who are experts in this field. This week’s resource is The Good Men Project. Check it out as well as Mark Greene’s article, referred to in this episode, “The Man Box: The Link Between Emotional Suppression and Male Violence.”