On aging and more about Guyland
Just turned 51 today. The body has broken down a bit recently. It isn’t cancer or heart problems, I think. It is mainly nerve damage caused in part from repeated police brutality last winter, but my own behavior hasn’t always been healthy. I admit it. According to my neurologist, I was also born with a deformation in part of my brain and now have essential tremors.
In my opinion I have been abused by relatives as a child (not my immediate family; I love them a lot) and more recently by police. It made me think of the book Guyland that I bought last year. It deals with the issue of male maturity, and I think my physical and emotional abusers were basically trying to enforce maturity on me.
The book begins with this poem “The After Hours Crowd” that begins with this stanza:
American boys walk in packs/ playing dress up/ in small towns, boulevard/ walking along panels/ illuminated of glass
I think I know what the author, Michael Kimmel, is speaking of. It does feel good to hang out with friends. And they say women are more attractive to men in groups. Haha. We just have to be careful about speech and behavior.