The Rites Of Men

It gathers more spectators on a global basis than any other activity today. More than just a game, sport has profound political and social consequences, promoting a super-aggressive ideal of manhood and political culture.

As parents, we all want our boys to grow up to be happy, healthy and successful. For this to happen, it’s vital we understand their world, their challenges, and how our relationship with them must change as they become young men. Using real-life examples, parenting expert Dr Arne Rubinstein clearly explains the risks teenagers face today, including drugs, alcohol, technology and peer group pressure. He then shows how you can equip your son to make safe and sensible choices. Whether you’re a single mum of a happy-go-lucky eight-year old, or the parent of a troubled teen, The Making of Men is a practical, commonsense guide to helping your son transition from a boy to a young man who is motivated and inspired. ‘Funny, encouraging, gritty and real.’ Steve Biddulph, bestselling author of Manhood and Raising Boys

Questioning the constituents of manhood, the book traces the stages of man's life in an analysis of the ordeals and rituals of the male. The author draws on history, literature, psychology and science as well as interviews with men to understand the roots of male aggression.

"In other times and places the passage from boyhood to manhood was dramatized and facilitated by initiation rites. In ritualized fashion, the complex problems of personal development were translated into clear and concrete tasks. But in the dazzling variety of modern America there is no universal test or ceremony that bestows manhood: each male must find a group with its special initiations, or devise an initiation of his own. He may climb mountains, play football, join the army, pledge fraternities, impress the girls, and get drunk with the guys. But where do these free-style initiations lead in the end? To find out, Ray Raphael conducted in-depth interviews with one hundred American males ranging from a Mr. America body-building to a practitioner of witchcraft, from a "right stuff" fighter pilot to a draft dodger, from a self-proclaimed Don Juan to a "superdad." The Men from the Boys is the first and only book-length study of contemporary simulations of classical male initiations. The results of this study are unsettling. Initiations today function more as tests to determine who can make the grade than as educational tools that encourage the development of all young men. In the absence of inclusive rituals, Raphael's subjects struggle to overcome doubts as they negotiate their own paths to maturity. Their personal tales, told with dramatic and emotional intensity, speak to all American males who find themselves torn between a unisex modernity and more archaic notions of masculinity."--Jacket.

Gender roles are nowhere more prominent than in war. Yet contentious debates, and the scattering of scholarship across academic disciplines, have obscured understanding of how gender affects war and vice versa. In this authoritative and lively review of our state of knowledge, Joshua Goldstein assesses the possible explanations for the near-total exclusion of women from combat forces, through history and across cultures. Topics covered include the history of women who did fight and fought well, the complex role of testosterone in men's social behaviours, and the construction of masculinity and femininity in the shadow of war. Goldstein concludes that killing in war does not come naturally for either gender, and that gender norms often shape men, women, and children to the needs of the war system. lllustrated with photographs, drawings, and graphics, and drawing from scholarship spanning six academic disciplines, this book provides a unique study of a fascinating issue.

""Father"" is a verb, and fathering is the highest calling of God on men. Man Maker Project is a guide for fathers to intentionally usher their sons into godly manhood. Now more than ever, the reality of unfinished men confronts us at every turn. Without intentional fathering, a boy's core question--Am I a man?--forever echoes in his soul. Every boy needs to hear his father's clear ""yes"" in response. While many fathers know they should do something for their maturing sons, they have little idea how to create such an initiatory process. Man Maker Project offers a practical roadmap that equips fathers to create a unique, modern-day masculine initiation experience for their sons. Rather than a single event or ceremony, fathers can guide their boys through a yearlong process, with the support of a cadre of hand-selected men. This book also challenges fathers to investigate their own stories, as God's mutually redemptive design is for us to be fathered ourselves as we father our sons. Through this modern-day rites of passage process, fathers fulfill their calling, sons find their footing, and society receives solid men ready to strongly and kindly restore the world. For the back cover: ""From incarceration to abuse to just plain missed opportunities, so many boys in our country become 'chronological men' who never arrive at manhood. Chris Bruno has given us the kind of book to carry into the terrain where boys become men. This book is for fathers, mentors, grandfathers, teachers, and anyone who cares about even just one boy."" --Keith Anderson, President, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, Seattle, WA ""Chris Bruno has given men a great gift in Man Maker Project. This is a stunning work, borne of Chris's own story and his passion for his son. It is a feast of narratives that prove the struggle into manhood is not only worth it, but can display the kindness of God. This is a meaty feast, worthy of all men and fledgling men."" --Jan Meyers Proett, author of The Allure of Hope For the frontmatter: ""For centuries, men in most cultures knew they had a sacred responsibility to guide the boys of their community into healthy manhood. This practice is largely unknown in our own culture. Most men intuitively know they want to pass on some significant teaching about masculinity to their boys, but they have no idea what. In Man Maker Project, Chris Bruno invests his own passion, insight, and experience into this crucial topic. He provides tangible, long-term, meaningful experiences that dads will immediately connect with and use. This book is truly a gift to those boys, their dads, and our culture."" --Craig Glass, president of Peregrine Ministries, Colorado Springs, CO ""Man Maker Project is an answer to many fathers's prayers. 'How do I lead my son into becoming a man?' is a question I've heard from men for many years. I now have a book I will enthusiastically recommend to all the fathers I know. Chris not only outlines a practical path for fathers to follow, but he also reveals how fathers can step into the fullness of who they are as men. You will be enlightened, inspired, and connected to God's powerful plan for you as a father. I'm excited for the many sons who will become men of God through the influence of this important book."" --Bob Hudson, founder and director of Men at the Cross Ministries, Golden, CO ""Every man should read Man Maker Project because it speaks into the struggles and doubts of all men. As a pastor and father of two pre-teen boys, I found myself challenged and provoked. It is here that most books on manhood end, but Chris goes further to give practical steps for creating a learning and experiential environment for sons. This book has given me the tools to be a better man and a better father."" --Brent Rood, pastor at Seed Church in Lynnwood, WA, and founding member of 3Strand Church Network ""I knew from experience that Chris Bruno is a fine therapist. He gently and profoundly guided me thr

The paper in this volume are organized in three parts: scriptural, contextual and theological. The central question being addressed is: how do Christians living in contexts, where Islam is a majority or minority religion, experience, express or think of the Cross? This is, therefore, an exercise in listening. As the contexts from where these engagements arise are varied, the papers in drawing scriptural, contextual and theological reflections offer a cross-section of Christian thinking about Jesus and the Cross.

"Treating birth as ritual, Reed makes clever use of his anthropological expertise, qualitative data, and personal experience to bring to life the frustrations and joys men often encounter as they navigate the medical model of birthing."-William Marsiglio, author Sex, Men, and Babies: Stories of Awareness and Responsibility In the past two decades, men have gone from being excluded from the delivery room to being admitted, then invited, and, finally, expected to participate actively in the birth of their children. No longer mere observers, fathers attend baby showers, go to birthing classes, and share in the intimate, everyday details of their partners' pregnancies. In this unique study, Richard Reed draws on the feminist critique of professionalized medical birthing to argue that the clinical nature of medical intervention distances fathers from child delivery. He explores men's roles in childbirth and the ways in which birth transforms a man's identity and his relations with his partner, his new baby, and society. In other societies, birth is recognized as an important rite of passage for fathers. Yet, in American culture, despite the fact that fathers are admitted into delivery rooms, little attention is given to their transition to fatherhood. The book concludes with an exploration of what men's roles in childbirth tell us about gender and American society. Reed suggests that it is no coincidence that men's participation in the birthing process developed in parallel to changing definitions of fatherhood more broadly. Over the past twenty years, it has become expected that fathers, in addition to being strong and dependable, will be empathetic and nurturing. Well-researched, candidly written, and enriched with personal accounts of over fifty men from all parts of the world, this book is as much about the birth of fathers as it is about fathers in birth.