• The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love
• by bell hooks
• Read: Nov 15, 2013

I bought this book because I wanted to read up more on Feminism, structural sexism, toxic masculinity, and other related topics. I’ve had many discussions about these before but never made the time to read actual books about it. I chose Bell Hooks as the first author to read on the topic as her name came up in many discussions about the topic. And I chose that book specifically to learn more about the role of men in all of this.

And the book was absolutely great. It does a great job of running through many areas where sexism and the patriarchy does a lot of harm to men as well. And it made me think a lot about my upbringing, childhood, and what kind of biases I carry because of it. But more importantly it made me think about the things that I value and was at times longing for. E.g. the fact that relationships between men are often very competitive and don’t provide any space for emotional depth and vulnerability. Limiting any chance of properly dealing with emotional situations in that setting.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone (especially men) interested in learning more about the topic.