Men Across Generations
This is a male Rufous-Sided Towhee found in the semi-desert hills of south-western Saskatchewan. One of my grandsons pointed out this bird to me while we were hiking in the hills. There were seven of us, a grandfather, a son-in-law and five grandsons – a gathering of the masculine. At one point, the youngest had a small fall with a very slight skinning of one knee – a wounding of sorts. Of course, that resulted in a badge of honour, a chance to be manly. As Monick points out:
Masculinity is an accomplishment, not a birthright – so strong is the pull of nature-mother. (Monick, Phallos: Sacred Image of the Masculine, 1987, p. 48)
The bridging of generations for males is built through small rituals and large rituals as well as containment of the developing masculine in the absence of the mother. A sense of self as a masculine being is simply that, a sense of self. It isn’t about other, it isn’t about power over other. It is about self awareness as a male.
