Admin on Leading Learners Blog

Jun 02, 2022

How Justin Baldoni Is Making Moves For Male Students

What are 3 issues modern men face that Justin Baldoni addresses on his social media and through talks?

• Looking ‘manly enough’ - with reference to the media/social acceptance of how men are to be portrayed to the world
• Fear of speaking up about internal insecurities - with Justin Baldoni’s example of him holding in his feelings until the end of his trip with friends
• Being perceived as soft for displaying stereotypically feminine characteristics (warm, helping hand, support, positive life encouragement) - given the example with his dad being sincere in his childhood and raising him with caring, warm characteristics

What does Justin encourage young men to do to change the social pressures?

Justin focused a lot on reframing the word manhood and what it means to be a man in society. He had some personal experiences that he showed; through his social media switch and the way of his upbringing with his own fatherly figure. He encouraged men to both change what it means to be a man and stand up against derogatory talk like “locker room talk.” Justin Baldoni made a strong point about the ripple effect and how it takes one man to take the lead, slowly reframing our conversations.

“Locker room talk” was the modern-day example of an opportunity to call men out. Objectification of women was a prevalent topic within Justin’s TED Talk. He was very stern in saying that everything he spoke about that day was just scraping the surface, and I certainly agree. We still have a long way to go, considering the fact that pornography and prostitution are still bad beaviours being pushed furhter into the world because of patriarchy. There is a lot of power in calling out men, because “following the crowd” had detrimental effects on society; such as men’s issues, sexual assault, abuse or neglect, among several other factors that affect both men and women.

What are 3 things in his TED talk young men can relate to?

• Though the media may convince us otherwise, there is nothing wrong with being brought up to be ‘soft’ or being genuine towards both sexes
• Something you feel only you, yourself are struggling with, there is the highest chance that others do too
• When you see something wrong, lead by example and take that leap to call the people at fault out; you can cause a ripple effect to stop more than one person