Article about the Poverty of Male Affection Published in the Good Men Project

As some of you might know, after I started my dissertation, I became really invested in the (de)construction, mediation + question of contemporary masculinity, in part because I think we live in a fascinating time in history where gender roles are necessarily collapsing (+ where the push-back becomes even more violent).  Anyway, this time I wrote a short piece in the Good Men Project about the lack of affection between (+ for) straight men, how it starts with our old school fathers, continues with our classmates + male friends + continues until we either confront the void inside us or until we're fortunate enough to surround ourselves with people who are loving, affectionate, open + communicative with us.  If you have a second, you can check it out here.

Memoir about Being a Secret Hapa + Nerd Masculinity Republished in Discover Nikkei

My memoir/essay, "American Otaku" about the life of a secret Asian American + nerd masculinity that was originally published in the GMP was recently republished at Discover Nikkei, a site that explores transnational hapa identity + interconnection between cultures, celebrates community + also provides a forum for hapa + nikkeijin history to be retold + therefore, reremembered.  If you have a second + you missed it the first time around, you can check out my piece here.

Article about Marriage + Gangster Love Published at the Good Men Project

While I acknowledge that marriage is definitely not right for everyone (fuck, it wasn't even right for me until three years ago when I had a major epiphany while driving shotgun with my friend Lisa through Koreatown), + while I know that even great marriages don't always last, nonetheless, I wanted to write a piece in the Good Men Project that refuted the cultural myth of matrimonial castration for husbands + suggest that marriage with the right person could be a joint Galatea project, a place to actually evolve + grow.  Sometimes, it might even be the most gangster thing of all.  Anyway, here's my piece about the Evolved Gangster in Love.  It's obviously about marriage, but it's also about how marriage can upgrade your own masculinity, the way it can make you stronger, more flexible, more in tune with yourself, the way it can make your more vulnerable, more authentic + more compassionate too.  Check it out when you get a chance.  And since I've been talking about love, marriage + being totally gangster, it's only fair I suppose to include a shot of me + LB to give you some context for my piece.  In the foto, we're in a bar called Millón in Buenos Aires.  I'm pretty sure I'd just cracked a joke about something or made fun of LB in a sweet sorta way.  But I think it's safe to say we're kinda fond of each other.  Pictures don't lie.