Growing up as "boys" in the social-political system called patriarchy, meant that certain predefined roles and ways of behaviour were imposed on us based on our assigned gender. These impositions shaped the way we relate to ourselves and to each other. Through different mechanisms such as shame, punishment and even violence we were taught how to be a man by our parents, teachers, peers and media. Since very early on, each of us had to adapt more and more to patriarchy´s demands, and in our seeking to maintain attachment to our caregivers and a sense of belonging to our peers we built an acceptable personality that we presented to the world.

The masculine model we were demanded to construct is detached from our emotions, married to our intellect and sees vulnerability as a weakness. As we recognize the deficits and toxicity of this model, we are also asked to imagine a new way of being, and a new way of relating to ourselves and to each other. We are asked to reconstruct a different expression of masculinity - one that is more aligned to the truth of who we are.​