Thank you Allen. I must admit I had never heard of Clare before but what a fascinating man. I wonder if he was bi-polar and am guessing that was the case. Totally brilliant but handicapped in practical matters. Loved the connection with boxing and Byron. Thanks too for the mention and a big thank you for standing up for boys and men!
Thanks, Tom. I first read about Clare in a book on psychosis and authorship--mostly bigger names, Virginia Woolf, John Ruskin, Sylvia Plath--called "Sounds from the Bel Jar," after a famous work by Plath. It seems that creativity and compulsion are close together in the brain. As for standing up for boys and men, I proudly follow your lead and am always grateful for your ability to balance the negative with the positive, and your generous motto that men are good.
One of my bugbears, Tom, is the ridiculous stereotype of men being out of touch with their feelings or emotions. As a poet I find the idea so completely absurd and disconnected from reality, it makes my head spin. Like, there's literally a massive trove of literature and art that clearly attests to the contrary. How exactly is being in touch or not with one's inner life a matter of gender or genitalia?
Two places where the people who harp on men and feelings ought to look: war and sports. Both seem macho and certainly can be; both also push men to their limits and create deeply-felt emotional ties and experiences. That men are out of touch and fratty, the stereotypes of Bud commercials, is one of the many myths of feminism; another one is that women are in touch with their feelings just because they are women. Sexes share and hide feelings in different ways, but if is not the woman's way, then it's nothing. Women and feminist men love to look down on other men; this way is one of their favorites.
Hi Analogy - That idea has puzzled me for many years, especially in the couples therapy I would do. I think a part of the answer is that testosterone has an impact on men that makes it difficult for them to articulate their emotions (sad-vulnerable) when they are in the midst of feeling them. (we process things later) We know this from the reports of transmen who are biological women taking huge doses of testosterone. They report surprise at their inability to voice and articulate emotions when they are in the midst of feeling them. My guess is that this is evolutionary, the men have been charged with protecting the perimeter for thousands of years and do we want these men expressing sadness? LOL. No, we want them to pull the trigger. Max Valerio is the transman who best described this in his book The Testosterone Files. I interviewed Max a couple of times and learned a great deal from him. https://www.amazon.com/Testosterone-Files-Hormonal-Social-Transformation/dp/1580051731/
Hi Tom. You can call me Asa. I suppose I'm not one of these men, nor are any of the men I'm friends with. But perhaps I'm misunderstanding you. I truly have no difficulty in this regard, and, consequently, I suspect this is not actually a matter of hormones...
Hi Asa - That is the beauty of human beings. We are all very different and lumping all into one pile or another is a dangerous venture. This is why I said "part" of the reason for this... YMMV
Thank you, Allen, for a fascinating portrait of John Clare and many insightful reflections on the appeal of boxing as idea and practice. I appreciated your analysis of Clare's specific strengths as a writer.
Very much enjoyed this piece, Allen. What I've read of Clare, I've admired, and Byron is a favourite. The boxing angle here is surprising and inspiring. I've read quite a bit about Byron, but nothing of Clare and so this was a great way to learn about Clare and the connection to Byron (I had no idea!).
Thank you Allen. I must admit I had never heard of Clare before but what a fascinating man. I wonder if he was bi-polar and am guessing that was the case. Totally brilliant but handicapped in practical matters. Loved the connection with boxing and Byron. Thanks too for the mention and a big thank you for standing up for boys and men!
Thanks, Tom. I first read about Clare in a book on psychosis and authorship--mostly bigger names, Virginia Woolf, John Ruskin, Sylvia Plath--called "Sounds from the Bel Jar," after a famous work by Plath. It seems that creativity and compulsion are close together in the brain. As for standing up for boys and men, I proudly follow your lead and am always grateful for your ability to balance the negative with the positive, and your generous motto that men are good.
One of my bugbears, Tom, is the ridiculous stereotype of men being out of touch with their feelings or emotions. As a poet I find the idea so completely absurd and disconnected from reality, it makes my head spin. Like, there's literally a massive trove of literature and art that clearly attests to the contrary. How exactly is being in touch or not with one's inner life a matter of gender or genitalia?
Two places where the people who harp on men and feelings ought to look: war and sports. Both seem macho and certainly can be; both also push men to their limits and create deeply-felt emotional ties and experiences. That men are out of touch and fratty, the stereotypes of Bud commercials, is one of the many myths of feminism; another one is that women are in touch with their feelings just because they are women. Sexes share and hide feelings in different ways, but if is not the woman's way, then it's nothing. Women and feminist men love to look down on other men; this way is one of their favorites.
Hi Analogy - That idea has puzzled me for many years, especially in the couples therapy I would do. I think a part of the answer is that testosterone has an impact on men that makes it difficult for them to articulate their emotions (sad-vulnerable) when they are in the midst of feeling them. (we process things later) We know this from the reports of transmen who are biological women taking huge doses of testosterone. They report surprise at their inability to voice and articulate emotions when they are in the midst of feeling them. My guess is that this is evolutionary, the men have been charged with protecting the perimeter for thousands of years and do we want these men expressing sadness? LOL. No, we want them to pull the trigger. Max Valerio is the transman who best described this in his book The Testosterone Files. I interviewed Max a couple of times and learned a great deal from him. https://www.amazon.com/Testosterone-Files-Hormonal-Social-Transformation/dp/1580051731/
Hi Tom. You can call me Asa. I suppose I'm not one of these men, nor are any of the men I'm friends with. But perhaps I'm misunderstanding you. I truly have no difficulty in this regard, and, consequently, I suspect this is not actually a matter of hormones...
Hi Asa - That is the beauty of human beings. We are all very different and lumping all into one pile or another is a dangerous venture. This is why I said "part" of the reason for this... YMMV
Thank you, Allen, for a fascinating portrait of John Clare and many insightful reflections on the appeal of boxing as idea and practice. I appreciated your analysis of Clare's specific strengths as a writer.
Very much enjoyed this piece, Allen. What I've read of Clare, I've admired, and Byron is a favourite. The boxing angle here is surprising and inspiring. I've read quite a bit about Byron, but nothing of Clare and so this was a great way to learn about Clare and the connection to Byron (I had no idea!).