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My approach to therapy

I had the whimsical notion the other day of placing an ad for my practice in local newspapers.


"Work with me in therapy
and I will not respect you as a person...
but I will respect you as a man."
Catchy? Intriguing? Offensive?

Culture critic Jack Malebranche makes this observation:
Our culture’s strategy for integrating women into the workforce has unfortunately been to strip men of any distinct virtues, qualities, social roles or responsibilities. This is one of the great tragedies of our time, and time will tell if this gender neutral society thing is really sustainable, practical or even truly desirable.
He's got an interesting point. In order to make room for women over the last 40 years, in realms where men had either dominated or held exclusive sway, the approach has been to make men genderless....which usually means making them less male.

I hear it when men say that they want to be or are "a good person."

This is supposed to show that they have transcended the narrowness of gender roles. But is that finally possible without some deeper loss? Are we not really gendered beings?

Female therapists who advertise themselves as feminist therapists get no flack for that. What if I advertised myself as a pro-male therapist or even a "masculinist"? How do you think that would go down?

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