Earlier quoted context omitted.
Shooting clubs. The really aggressive ones that meet in the woods to "train". Still predominantly all-male.
For when you want to meet all the feds in your area.
Of course. They are members of the clubs.
Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
231–240 of 246 posts
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know, the confidentiality of a professional therapist is huge. Plus a lot of the elders I know would advise you to deal with depression by sucking it up. Or try to pray the gay away.
Now a professional therapist might not want to tell you to do anything at all. The ones I've met have been very passive. They listen, it's great, but they don't point in any direction.
While it's true that my therapist never tells me to do much of anything, he often offers me some much needed perspective I can use to make my own decisions to do or not do things. So, I guess you can say I indirectly get direction from my therapist.
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
Barber shops are also full of the most toxic ignorant drivel you can possibly find in the physical world. This article and the positive comments highlights a need for actual mental health advocates aimed at men.
You may not realize this, but policing the speech of communities and advocating that they be re-educated by the proper authorities has historically been the stuff of nightmares.
The article: Men need to see therapists and barber shops have filled in the gap but are woefully inadequate but one person is raising awareness about that using barber shops.
My comment: Men need to see therapists and barber shops have filled in the gap but are woefully inadequate [because they are filled with ignorant toxic vitriol, which you may not notice if you aren’t familiar with the culture] but one person is raising awareness about that using barber shops.
Yours and another comment: re-education!? policing speech!? wrong think!?
I literally have no idea how you and others came get that reading from what I wrote while the article is saying the same thing.
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. And when you have your special barber, he would cut your hair even when you have no money. That's another assumption a lot of non-black peoples do not know. I'm black African. I went to live in Rome (Italy) and went 3 times in a "normal" barber shop and the Italians were just doing the haircuts as it is required by their jobs and talking about moundane things. I joined the conversation but ... They are profe…
Didn't barbers inherit their pole symbol from their origins as the default surgeon before professional medicine was a thing?
Yes. Being good with a straight razor meant more than just a neat shave. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber%27s_pole
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are a good man.
Thank you. I think most healthy people have this goodness in them but the modern world puts more emphasis satisfying the self. I discovered the benefits of practicing kindness when someone was kind to me.
I feel we're not exposed much to that kind of positive behaviour while growing up. Busier and busier parents and grandparents, overwhelmed teachers, goal-oriented sports coaches. I can locate a few forks-in-the-road in my formative years, and they have to do with someone noticing I was hurting and being a little shit not to hurt others but out of despair, boredom, frustration, etc. and taking the time and energy to steer me towards creating, investing in doing rather than thinking (high school librarians), or to make me think on myself and what I was bringing to the teacher/student relation (later high school librarian) and helping prepare me for university.
I just feel it's almost impossible to learn mentoring and 'giving back' when you haven't been either the target of it, or been witness to it.
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#236Yes, Lorenzo! I remember talking to my friend Lorenzo back in 2013-14 when he was just starting this. So proud to finally see someone I know as the top story on HN :-)
There's a scene[1] in the Pixar movie 'Soul' where the main character(a black man) goes for a haircut to a black barbershop and has a deep philosophical discussion. Director Kemp Powers says 'There's really no more authentic black space in the community than a barber shop'[2] for the reason to have that scene.
Your friend and his team has put that space to a great use; Congratulations.
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#237It isn't because they are barbers. That is secondary. These are men's groups. This is men helping other men. Thanks to continued differences re hairstyles barber shops are one of the very few all-male places left in modern society (other than locker rooms which have a distinct competitive air). So it is no surprise that many urban men feel at home and are more willing to talk at the barber than anywhere else.
Barber shops are also full of the most toxic ignorant drivel you can possibly find in the physical world. This article and the positive comments highlights a need for actual mental health advocates aimed at men.
Interesting. How many barber shops have you researched to reach that conclusion?
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately, the trusted person in many communities could sometimes make things far, far worse. In my community there were a handful of priests and teachers at a local private school who abused children entrusted to their care.
Can priests get married yet or does the Catholic church still want sexual abuse to continue?
The rate of sexual abuse by priests is slightly lower than that by public school teachers. Obviously there’s a lot of factors here, but “proximity to and frequent interactions with children making sexual abuse more possible” may be the biggest.
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
You may not realize this, but policing the speech of communities and advocating that they be re-educated by the proper authorities has historically been the stuff of nightmares.
The article: Men need to see therapists and barber shops have filled in the gap but are woefully inadequate but one person is raising awareness about that using barber shops. My comment: Men need to see therapists and barber shops have filled in the gap but are woefully inadequate [because they are filled with ignorant toxic vitriol, which you may not notice if you aren’t familiar with the culture] but one person is…
What’s does an “actual mental health” advocate for men look like to you?
Clearly men are resonating with these barbershops, clearly they find emotional and mental value in them, as far as I can tell there hasn’t been some streak of violence or angst generated by their members, so what more could you ask for? I think these men know better about what is best for themselves than you do from the outside looking in.
I think you’re getting criticism because “actual mental health advocates” - when these men are self-selecting their mental health advocates already - sounds like coded language for “mental health advocates I find more palatable”.
Re: Black barbers have become mental health advocates for African American men
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
and on the other hand I see clubs such as Machining, Astronomy (and to a lesser degree HAM ?) struggling not to just be a dwindling old guy club.
Judging from the number of views machining videos get on YouTube, I suspect at least machining will have a chance of growing big again, under the name of "making".
CEE Australia and This Old Tony (YT machining channels) are already virtual drinking clubs.
They also happen to star two of the top machinists in the world (who can document their work publicly.)
My favorites are the episodes with comments like, "I was a machinist for 40 years, and I didn't know that."