It’s mid-2020, the height of COVID lock-down, and the world is collapsing in on itself. I’m parked on my couch, lost in an existential crisis like the rest of humanity, grappling with what it even means to be a man in a world that’s come undone. Raised by women, I’ve never fit the cookie-cutter mold of masculinity. What is masculinity? What does it mean to be a man? My mind spins with these questions when suddenly, the YouTube gods smile upon me. The algorithm leads me to the IDLES NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and just like that, everything changes. I learn something profound that day—being soft, gentle, present… none of it diminishes who I am as a man. In fact, it adds to it.
