Raising our sons is among the most important social imprints we will leave on the world, for they will become the partners, husbands, fathers, friends, lovers, creators, and leaders of tomorrow.

The crisis facing our boys today is not masculinity, rather it is toxic patriarchal hyper-masculinity. In many ways, our boys are constantly clashing within themselves between who they really are and who they are expected to be. The stress of guarding and protecting a false self creates a deep wound in the male psyche.

As mothers raising sons, we have the power to change the trajectory of not only our own sons’ lives, but also of the culture at large.

Our adolescent sons are eager to become heroes in our eyes, and in the eyes of the world.

Every day, boys receive one message about how to deal with emotions and that message is: don’t.