In one of his most powerful spoken-word poems, award-winning poet, actor, and writer Carlos Andrés Gómez recounts a confrontation he once had after accidentally bumping into another man at a nightclub. Just as they were about to fight, Gómez's eyes inexplicably welled up with tears. Everyone at the scene jumped back, as if showing vulnerability was the craziest thing that Gómez could possibly have done.
Like many men in our society, Gómez grew up believing that he should be ready to fight at all times, treat women as objects, and close off his emotional self. It wasn't until he discovered acting that he began to realize the true cost of squelching one's emotions - and how aggression dominates everything that young males are taught.
Plummeting graduation and employment rates and dire teen suicide statistics show that young males in our society are at a crisis point. Gómez seeks to reverse these alarming trends by sharing lessons about life, love, and vulnerability. Man Up galvanizes men - but also mothers, girlfriends, wives, and sisters - to rethink the way all men interact with women, deal with violence, handle fear, and express emotion.
A supremely gifted storyteller, Gómez urges men of all ages to break society's rules of male conformity and reconsider not just what it means to be a man but what it means to be a good man.
