HomeMen Who Take Baths
Our Purpose
Baths speak louder than showers
In Greek mythology, Odysseus is a male warrior in need of healing, who is restored to health when the goddess Circe—the feminine archetype—bathes him. Immersion in water is interpreted in Jungian psychologically as “descent into the dark world of the unconscious,” and bathing is symbolic of transformation when we accept all parts of ourselves.
By bathing Odysseus and his men, Circe initiates them into an embodied awareness of their feminine psyche through sensuality. To be naked in the bath is to literally be vulnerable, and it is the surrender into this state that allows for healing.
Men Who Take Baths: The Formula
COMPASSIONATE CONVERSATION + COMMUNITY = INFORMED ACTION
01
One
Content
Interviews in a bathtub (+ photography & video)
02
Two
Events
Art show + group dialogue + live interview with an audience member in a bath
03
Three
Men's groups
Virtual gathering in the tub once per week, led by Men Who Take Baths psychotherapist Flynn Skidmore.
The Essential Components of Men Who Take Baths
1. Men Who Take Baths is connection through conversation
We create space for an honest examination of the cultural factors that shape a man's sense of self. It is through these judgment-free conversations that we come to see one another as flawed and complex beings, worthy of love, forgiveness, safety, and understanding. It's time to end the epidemic of loneliness.
2. Men Who Take Baths is redefining the markers of masculinity.
Right now, it doesn’t seem that we’re using masculinity in service of what, at the core, we all actually want: to feel free, loved, and safe. For men, women, and non-binary folk, our relationship with masculinity seems to generate an increased feeling of oppression, fear, and inhibition of expression; "the patriarchy," has failed us. We want all men to play a part in the co-creation of the new masculinity; a version that contributes to the life of equality we desire and deserve, and a definition that includes a variety of voices and identities.
3. Men Who Take Baths is a tool for empathy
Men Who Take Baths seeks to discover the underlying philosophy of the individual—how they think and feel about the world through their experiences. By bearing witness to an intimate exploration of human life, we have the opportunity to consider our own. When we see a piece of ourselves in another, we love them as we wish to be loved.
