073 Only recently have both women and men been able to liberate themselves from the yoke of patriarchal norms. The transition to a more egalitarian, post modern society in the last 50 years also meant a rejection of historical narratives about manhood, including what some mythological traditions call the masculine spirit. In the absence of this archetypal energy, many men languish and struggle with a deep insecurity about their place in a fast changing world.
While the media focuses on caricatures of alpha males and examples of ‘toxic masculinity’, the shadow side of men, especially well intentioned and conscious men, more often appears in the form of the ‘nice guy’. Dr Robert Glover first coined the term ‘nice guy syndrome’ to describe a complex of self defeating traits, including passivity, excessive people pleasing, covert manipulation and weak personal boundaries. Paradoxically, nice guys rarely get what they truly want from relationships or life by being nice.
In this episode of Awake In Relationship I speak with Jason Lange, men’s embodiment coach, group leader and podcaster, about men’s shadow work to recover the generative power of the masculine spirit. In this conversation we discuss the origins of nice guy syndrome, it presentation in intimate relationships and creating transformative spaces for men to be seen and supported to rise to the challenge of modern masculinity.
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