Male need to 'hide' from women only natural: "Male need to 'hide' from women only natural
Siri Agrell, National Post
Published: Monday, May 08, 2006
He does believe there is a resurgence of interest in male clubs and activities in the Western world, just as many women are exploring the appeal of more traditional female gender roles.
And Mr. Twitchell, who usually studies and writes about corporate branding, said this is being used to the advantage of some organizations.
For his book, he visited several mega churches -- the large suburban religious institutions that boast 15,000 congregants.
'How have they done that? Well, they have really revitalized by providing space for men,' he said. 'If you go and look at these churches, which I have, you see that they have all of these men-only groups. So it's Men in Christ fixing their motorcycles, or Men in Christ having breakfast. Churches are, in many ways, the new lodges.'
While Mr. Twitchell said there is no proven benefit to male-only time or space, he said it is definitely not a dangerous phenomenon.
'I don't think it's as snarly as some feminists might posit. It's not to exclude women or hostile toward them,' he said. 'I think it's really because men have a terrible time finding ways to get together with other men. Usually they have to go to war.'
Some anthropologists told him these hiding spots are a vestige of ages-old hunting behaviour, because men feel the need to bond before entering a fight.
And Freud would no doubt note with interest the male desire to return to a small, dark, warm enclosure -- a topic Mr. Twitchell said he does not want to broach.
"