7 Comments
Dec 5, 2022Liked by Matthew Green

Hats off. Beautiful. Again - I may even be getting a little repetitive; I guess 'beautiful' keeps conveying it best here.

I'm listening. And I'm touched.

Thank you, Matthew.

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author

I very much appreciate the feedback. I was sweating after I published this! A little out of my comfort zone, shall we say.

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Dec 5, 2022Liked by Matthew Green

All the more touching and admirable then, shall I say :-D. Bravely honest :-).

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I am grateful for your openness to your vulnerability and that of other men. Most if us live in cultures with no tolerance for that. As a therapist and scholar on personal and collective trauma, I was initially shocked at the statistics that 1 in 2 of women under 14 and 1 in 3 of men under 14 had suffered some form of sexual abuse. David Lisak's research on men in death row revealed over 90 % fell into that category. Unaddressed traumatic wounds get re- enacted.. hence the stats on men as the predominant perpetrators of sexual abuse.. and then there's war, bullying, shaming by fathers..

Providing safe enough spaces for men to connect and heal other men is crucial.

And of course it is erotic! Audre Lorde's work on The Power of the Erotic says it best. Connecting with the erotic ( and the sexual) colours everything in the flow of life..

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Eimear thank you for these thoughtful response -- and for naming the collective trauma of sexual abuse, which is a massive topic (one I've barely begun to contemplate, to be honest). And thank you for the Audre Lorde reference -- one for me to follow up on. I could have said more on that topic but I was already on the edge of my comfort zone!

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I am happy to have a recorded conversation by video with you on the power of the erotic and on men's vulnerability, especially with the number shamed and confused by the power of the erotic... That is my commitment to my beloved partner, Edmund O'Sullivan who died in February. He suffered as well as being a very beloved author, teacher, blues drummer and raconteur... I am writing a love story on several levels weaving the healing of personal and collective trauma, the power of the erotic and the flow of life and art.

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I would be delighted. Would it be possible to continue via email? I am on matthew.green.global@gmail.com

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