His hand is quintessentially, unashamedly male. Large and barren of moisture. Fingernails so short they betray a disfigurement, the fingertips shoving them out of the way. No, he merely clips them short. With his teeth.… more
Tag Archives: Masculinity
Cheeseburger Man
FICTION by D.M. Chávez-SolisBecause Joe’s refraining from guzzling but is nursing his first, icy, Friday night beer but longs for a serious chug… because he understands that his independent third-grader, soon to be in fourth grade, is eager to impress her old dad… Joe has promised to wait and watch from the Falcon until everything is ready for pickup.… more
Prisoner of War
FLASH NONFICTION by Travis TurnerA writer for the hometown newspaper wanted to tell my grandfather’s story and tried to coax it out for years. “It wouldn’t be fair to the men that I served with that didn’t make it back, so ain’t nothing I can tell you.” He had lived through hell and revisiting it with a reporter for some article on personal glory was something he didn’t intend on doing.… more
Three Essays
FLASH NONFICTION by Brian BensonWhy do men—most of us, at least—grin through our cracked teeth and dance on our broken ankles, but then crumble, just crumble, when our noses begin to drip? Why aren’t we more embarrassed to be seen being sick, chronically ill, unsensationally uncomfortable? Why aren’t we less embarrassed to be in serious pain?… more
Clint
FICTION by J. Thomas MurphyClint preferred showing over telling, the width of his shoulders, the location of his feet. He invited the clients to watch him, to learn from his form, his steady, even reps, balanced sets that worked each muscle group. Clint was a specimen of physical human potential. We all had something to learn.… more
Bible Study
FICTION by Garret MillerMen like James don’t know softness, don’t know a whole lot other than work. They still look for God, though. Even after hours on the floor at Honda, they crawl towards church fronts, hungry and tired and missing their wives and brothers and sisters and cousins and mothers. The gods they know during the day are not gentle like the one they are here looking for. … more
Trigger Warning
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Grant ShimminIt wasn’t so much the shouting that scared as the menace sitting eagerly behind it, the sense the cocksure sergeant and the corporals who took his belligerent lead could act like this with impunity with buy-in right up the chain of command. Menace was the modus operandi indoctrination through intimidation, with a generous side order of humiliation.… more
Mementos
FICTION by Patrick StricklandWe’d been cutting weight for weeks, wearing garbage bags in the sauna and running a few miles two or three times a day. I’d already shucked fifteen pounds just to save space for booze, but I started to worry Mikey would be a downer all night. Worst thing about a guy like that—he gets you worried you did something wrong, like all his problems are your fault.… more
Chalk Outline
FICTION by Patricia Quintana BidarThe downtown lights blazed in the evening air. Slouched behind the wheel, Ismael watched as Loretta’s staff—the few whose physical presence was deemed “essential”—broke at the lobby door and hunched to their cars. Loretta, gone for 15 cold days.… more
What Men Doo
FICTION by Wynward H. OliverMaybe I was a little maníaco because I only thought about sex during our all-male camping trips in Puerto Peñasco every Easter vacation, beginning when I was twelve. Dad would load up his white work van with a bevy of motorcycles and minibikes and enough food, beer, and soda to last a bunch of fathers and sons an entire week.… more
