Masculinity is a concept that has gone through huge transformations over a long time, and the way we perceive masculinity influences our lives in many aspects. Our guest today is a pioneer in inspiring men around the world to shift their experience of masculinity by combining the Primal Masculine with the Divine Masculine. Traver Boehm, the author of “Today I Rise” and “Man UNcivilized,” two-time TEDx speaker and licensed acupuncturist, joins us today to talk about all things masculinity. Throughout the episode, we talk about Traver’s journey through heartache, loss, and grief, managing emotions, Traver’s man Uncivilized movement, and much more.

Traver dives into the conversation with a retelling of how his life experiences of heartache and grief shaped him and how his learning from those experiences became the inspiration for his first book  and, ultimately the Man UNcivilized movement. 

Traver’s Man UNcivilized movement, along with his book, focuses on helping men understand manhood in its fullness, including being unapologetic about it.  We tackle what inspired Traver to start the movement and how it teaches men to live their own life without being wrapped in what society demands. 

Sometimes, men fall into the trap of looking outside to make them feel okay with the way they exist in the world. This behavior causes men to disregard their own needs and to care for others ahead of themselves. Robert Glover, a celebrated psychotherapist, coined the term “nice guy syndrome” for this behavior. We dive into the concept of the nice guy, how men are trapped in this behavior, and how to get out of it, including Traver’s course Kill the Nice Guy. 

Wrapping up the episode, we talk about ways of dealing with grief and anger and how it is unfortunately being channeled by many men today into repressed rage. Repressed rage that is resulting in abhorrent behavior, such as rape, violence and, ultimately, mass shootings. We reiterate that each man should embody the motto Let others be safe for I walk among them.