Most people know about the Glass Ceiling. Far fewer talk about the Glass Floor, or the Glass Wall. In his provocative essay The Glass Floor and the Glass Wall, published in New Male Studies, Tim Goldich asks us to look not only up at society’s most powerful positions, but down at its most dangerous and undesirable ones: newmalestudies.com/OJS/index… The same social structures that historically constrained women’s rise to the top, Goldich argues, also helped insulate women from the very bottom: mine shafts, prison cells, foxholes, homelessness and hazardous labour. Look at the whole pyramid and a vastly different picture emerges... Men have disproportionately occupied both extremes: the boardroom at the top, but also the battlefield, prison, dangerous workplace and street at the bottom. Goldich captures the asymmetry memorably: “For every one CEO there have been many POWs.” Then there is the Glass Wall: men looking into a world of intimacy, vulnerability, home, family, parenting and belonging, while traditionally being expected to earn their value through providing, protecting, performing and achieving. Goldich’s argument isn't that women have had it easy. It's that removing the ceiling while ignoring the floor and wall cannot give us the whole story of gender equality... Perhaps his most powerful observation is this: “The opposite of love isn’t hate: it is indifference.” We readily notice the small number of elite men at the top. But how often do we notice the vastly greater number of men carrying burdens at the bottom? The image says it beautifully: "never settle for less". But also remember who makes it possible for you to have more... #GlassCeiling #GlassFloor #GlassWall #MensIssues #GenderEquality #Equalism #NewMaleStudies #MalePsychology #Masculinity #MenAndBoys #InvisibleMen