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"Men are in a Glasshouse when it comes to sexual feelings. Men's sexual feelings are transparent, visible.”. The Reality of Men, 1988

Glasshouse Institute, is a Canadian organization that was established in 1988 with the release of the audio-recording; The Reality of Men. The name of the organization was inspired by shame, an emotion that makes people feel exposed, as they would be inside a glass house.

The purpose of this organization is the study of the consequences of male shame, something only men experience. There is enough evidence to suggest a strong connection between male shame and many undesirable expressions of masculinity. This evidence suggests this connection deserves attention.

The theoretical framework behind the Glasshouse Institute is Corporeal Epistemology, a philosophy of the Body that focuses on how children and adults perceive and interact with the body as an object of knowledge, paying special attention to the effects of shame.

“Adam and Eve were naked, and they felt no shame.” Genesis 2:25

Shame has been an important part of the human experience for millennia, but it has not received the attention needed for its understanding. This is a very unpleasant emotion which explains why the most common reaction to this feeling is to avoid the circumstances that trigger it. The need to avoid unpleasant sensations is so strong that it affects even the process of thinking and speculating about this feeling.

Humanity has made tremendous advances in science and technology due to the ability to think and speculate freely about natural phenomena. This has allowed science to create strong theoretical frameworks that have been used to develop technologies that have improved people's lives. Science's success cannot be attributed to a lack of complexity, such as believing that mobile phone technology or robotics is trivial. It makes more sense to think that the success of Science is due to the freedom to speculate, and not because, for example, human sexuality is too complex to be understood. The problem is shame!

The influence that shame has on speculation depends on your association with the subject. For example, the debate in Astronomy about whether or not Pluto is not a planet is at very little risk of being affected by shame. No one is offended by the firm belief that Pluto is a planet. On the contrary, any speculative idea related to gender issues can face a strong emotional reaction that makes the debate practically a futile exercise.

The failure of Behavioral Science to propose sound theories and paradigms such as those proposed by physics and other natural sciences is something that scientist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn acknowledged in his celebrated book; The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962).

In his book, Kuhn reminds readers that a successful theory or paradigm depends not only on its validity but also on what he calls the “Psychological Dimension” which strongly affects the acceptance of new ideas. Kuhn uses the Copernican Revolution to illustrate this concept.

Glasshouse Institute's position is to assume that the study of behaviors that are strongly associated with shame are particularly affected by the Psychological Dimension, which is driven by this sentiment. Therefore, in the face of the slightest possibility that shame may play a role in behaviour, even if at first glance its influence seems insignificant, shame should not be ignored.

A Personal Note

I was ten years old the first time I thought about masculinity. I was vacationing in Rinconada de Silva, a small town in Chile's Aconcagua Valley where my brother and I were staying with our aunt.

It was mid-morning on a sunny day with dry heat, typical of the area. Several neighbourhood children played in a nearby orchard while Paul Anka's song "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" floated across the distance, a melody that still resonates in my mind.

One of the boys caught my eye because of the way he was flirting with one of the girls. As a child, I was unconsciously intrigued by masculinity and was looking to other boys to act as behavioural role models.

As I watched this interaction, I noticed that even though the girl appreciated the boy's attention, she was annoyed by his overly dominant attitude. I encouraged the boy to be kinder to her if he expected a better reception. He followed my advice and moments later I saw them walking hand in hand.

I’m sure that for them, this event was nothing more than a summer love-affair but for me this scene had a very big impact. It generated in me a life-long obsession with male intimacy that was to manifest itself in my emotional life going forward, but at the time was impossible for a 10-year-old to understand.

I was probably a few months older than him and the idea of helping another boy, especially on a male behavior situation, felt like an experience of emotional intimacy. With that event in the orchard, male intimacy became an obsession for me.

As I grew older, this obsession became more cumbersome with the arrival of erotic and sexual feelings during puberty and adolescence. Aside from the shame associated with the physical changes happening in my body, I had to now deal emotionally with sexual erections and the deep shame over those stains in the bedsheets. This is a terrifying experience that all boys go through, yet most put on a brave face pretending it’s not a big deal.

I am now an old man but I once was young when I lived in an agile and slender body, and felt its power. I feel at peace, I think, because I have understood and confronted my experiences of male-shame rather than ignoring them.

For men, a man's body has a unique emotional meaning, just as a woman's body has for women, especially during puberty and adolescence. But for men, these emotional experiences, including the eroticization of the male body, are many times needs that must be kept hidden because they are besieged by shame.

My advice, mainly to young men is (1) Never let the male body or male-love be a forbidden fruit and, (2) Always remember that for some men the eroticization of the male body is an important part of the development of their identity that should be accepted without shame and respected as a genuine need.

Contrary to popular belief, love and sexual passion among men, especially among young men, are essential experiences for establishing a masculine identity that is stable. Men need to accept that these needs are an important part of masculinity and not a sign of a lack of it.

I invite you to explore this site which presents a new interpretation of our relationship with the body.

Silvo A. Bruzzone, Director

Continue Reading personal note

The Philosophy; Body Epistemology is the product of many years of experiences and reflections, a long process which began that summer’s day when I was only 10 years old.

As this philosophy came to life, there were very difficult times, not only for me but also for my loved ones, especially at first when I didn't quite understand the role of shame.

If you are interested in learning about the origin and history of Body Epistemology, you can read the History of Corporeal Epistemology. Here I recount my strange interactions with psychologists and psychiatrist as well as with other researchers and academics. The reader should be warned that there may be explicit sexual references in this piece.