Award-winning research psychologist and professor Dr. Michael Addis returns to Paternal for the latest in a series of special episodes, this time to discuss the connection between the social construction of masculinity and men’s relationship with sex and intimacy. Men receive convoluted messages about what sex and intimacy are supposed to look like from an early age, but can they really take stock of what they’ve learned and change their behavior as they get older?

Dr. Addis also discusses how boys’ early exposure to intimacy and vulnerability can shape their sex lives as men, the metaphor of men’s bodies as performative machines, why it’s so hard for men to discuss sex with one another, and solutions for men looking to reexamine how they think about intimacy and improve their sex life.

Dr. Addis is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. He also provides personal coaching and consultation for men at michaeladdiscoaching.com.

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 - 06:16 - Introduction

06:16 - 11:39 - The connection between sex and familiarity with intimacy

10:44 - 18:37 - The idea of man as a performative machine

20:13 - 26:12 - On why men don’t talk about sex with other men

26:12 - 33:08 - Solutions for being more comfortable discussing sex and intimacy

Read The Transcript For This Episode

Learn more about Paternal and sign up for our newsletter at www.paternalpodcast.com. You can also email host Nick Firchau at nick@paternalpodcast.com with any comments or suggestions for men he should profile on the show. Make sure you subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever you’re listening, then keep an eye on your feed for new episodes.