Dating in South Africa is more than dinners and dates — it’s a complex dance between culture, economics, identity, and expectation. From the vibrant nightlife of Johannesburg to the coastal sunsets of Cape Town and community-centered towns across the country, love is universal — but the pressures that come with it are uniquely South African....
Across cultures and generations, a quiet sentiment is growing among men: the feeling of being disposable. Not in a dramatic, self-pitying way, but in a slow, internal erosion of worth. Many men feel valued primarily for what they provide, fix, protect, or endure—and when they fall short of those expectations, their relevance feels negotiable. This...
For many South Africans, being middle class is supposed to mean safety. Stability. Breathing room. It’s the space between survival and excess — the reward for education, hard work, and upward mobility. But for a growing number of people, that promise feels hollow. Today, being “middle class” often feels less like security and more like living...
Scroll through social media on any given day and you’ll find a country that looks like it’s doing just fine. People are travelling, launching businesses, attending events, dressing well, eating out, glowing. Online, South Africa appears aspirational, confident and upwardly mobile. Offline, the reality is far less polished. Debt is rising, salaries are stretched, job...
If you ask a man what his greatest fear is, he is unlikely to say “death.” Death is final, abstract, and often distant. What many men fear more—quietly, deeply, and constantly—is uselessness. The fear of no longer being needed. Of having no function. Of existing without value. Comedian Chris Rock once captured this reality in a...
In South Africa today, a quiet crisis is unfolding—one that rarely trends, rarely mobilises donors, and rarely earns political urgency. It is the slow erosion of the boy child. This is not a reactionary argument, nor a dismissal of the very real gains made in advancing girls and women since 1994. Those interventions were necessary,...
What happens when a man who was once celebrated for his strength, skill, and purpose is suddenly told he is no longer needed? This is the reality that The Incredibles’ Bob Parr—better known as Mr. Incredible—faces when superheroes are forced into retirement. Once at the peak of his career, Bob is reduced to an ordinary life,...
There is a trend that I’m noticing that’s happening within relationships. Women are complaining that men don’t approach them anymore and men are not really interested in relationships. I didn’t think much of it at first but I started speaking to a couple of single men and realised this is a growing trend. I know...
Men have a special relationship with the ones who cut their hair. What makes the corner barber special is how therapeutic the chair is, the advice he gives and the fact that he just lends an ear to his clients. Sometimes men just want to talk about their lived experiences. Men don’t go to the barbershop...
Sigh. I’m going to get into a lot of trouble for this. I know some women already have their left hooks ready and feminists are flexing their muscles. I’ll start by saying all this is my opinion and I always stand to be corrected and ladies, we love you ;)