Former NFLer-turned-actor Terry Crews is challenging men to stand up to violence against women by challenging notions of “hyper-masculinity” pervasive in today’s popular culture.
Crews, who is known for his role as the “Old Spice Guy” in the popular commercials and as a former NFL player, was a keynote speaker at the Toronto seminar for What Makes a Man, a new White Ribbon campaign aimed at promoting a new vision of masculinity. The campaign follows several high-profile cases of alleged abuse in the NFL and media world.
Crews said it’s pride that is “killing” men everywhere.
“Guys need to really empathize with people,” Crews said on CTV News Channel Friday. “The pride that men have, all this bluster, it needs to be challenged. Because when you look at the environment and what has occurred is that men have deemed themselves more valuable than women in all these cultures.
"We need to re-evaluate what we think is important.”
Growing up with a father who physically abused his mother, Crews said he sought out positive male role models in the community and tried to emulate them. But it turned out to be a lifelong effort for Crews, a once self-described alpha male.
Even as an adult, Crews said he often isolated himself from his family, blaming them for his problems. After alienating his wife and children, Crews said he transformed his approach to life.
“I knew I needed to change and becoming a man, for me, is when you begin to take responsibility for everything in your life, good and bad,” Crews said. “Once I started taking responsibility for my life, that’s when I became a man.”
Crews documented his own journey in his book, “Manhood: How to Be a Better Man -- or Just Live with One."
More attention is being drawn to violence against women following several high-profile incidents in the NFL, but Crews said it’s not up to the league to “parent” the players who have allegedly committed acts of violence.
“The corporations can’t care about you that way,” Crews said. “You need a significant other, you need some way to speak to your life and you have to be open to it.”
