TALL TALES

There’s a palace I go
And I am far away.
There’s a TV show
And I can grow.

Sometimes the hero takes me,
Sometiems I don’t let go
Hello, Hello.

- U2, Stories for Boys

I am part of a generation of young men who cannot definte masculinity. We are the suburban men. We asked girls out over instant messenger. We chose video games over sports, and Pokémon over boyscouts. Our fathers commuted to work and our mothers followed soon after, so we were raised by TV and moves and culture. Sesame Street told each of us we were special, but we found out being special isn’t always great.

We grew up in communities where anything wild was quarantined within a box called the backyard. Our teachers told us to “sit still and behave”. We were diverse by the colors of our skin and the beliefs of our hearts, but we played in the same suburban yard with the same suburban toys as our neighbors.

I was too small to play football, so I stayed home and beame the heros I saw in books and movies and music and other tall tales.

Corey Vaughan, Spring 2010