"Brutally fragile types. Men and feelings" - book premiere

Are feelings still a challenge for men? Ole Liebl provides a well-founded and differentiated analysis that nevertheless appeals to the community of all genders.

We know them, the silent men. Men who can't or don't want to talk about their emotions. And when they do show feelings, it is mainly anger or pride, but rarely deep sadness, exuberant joy or vulnerable love.

Even after over a hundred years of feminist struggle, the male inability to deal with feelings is still lamented by women and queer people. Many are exhausted by the one-sided emotional work and suffer the consequences. But men also pay a high price for the atrophy of their emotional lives: their loneliness and suicide rates, as well as their drug consumption, are significantly higher than the average for women.

"Patriarchy" is identified as the cause of this misery, "all men" are called upon to change, and such terms activate us for feminist struggles. But a hasty generalization overlooks the multi-layered connections between feelings and masculinity, which mean that we are still not emotionally on an equal footing.

"Brutally Fragile Guys" will be published by Harper Collins Germany on March 24, 2026