Milk for Tea & The Modern Gentleman
Milk for Tea was founded as a platform to introduce, encourage and promote the modern gentleman. Through my blog and events I hope to inspire men to live in excellence while I endeavour to do so myself. Excellence at its core is about raising the standards for ourselves which inadvertently helps progress the standard of those around us and our community as a whole.
The modern gentleman is a vehicle by which modern men can express themselves authentically while maintaining their male identity. The notion gives freedom for men to break free from the often times supressive ideologies of masculinity that we’re continually being shown through our society and the media.
In popular culture we are often shown men portrayed in a somewhat archaic manner. Many of us have been conditioned to harbour our emotions and to strive for ultimate physical appearance to gain the rights of “being masculine”. The modern gentleman is here to break that mold and to showcase a more varied portrayal of the nature of men.
As people we are dynamic, there are various elements that help make up who we are as individuals and it is important for us to be able to express the various sides of ourselves. Whether through our sense of dress, taste in music or anything else the ability to have the person we portray to others be in sync with who we really are is sometimes a challenge to nurture.
Social restrictions and the increasingly blurred lines of gender roles have caused various issues within the male community. At the age of 25 I am living life as a Millennial witnessing many of my male peers walking a fine line between wanting to be chivalrous and polite and feeling the pressure to fight against it.
I often times romanticize about the gentlemen of yester years. Whether it is Paul Newman, Sean Connery or Alain Delon, there was something about the men of the past that exuded so much overt masculinity but it was all channeled through being respectable individuals and being courteous to those around you. I think that this has probably been one of the reasons why modern men are looking to those who have come before us to help us navigate moving forward.
One of the ways Milk for Tea is aiming to help men is by showcasing a broad scope of modern day people who personify the ideals of the modern gentleman. These are men who are are committed to the progression of their thoughts and actions and would like to see a positive shift in male culture, a change that would allow more room for growth in how men view and conduct themselves.
Being excellent and living in excellence can look many different ways. For some of us it is striving to be better fathers, brothers, boyfriends and friends, for others it can be finally pulling off the perfect smart-casual look for the office. No matter what our individual pursuits may be the modern gentleman welcomes us all in to do it the best we possibly can.