About

Welcome to The Art of Manliness- a blog dedicated to uncovering the lost art of being a man.

The Art of Manliness is authored by husband and wife team, Brett and Kate McKay. It features articles on helping men be better husbands, better fathers, and better men. In our search to uncover the lost art of manliness, we’ll look to the past to find examples of manliness in action. We’ll analyze the lives of great men who knew what it meant to “man up” and hopefully learn from them. And we’ll talk about the skills, manners, and principles that every man should know. Since beginning in January 2008, The Art of Manliness has already gained 53,000+ subscribers and continues to grow each week.

Why the Art of Manliness?

My idea for the Art of Manliness came about as I was standing in Borders bookstore looking at the men’s magazines. It seemed to me that the content in these magazines were continually going downhill, with more and more articles about sex and how to get six pack abs. Was this all there was to being a man?

And as I looked around at the men my age, it seemed to me that many were shirking responsibility and refusing to grow up. They had lost the confidence, focus, skills, and virtues that men of the past had embodied and were a little lost. The feminism movement did some great things, but it also made men confused about their role and no longer proud of the virtues of manliness. This, coupled with the fact that many men were raised without the influence of a good father, has left a generation adrift as to what it means to be an honorable, well-rounded man.

Talking about honorable manliness was to me a niche seemingly not covered on the web or elsewhere, and I decided to start The Art of Manliness to talk about all things manly- both the serious and the fun, but with the ultimate eye toward encouraging readers to be better husbands, fathers, brothers, men.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, nor do I claim that I’m an expert on all things manly. I started this blog not because I had all the answers to being a man, but because I wanted to explore the questions with other men. Thankfully, I’ve found a whole community of men who wish to discover the lost art of manliness too.

About the Writers

Brett and Kate McKay. Me (Brett) and my wife Kate are the main content creators on the site. We live in Tulsa, OK. I grew up in Edmond, OK, a suburb of Oklahoma City and I attended the University of Oklahoma. I took a break in college to live in Tijuana, Mexico for two years doing service. After graduating with a BA in Letters, I then went on to pursue my lifelong goal of going to law school. While attending the University of Tulsa College of Law, I started the Art of Manliness as something fun to do in my spare time. But the website really took off and took over my life. It turned into a full-time job. So after graduating law school in the top 10 of my class in May 2009, I decided to forgo a career as a lawyer and devote myself completely to The Art of Manliness, much to the chagrin of my parents. I’m deeply grateful for everyone who has supported AoM and kept me from taking the bar!

My wife, Kate McKay, grew up in Tulsa, OK. She graduated from BYU with a BA in History in 2003 and then spent a year in San Francisco volunteering with Americorps. In 2006 she received her Masters in Religion from Oklahoma City University. She has taught American History and Humanities at Tulsa Community College. We got hitched in Oklahoma City in May 2005.

Contributing Writers

Chris Hutcheson or Hutch (as he’s known by friends) recently graduated with a Master’s Degree in International Relations at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Born and raised in Virginia Beach, VA, he loves playing rugby, exploring the world, and having adventures of all sorts. In his spare time he reads Hemingway and nurses his inner desire to be just like Indiana Jones.

Antonio Centeno is one of the founders of A Tailored Suit, an online maker of custom suits and clothing. Tony is AoM’s resident fashion expert and writes articles on classic men’s style.