In this episode of The Inclusive Dad podcast, host AAron welcomes Jack Kammer, retired social worker and men's advocate, for a heartfelt discussion about the importance of fatherhood, inclusion, and nurturing masculinity. They explore the often-overlooked role of dads in special education spaces, societal expectations around gender roles, and the subtle pressures men face when choosing caregiving over career ambition. With personal stories and powerful insights, this episode challenges assumptions and invites listeners to reflect on how we value care, inclusion, and equity for all—including dads, sons, and daughters alike.

Key Takeaways:

Nurturing Masculinity – Jack highlights how society often undermines men’s natural capacity to nurture, especially in caregiving roles.

Invisible Exclusion – AAron shares how school systems subtly exclude students with disabilities through lowered expectations and separate environments.

Fatherhood Bias – Both guests discuss how dads are either dismissed or overly praised for being involved, revealing deep-rooted gender stereotypes.

Systemic Barriers – They expose how funding gaps and profit motives influence the education and employment options for people with disabilities.

Power of Presence – AAron’s decision to prioritize his daughter's care over work disrupts traditional provider narratives and centers love in action.

Jack’s definition of inclusion:

Inclusion is feeling good, human, loved, appreciated, part of society and part of the community by being welcomed in through the closed door.

Jack’s Bio:

After getting my Masters in Social Work in 2008, I did a year as a Correctional Officer (AKA Jail Guard) in the infamous Baltimore City Detention Center. Followed that with a year as a Parole & Probation Agent in central Baltimore. Then went to work for National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) as a trainer for various state correctional systems to teach prison staff how to run NFI's "InsideOut Dad" program for incarcerated fathers.

Started a social work consultancy called Working Well With Men whose mission was to provide "tools and training for the Social Work profession to help men give and get all the love they can."

In 1994 St. Martin's Press published my book Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes, a collection of interviews I conducted with twenty-two women, most of whom identified as feminist, all of whom were ready, willing, able and even eager to talk not just about women's disadvantages as women, but also their advantages, and not just about men's advantages as men, but also their disadvantages.

In perhaps one of the earliest examples of what has come to be known as Cancel Culture, several St. Martin’s staff members expressed displeasure with the book’s challenge of orthodox feminism and all sales and promotion efforts for the book ceased. Good Will Toward Men went nowhere, except to bookstores' remainder bins. After that I expressed my emotions with a wry and pithy book called If Men Have All the Power How Come Women Make the Rules. I self published that book as my agent couldn't find an established publisher to take it on. Ironically, that book has proven to be my most popular and successful.

Connect with Jack:

Website: https://www.malefriendlymedia.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLW85qrmP5ezOvz1M--INw

Substack: https://mensturn.substack.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malefriendlymedia/

SPAM© Count:

Host:

Yes

Current Guest:

No

Cumulative Guest Stats:

Yes - 39

No - 53

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