Uniting Gentlemen Around the World

This week, two events made me think about the future of Gentologie. First, Gentologie welcomed its first subscriber from Hungary, a country I would love to visit someday (if you are reading us, welcome). Second, I watched the video interview with Tyler Brûlé, editorial director and chairman of Monocle, an immense source of inspiration as we work to grow our niche media outlet. An outlet that, in my view, has a global reach. I’ll explain why in the next few lines.

Connecting these two events, I realized what I had already sensed: a media outlet for gentlemen should not be limited to Québec, or even to Canada. It can and must take root all over the planet. While keeping Montréal as our home base, we want to grow well beyond our borders.

Being a gentleman, as I have often said, is not first and foremost about being elegant like James Bond (whose new actor should be unveiled in the coming weeks, if we go by what is circulating, and many of us are eagerly awaiting the news). Elegance is actually the last pillar of the gentleman, even though it is often the one we notice first. One of the first pillars is, of course, our conduct: how we act and carry ourselves in society, how we treat others (men, women, different communities, the most vulnerable, the less fortunate, etc.), in every sphere of life, whether in sports, leisure, at work, on the street, at the restaurant and so on. Next come general knowledge and continuous personal growth, to name only those.

Being a gentleman means being a feminist, wanting women to smash through glass ceilings and even handing them the ladder to do it. It means fighting, figuratively (please do not fight gentlemen), against masculinists, online hate, conspiracy theorists and fake news. Above all, it means standing for equality for everyone, regardless of orientation. That is why I believe Gentologie has no borders: good conduct is not limited to one culture, one language or one passport. It isn’t complicated, it’s a matter of common sense. We only have to look around us.

This solidarity applies to how we consume, too. As the holiday season approaches fast, ask yourself whether that Black Friday or Cyber Monday purchase is truly necessary, or whether it could be replaced by a donation to a good cause: a foundation that helps keep the social safety net healthy, or a cause that touches you directly. It is also good for you, since donations above a certain amount entitle you to a tax credit. It is truly important not to leave anyone behind! I also invite the public relations and communications agencies that follow us to set aside, for each project, a part of the advertiser’s budget for a donation to a cause. The amount planned for producing promotional bags, for example, could be redirected there: we receive more and more of them, and their environmental value is increasingly questionable.

If you can, and if you believe in our mission, a paid subscription to Gentologie is the most concrete way to support it. It is what allows us to produce serious, journalism-quality content, to recruit renowned contributors and to offer a diversity of viewpoints. It is also what allows me to devote myself to Gentologie with a decent salary, and to remain independent of any outside pressure. Thank you for helping us go further.