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Three insideMAN book contributors to speak at Being A Man festival

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Three of the fantastic writers who contributed to the insideMAN book are to speak at the Being A Man festival at London’s Southbank Centre this weekend.

The three-day festival, which aims to “address the challenges and pressures of masculine identity in the 21st century”, will feature former Loaded editor and Telegraph Men columnist Martin Daubney; Leading men’s personal development practitioner, Kenny D’Cruz and the man who coined the term “metrosexual”, writer and journalist Mark Simpson.

Daubney will lead an afternoon mentoring session and appear on a panel discussion addressing the impact of pornography; D’Cruz, known as ‘The Man Whisperer’, will feature as one of the speakers in “Bam Bites”, to talk about what it means to be a more authentic man; and Simpson will appear on a panel discussion entitled, Mad Men, X Men and Grand Theft Auto, to explore what impact the limited depictions of men in the media may be having on men in real life.

Each writer has fascinating and challenging contributions in the insideMAN book. Daubney’s article, White Male Football Fans: The Scum it’s Great to Hate, unpicks the double standards and prejudices of the mainstream media towards working class white men; D’Cruz’s article, The Day I Realised I’d Married My Wife into a Lifetime of Racism, explores his heartbroken response to racist abuse towards his wife while they were on their honeymoon; while Simpson’s article, Crisis? What Crisis?, is a razor-sharp, not to mention very funny, dissection of the objectification of the modern male body.

To read these powerful stories and many more buy the insideMAN book here!

Now in its second year, the festival will take place from Friday 27th November to Sunday 29th November at London’s Southbank Centre.

The festival is billed as “a frank, thoughtful and often humorous look at the challenges, pressures, myths and pleasures around being born a male in today’s society. Traditional roles are changing and yet for many expectations of what makes a ‘proper man’ remain intact.”

Discussions slated for the weekend include, “everything from fatherhood to fitness, depression to racial stereotypes, the power of sport, the complications of monogamy, pornography, violence, the importance of banter and why James Bond won’t die!”

You can see each of the insideMAN book’s great writers speak in the flesh at the following times during the weekend:

  • Mark Simpson on media portrayals of men: Saturday, Level 5 Function Room at Royal Festival Hall 12.30pm – 1.30pm
  • Martin Daubney’s porn debate: Saturday, Level 5 Function Room at Royal Festival Hall 3.30pm – 4.30pm
  • Kenny D’Cruz’s exploration of what it means to be a more authentic man: Sunday, Festival Village under Queen Elizabeth Hall 12.30pm – 1.30pm

For more information about the Being A Man festival, including a full schedule of events and how to buy tickets, visit the festival website here.

insideMAN signs open letter castigating CPS for “misleading and damaging” report that airbrushes out male victims

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In a letter published today in the Guardian newspaper, 30 of Britain’s leading experts in abuse recovery, child protection and men’s health have called upon Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders and other public bodies to reaffirm commitment to addressing and supporting the needs of all victims of intimate and sexual violence.

The letter explains how last week’s CPS report entitled ‘Violence against Women and Girls, Crime Report 2014-15’ seriously misled the public by counting male victims of intimate crimes including rape, sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence as victims of crimes against women and girls. As the accompanying data section made clear (but the text of the report did not) crimes against more than 13,000 men and boys were included in the statistics, equivalent to around one in six of all victims described.

It goes on to say:

Your article (More people than ever being convicted of violence against women, figures show, The Guardian, 25 June) was inaccurate and damaging. It is simply untrue to say, “about 107,100 cases concerning violence against women and girls were prosecuted over the [past] 12 months.”

Responsibility for this error, however, lies not with your staff but with the Crown Prosecution Service and their report, misleadingly entitled ‘Violence Against Women And Girls, Crime Report 2014-15.’

Despite the title, this analysis included more than 13,000 male victims of crimes including rape, sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence. Many will have been gay or transgender, many will have had their children or dependents affected.

Designating these men and boys as victims of crimes “against women and girls” not only misleads the public about the complex and diverse dynamics of abuse, but also serves to conceal and marginalise the experiences of all male survivors of intimate and sexual crimes while perpetuating the myth that “real men” don’t get raped, abused or become victims of domestic violence.

Victims of intimate violence face significant psychological barriers to reporting these events. Some fear they will not be believed, or even cast as the perpetrator. Those who find the courage to report their abuse to the authorities often say they are motivated less by the need for justice or revenge but for validation that what happened to them was real and was wrong.

Many men tell us  that the experience of intimate violation has left them feeling like ‘less than a man’ making interaction with authorities even more complex and challenging. For those same authorities to publicly disregard this and erase the experiences of around one in six of all victims is unjust and a cruel betrayal of their bravery.

We fully support drives to eliminate intimate and sexual violence and understand that focussing on female victims is central to this. It is also essential that we retain due consideration for male victims of these crimes. We call on the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders and all public bodies to affirm their commitment to addressing and eliminating intimate violence against human beings of any gender and to take care in future not to compromise the dignity and public understanding of any survivors.

Yours etc.

Ally Fogg, Writer and journalist
Michael May, Director, Survivors UK
Duncan Craig, CEO, Survivors Manchester
Jane Powell, CEO, CALM, the Campaign Against Living Miserably
Mark Brooks, Chair, The Mankind Initiative
Nick Smithers, National Development Officer, Abused Men in Scotland
Bob Balfour, Founder, Survivors West Yorkshire
Prof. Damien Ridge, Professor of Health Studies, University of Westminster
Dr John Barry, UCL Medical School
Dr Nicola Graham-Kevan, Reader in Psychology, University of Central Lancashire
Dr Mike Hartill, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Sport, Edge Hill University
Dr Ben Hine, Lecturer in Psychology, University of West London
Dr Melanie Lang, Senior Lecturer in Child Protection in Sport, Edge Hill University
Dr Michelle Lowe, Lecturer in criminological and forensic psychology, University of Bolton
Dr Luke Sullivan, Clinical Psychologist and Director of Men’s Minds Matter
Anthony Murphy, Lecturer in Psychology, University of West London
Dan Bell, Features Editor, insideMan magazine
Martin Daubney, Journalist, broadcaster and committee member, Being A Man Festival
Brian Dempsey, Lecturer, School of Law, University of Dundee
Richard Duncker, Founder, Men Do Complain
Alex Feis-Bryce, Director of Services, National Ugly Mugs
Justin Gaffney, CEO, MSH Health & Wellbeing
Glen Poole, UK Coordinator, International Men’s Day
Shane Ryan, CEO, Working With Men
Martin Seager, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Mark Sparrow, Journalist
Simone Spray, CEO, 42nd Street
Gijsbert Stoet, Reader in Psychology, University of Glasgow
Martyn Terry Sullivan, CEO, Mankind Counselling
Tina Threadgold, Trustee, UKNSWP

 

Buy your tickets for this great masculinity debate in London!

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Get your diary out because insideMAN is holding its first public event in September to celebrate the launch of the insideMAN book and we’d love you to be there.

We’re hosting a lively evening of debate with some of the UK’s leading commentators on men, masculinity and manhood at The Sanctuary in Central London.

The event features five great speakers who have contributed to the insideMAN book and takes place on Friday, 11th September at 7pm.

Anyone who’s interested in men’s issues in the UK will want to hear how our guests responds to our question for the evening: “If masculinity is in crisis, what needs to change, men or society?”

You can expect a challenging, thought-provoking and inspiring range of responses from our five speakers:

Supporting this event will help us raise funds to publish our first book, which is a collection of great stories about men, manhood and masculinity, which we will be unveiling once the debate has concluded.

The crowd-funder for this book closes on July 10th, so if you want to support this project you can make a donation as follows:

  • Order the insideMAN eBook for £8 today
  • Buy your ticket for this event for £10 now
  • Get an eBook and an event ticket for £17
  • Order the paperback for £12
  • Get the paperback and an event ticket for £21
  • Get a limited edition hardback for £21
  • Be a VIP at the launch for £50

To buy your tickets for this event or order your book visit our indiegogo webpage now.

—Picture Credit: Jacqui Clark

10 Great British writers on men’s issues you should read keep an eye on in 2015

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As Christmas approaches and 2014 draws to a close, our news editor Glen Poole lists some of his favourite writers on UK men’s issues.

As I drew up this list I was struck at how vibrant the conversation about men’s issues has become in the past year. This is partly because of the growth of online media like the wonderful insideMAN (of course); partly because more people who have been around the men’s movement for years are taking time to publish their thinking and partly because there are (I think), more people than ever before engaged in conversations by, for and about men in the UK and worldwide.

This is good news and I for one would love to see this list of writers growing exponentially in 2015. If we are to tackle the many different issues affecting men and boys  then it is vital that we build a critical mass of people who are informed about men’s issues and engaged in conversations that make a difference.

If you don’t write yourself, you can still play your part by reading, commenting on and sharing what these writers have to say. You could also become a writer yourself in 2015 and share your thinking with the world. If you have an idea for an article then why not get in touch with insideMAN? Make it your resolution for next year.

Also,  if there are people writing about men’s issues that you admire and think we should be aware of do please let us know in the comments section.

Enough of the preamble. Here, in no particular order, is my list of favourite UK men’s issues writers from 2014:

1. Ally Fogg

If you don’t know him yet, Ally Fogg is a left-wing social commentator who has carved a regular slot for himself at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free section where he has become their “go to guy” for men’s issues. While he writes on various subjects, his dedication to the gender conversation is such that he blogs regularly on the subject at Freethought Blogs where a lively debate is guaranteed under each article. I admire Ally for his rigour in digging through research and statistics that others don’t bother with and for  attempting to view each argument on its merits rather that from a position of ideological prejudice—and he’s a lefty so you can generally rely on him to see the world from a “patriarchy hurts men too” perspective.

Classic Ally Fogg article: The five little words that betrayed Emma Watson 

2. Neil Lyndon

2014 has seen the welcome return of Neil Lyndon to the “men’s issues” debate with regular contributions at Telegraph Men. Neil was one of the first men to dare to put forward the radical idea that men and boys, as a gender, experience sexism, discrimination and inequality. This simple idea is still as radical today as it was over 20 years ago when he first published his seminal work on men women, No More Sex War. He is older, perhaps more socially conservative than Fogg and while he is more connected to men’s issues on a personal level seems to have less understanding of how social policy on gender is practically delivered. However, he is no ranting, irrational misogynist; he is a rigorous and intellectual commentator whose writings provide a vital, counter-cultural viewpoint from the frontline of gender politics.

Classic Neil Lyndon article: Abortion: why aren’t men allowed a say? 

3. Duncan Fisher

I’ve know Duncan longer than anyone on this list as he commissioned my first ever article about “men’s issues” nearly 15 years ago, for  a website called Fathers Direct (a project that became the Fatherhood Institute). Duncan is the most pro-feminist man on this list. He believes that men’s equal participation in parenting is key to delivering equality for women, but rather than taking the finger wagging “why don’t men pull their weight” approach, he proudly advocates for the benefits of involved parenthood and highlights the barriers that prevent men from having an equal opportunity to be an involved parent. I find Duncan’s “Mums and Dads Net” facebook page a useful source of articles I wouldn’t otherwise find and have to commend him for producing the most popular insideMAN article of 2014—four reasons feminism is alienating teenage boys.

Classic Duncan Fisher article: “Do men do their fare share of housework?” This is a sexist statement.

4. Chris  Good 

In contrast to the old hands like Fisher, Fogg and Lyndon; Chris Good is a newcomer who’s made his mark in the past few months. At the risk of sounding like Louis Walsh on the X-Factor—he reminds me of a young Neil Lyndon. He seems raw from  personal experience and driven to make sense of the debate around gender and find a way to make it work for both men and women (as demonstrated by the name of his blog is All For Equality). Chris has taken a stand against the feminist narrative around gender and writes in an open, vulnerable and honest way as a man who seems to be evolving and defining his own gender politics as he writes. He gained some notoriety this year by having his articles removed from the newly formed Huffington Post Men, but more interesting than this incident is the intelligent way he responded to it (see classic Good below):

Classic Chris Good vlog: Feminism has the power to silence opposition in the media

5. Martin Daubney 

Just like Chris Good, Martin Daubney has the sense of a writer who’s developing his gender politics and working out his perspective with each new article. Like Chris, he’s critical of feminism, but not coming from an entrenched anti-feminist perspective, rather questioning feminist perspectives on gender and inviting discussion and debate. Daubney has the additional advantage of a having an existing track record as a journalist and editor as the longest serving editor of Loaded magazine. He has been writing on men’s issues at Telegraph Men throughout 2014.

Classic Martin Daubney article: Why men have a problem with the word feminism 

6. Dan Bell

Dan’s my partner in crime at insideMAN and has been pushing mainstream media outlets to talk about men’s issues as a journalist for several years now, having worked for both BBC and ITN online (amongst others). Dan’s writing is rooted in journalistic integrity and you can rely on him to bring rigour and balance to his writing about men’s issues as his investigative work into funding for men’s health initiatives revealed in 2012. However, the writing I most enjoy from Dan happens when he puts himself into the story whether that’s visiting a military rehabilitation centre, recalling a fight between two women or reflecting on a conversation about boys between mothers on  a London bus.

Classic Dan Bell article: Why Kitchener’s finger gives me the arsehole

7. Karen Woodall 

The only woman on this list and deservedly so. Karen works on the frontline with men and women who are alienated from their children after separation is groundbreaking. She’s had her mind on the challenges of gender inequality for years and after decades of approaching life as a proud feminist, she is now a born again anti feminist. I don’t listen too carefully to her passionate anti-feminist tirades—like a scorned lover I know she only has bad things to say about feminism—but her writing about the reality of working with men and women and children on the frontline of family breakdown is peerless. The world needs more Karen Woodalls! If you want to take an in depth journey into gender politics of social policy in 2015, start reading Karen’s blog on a regular basis.

Classic Karen Woodall article: Gas-lighting masculinity: the dimming of post-separation fatherhood

8. John Adams

It’s great to see the growing number of UK daddy bloggers who are taking time to record their experiences of fatherhood—many of whom you can see featured at Love All Dads. My personal favourites are those who can step back and see their experience within the context of broader gender politics. A great example is John Adams who can go from writing articles about baby changing facilities and men’s fashion ranges to interviewing Nick Clegg or an SNP representative on Scotland’s Equal Opportunities Committee. You can follow John on at Dad Blog UK.

Classic John Adams article: Discussing family friendly, flexible working with Nick Clegg 

9. Milo Yiannopoulos

Milo Yiannopoulos is a controversial journalist and entrepreneur who appears to have been drawn into the gender debate via his interest in technology. He is writing a book on GamerGate which in his words “represents a brutal clash of worlds: put-upon, basement-dwelling nerds and the bloggers and feminists who have for years been claiming that video games are hateful, misogynistic and should be censored”. As a highly intelligent, provocative and influential writer (currently writing at Breitbart and Business Insider) he has recently positioned himself as a fearsome defender of men who feel unfairly attacked by feminism. Whether he continues to write on “men’s issues” in 2015 remains to be seen.

Classic Milo Yiannopoulos article: What is ‘manspreading’ and why are people angry about it?

10. Glen Poole

I know, I know it’s highly self-congratulatory to list yourself as one of your own favourite writers (and definitely weird to refer to yourself in the third person) but I love writing about men’s issues and I do enjoy looking back on my articles from time to time, so stuff it, I’m including myself in this list. If you want to take a look at what I’ve been up to this year, you’ll find much of it here at insideMAN; my Guardian and Telegraph articles are bookmarked over at Journalisted and then there’s one article at Huffington Post Men that I may add to in the coming year.

Classic Glen Poole article: It’s International Men’s Day so let’s give men a break 

A FEW OTHER WRITERS AND WEBSITES WORTH KEEPING AN EYE ON

—Photo Credit: flickr/Jimmy Brown

Article by Glen Poole author of the book Equality For Men

If you liked this article and want to read more, follow us on Twitter @insideMANmag and Facebook

 

 

Poll finds 86% of respondents think society is more suspicious of men after Harris conviction

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An online poll by Telegraph Men has found 86% of respondents believe society is more suspicious of men in general as a result of the conviction of Rolf Harris.

The poll asked: “Do you feel that society has become more suspicious of men generally in the wake of the conviction of Rolf Harris?”

As of 20:00 on Thursday 10 July, 86.57% — or 864 votes – said yes, while 13.43% — 134 votes – said no.

The results were reflected in reports of everyday men’s experiences by the BBC.

In a BBC Radio 5 Live phone-in on Monday 7 July, several men said they felt surrounded by a sense of suspicion, while others described instances of being openly accused of being paedophiles.

‘It’s there all the time’

Several men were asked if they would feel comfortable going to help a child who they did not know who was in distress.

One man said: “If you do see a kid on the road, yes it does cross your mind that people might think there’s something sinister going on with yourself.

“It’s there all the time, it’s always in your mind. I mean when I was growing up it wasn’t, but it’s in your mind now.”

Another said: “It’s probably more difficult for a man, than it is for a woman. A woman would be accepted to do it. Sometimes a man, he could be misconstrued.”

‘Paedophile at the school gates’

A third man said: “You might be a bit paranoid, maybe, because of what’s happened and the perception that people have on, maybe, solo men now going up to a young child, but if they are still a lost child I don’t think that would change what I would do.”

Journalist and editor Martin Daubney described being aggressively verbally abused by a passer-by after he stopped to say hello to his son in the playground of his son’s new school.

Daubney said: “I was passing my son’s school, he only started school in reception last September, and it just happened to be a lucky occasion when he was outside playing in the playground.

“So I sort of stood by the school gates and I attempted to peer through, to catch a glimpse of my son – a magical moment, I thought — but a man at the bus stop had other ideas and he just came straight over and just went into a tirade of abuse really — ‘what the F are you doing?’ — and I was overwhelmed by his reaction and it sank in really quickly that of course he thought I was some sort of paedophile at the school gates.

‘It’s omnipresent’

“I was absolutely mortified that this had happened and I found myself being really apologetic and I kind of trotted off and then I felt furious afterwards, that even a son at the school gates and a father trying to catch a glimpse, was put under this magnifying glass of suspicion and I think it’s omnipresent now.”

He added: “I think the real sad thing about this is it’s actually having a real effect in the real world – if you go to primary schools, my son is in primary school, I went to about nine local schools and I was just struck by the total paucity of male primary teachers

“Males aren’t coming forward to be primary teachers because of the fear of being labelled as paedophiles, it’s just terribly sad. My son has got a male primary teacher next year and there’s only one in the school.”

By Dan Bell

Photo courtesy OliBac

What do you think is the impact of constant media reports of men as sexual offenders?

Do you think these reports are affecting the way society sees men? How do you think these reports are affecting the way men see themselves? What effect do you think these messages are having on men’s relationships with children?

Do you think these reports are an accurate reflection of men’s behaviour in general? Is a heightened sense of suspicion around all men, a price worth paying to bring perpetrators of abuse to justice?

Please tell us in a comment or a Tweet.