Now and Men

Gary Barker has been a trailblazer in the field of men and masculinities for over thirty years. He is the co-founder and CEO of Equimundo (formerly known as Promundo-US and Instituto Promundo), which does a wide range of innovative work and research with men and boys for gender justice across the globe. We explore his own personal story of how he came to be involved in efforts against violence and for gender equality, and how his own ‘journey’ overlaps with the development of the organisations he has led. As well as hearing from Gary about some of the exciting current elements of this work, we discuss the political turbulence in the United States (where he is based) and Brazil (where he has lived for over fifteen years) in the midst of elections in the two countries. Gary also shares with us his experience of writing fiction, and the conversation ends with him reading a passage from his novel ‘The Museum of Lost Love’.

• Find out more about Equimundo and follow them on social media via https://equimundo.org
• On 8th November 2022 the Global Boyhood Initiative launched a report called ‘The State of UK Boys’ - read it here: https://boyhoodinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/State-of-UK-Boys-Long-Report.pdf (pdf)
• Watch the launch event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efxq6M9ESAM
• Find out more about Gary’s fiction writing: https://garytbarker.com

We discuss the following topics in the episode:

• How Gary became involved in working on issues of masculinity, violence and gender equality in the first place
• Gary’s PhD in Developmental Psychology, which researched young men’s experiences of growing up in societies with high levels of violence, and led to the book ‘Dying to be Men’ (more info:https://www.routledge.com/Dying-to-be-Men-Youth-Masculinity-and-Social-Exclusion/Barker/p/book/9780415337755#)
• The history of Equimundo, and how Gary’s personal story maps onto that
• The International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) survey and generational shifts that can be observed from it
• The Global Boyhood Initiative – a collaboration with the Kering Foundation, Gillette, Plan International, and Meghan Markle (the Duchess of Sussex) and her new podcast Archetypes
• Caring masculinities, the MenCare global fatherhood campaign, and why caregiving is such an important part of engaging with men and boys 
• The political turmoil in the United States surrounding the midterm elections - from the attack on Capitol Hill, to the rolling back of abortion rights, to the ever-increasing toll of gun violence
• Connections with the masculinist right-wing populism of the Bolsonaro government in Brazil
• The four fiction books Gary has written and how they connect to his other work
• Gary reads out and reflects on a passage from his novel ‘The Museum of Lost Love’ (2019), which is influenced by a real museum, the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb (more info: https://www.worldeditions.org/product/the-museum-of-lost-love/) 

More information:

• The Global Boyhood Initiative: https://boyhoodinitiative.org
• Lifting Limits are the organisation delivering the Global Boyhood Initiative in the UK: https://liftinglimits.org.uk/2022/05/gbiuk_launch/
• The MenCare global fatherhood campaign: https://men-care.org
• The International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES): https://www.menandgendersurvey.org
• Research with the Geena Davis Institute on representations of masculinity in boys’ television: https://www.equimundo.org/resources/if-he-can-see-it-will-he-be-it-representations-of-masculinity-in-boys-television/
• Article by Gary, Stephen and Sandy for the journal Men and Masculinities on ‘Covid-19 and Masculinities in Global Perspective’: https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X21100038
• The Equimundo report by Sandy and Stephen which influenced it: https://www.equimundo.org/resources/masculinities-and-covid-19-making-the-connections/
• A couple of times, Gary refers to ‘Raewyn’ – this is Prof Raewyn Connell, who we interviewed in episode 12: https://now-and-men.captivate.fm/episode/raewyn-connell

In this special 20th episode, Sandy and Stephen reflect on the year since we started Now and Men, and our experience of running the podcast so far. The episode was recorded live at a workshop at a conference called 'Boys at the Crossroads – Insights and Innovations in Young Masculinities', organised by Bristol Young Men’s Network in the UK on 14th October 2022. We discuss why we set the podcast up in the first place, what it has achieved thus far, and the role that podcasts and other media can play in engaging with men and boys about gender equality and influencing constructions of masculinity. In the second half of the episode, we also respond to a range of questions from the workshop participants.

The conversation was facilitated by Yaz Brien, who’s involved in Bristol Young Men’s Network, and has worked across the frontlines of homelessness, mental health, drug and alcohol recovery and domestic abuse, as well as on community reuse and nature-based projects. They’ve also been involved in grassroots organising and activism across multiple continents, including in worker, housing and community cooperatives. Many thanks to Yaz and the workshop participants for their brilliant contributions! If you would like to put a question or comment to us to discuss in a future episode, do contact us at [email protected].

Yaz is involved in the Transition Network: https://transitionnetwork.org/people/yaz-brien/, and has previously been a presenter on Ujima Radio, Bristol's Black-led community radio station: https://www.ujimaradio.com

Find out more about Bristol Young Men's Network: https://www.facebook.com/BristolYMN/. In the episode we also mention talks at the conference by Lewis Wedlock: https://www.lewiswedlock.com, and Nate Eisenstadt: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/nathan-eisenstadt

We discuss the following topics:

• Why we set up Now and Men
• What we wanted to achieve with the podcast, and how successful it's been so far
• The response we've received, and what we know about Now and Men's audience
• What's particularly excited us from the guests we've spoken to far, in relation to the conference theme of young masculinities
• How to have conversations about masculinity without creating further polarisation
• What the role of feminism is in the podcast
• How podcasts differ from other mediums and forms of engagement
• What we've learnt from the process and how it's changed us
• Advice for others looking to start a podcast
• Who we have in our mind's eye when creating the podcast

With the following questions from participants:

• How skills from academia can help with setting up a podcast
• How universities don't always provide welcoming environments for disadvantaged students
• Connections between the diversity of our guests
• How to deal with the limitations of what a podcast can achieve
• Should we strive for 'healthy masculinity', or seek to move away from it altogether?
• Difficulties with challenging gender stereotypes as parents
• How a historical perspective can help us understand how gender is constructed

What impact does domestic abuse have on boys when growing up? Why is it that so many young men who are ‘on-road’ or involved in gangs have experienced domestic abuse in the home as children? If the boundaries between being a ‘perpetrator’ and a ‘victim’ of violence are not always as clear cut as we might think, what implications does this have for trying to prevent violence from happening in the first place? We explore these challenging questions and more with Dr Jade Levell, who has recently written a book on her research entitled ‘Boys, Childhood Domestic Abuse and Gang Involvement: Violence at Home, Violence On-Road’, published by Bristol University Press in June 2022.

Jade is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Gender Violence at the University of Bristol, and is part of the Gender and Violence Research Centre there. Prior to her research career she was based for over ten years in organisations working to end gender-based violence, including a refuge for women and children, a rape crisis centre, and other projects supporting survivors.

Find out more about Jade’s work at https://jadelevell.com. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JadeLevell, and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jade-levell-88099830/. Buy her book: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/boys-childhood-domestic-abuse-and-gang-involvement

We cover the following topics in the episode: 

• The impacts domestic abuse has on boys (01:17 - 02:56)
• What childhood domestic abuse and gang involvement have to do with each other (02:56 - 11:33)
• What Raewyn Connell’s concept of ‘protest masculinity’ means and how it was relevant in Jade’s research (11:33 - 14:56)
• Why and how Jade uses ‘music elicitation’ in her work (14:56 - 18:41)
• Why when talking about serious youth violence, we rarely think about gender (18:41 - 21:37)
• The implications of Jade’s research for policy and practice on preventing violence (21:37 - 24:44)
• The ‘cycle of violence’ theory (24:44 - 28:00)
• The police killing of Chris Kaba and the impacts of stereotypes about young Black men (28:00 - 32:12)
• Why Jade decided to carry out research on domestic abuse and boys and men in the first place (32:12 - 36:54)
• Researching these issues as a parent (36:54 - 40:16)
• What effective work with domestic abuse perpetrators looks like (40:16 - 49:25)
• Three songs which help to tell Jade’s own life story (49:25 - 53:13)

Further reading:

• Piece by Jade for Transforming Society, ‘Invisible child victims of DVA become hyper-visible in gangs’ - https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2022/06/13/invisible-child-victims-of-dva-become-hyper-visible-in-gangs/
• Summary of policy recommendations from Jade’s book - https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2022/06/13/policy-briefing-boys-childhood-domestic-abuse-and-gang-involvement/
• Read more about Jade’s music elicitation method in the journal Sociological Review - https://thesociologicalreview.org/magazine/november-2021/methods-and-methodology/music-elicitation/
• Read more about Jade’s research on work with perpetrators of domestic abuse in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence - https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16425822261273
• ‘Protests across UK over killing of unarmed black man Chris Kaba’ (The Guardian) - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/17/protest-uk-met-police-killing-black-chris-kaba
• ‘A thousand young, black men removed from Met gang violence prediction database’ (The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/03/a-thousand-young-black-men-removed-from-met-gang-violence-prediction-database

For domestic abuse support in the UK, contact the National Helpline: https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk, the Men’s Advice Line: https://mensadviceline.org.uk, or the Respect Phoneline if you’re concerned about your own behaviour: https://respectphoneline.org.uk

How can we engage with men in the workplace about gender equality and masculinity? Sebastián Molano deals with this question on a day-to-day basis at Oxfam America, where he has facilitated a regular ‘men-identified’ group for the last 4.5 years, discussing men’s role in relation to gender justice issues such as privilege, accountability, and decolonisation. The group was established in part in response to sexual misconduct and power abuses by Oxfam staff which were uncovered in Haiti and other countries in 2017 and 2018.

Sebastián has been working at Oxfam America for over 5 years, and now leads their efforts to translate intersectional feminism commitments into practice. He has over 16 years of experience in the international development field, working in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Sebastián also discusses the Defying Gender Roles initiative he set up, navigating the challenges of fatherhood in a patriarchal society, and how workplaces should do more to encourage caregiving. Originally from Colombia and now living in Boston, we ask Sebastián about responses to the overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade abortion rights ruling in the US. Our conversation concludes by exploring the implications of Colombia recently electing its first ever left-wing president, and Sebastián’s experience of growing up in a society riven by conflict.

You can follow Sebastián on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastianmolano/ and Twitter: @JuanseMolano. Find out more about Oxfam America: https://www.oxfamamerica.org.

Read about the Defying Gender Roles project: https://www.defyingenderoles.org, and follow it on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/defyingenderoles/, and Twitter: https://twitter.com/Defygenderoles

We cover the following topics in this episode:

• Sebastián’s reflections on 4 years of fatherhood and trying to be a ‘feminist dad’
• Men’s experiences of parenting, our relationships with our own fathers, and with patriarchy
• The men-identified group Sebastián facilitates at Oxfam America
• Key lessons and advice about running a group discussing masculinity in the workplace
• Addressing the loneliness and lack of connection many men feel
• Changing the culture at Oxfam after cases of sexual misconduct in Haiti and other countries
• Promoting caregiving among men in the workplace
• Attacks on abortion rights in the US
• The recent election results in Colombia and what it means for gender equality
• Why Sebastián set up Defying Gender Roles

Further resources relevant to the episode:

• Sebastián’s piece, ‘How to become a feminist dad: Four years later’ - https://www.defyingenderoles.org/master-in-love/2022/8/5/how-to-become-a-feminist-dad-four-years-later
• bell hooks (2004) ‘The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love’ - https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Will-to-Change/bell-hooks/9780743456081
• David Spiegelhalter, ‘I’ve been meeting with the same group of men for 36 years – here’s what they’ve taught me’ (The Guardian) - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jul/23/meeting-same-group-men-years-david-spiegelhalter
• Gender at Work podcast episode 22, ‘Feminist Reckonings or Feminist Wrecking Balls?’ -https://genderatwork.org/podcast-episodes/episode-22-feminist-reckonings-or-feminist-wrecking-balls/
• Oxfam discussion paper ‘Feminist Futures: Caring for People, Caring for Justice and Rights’ (2020) by Kim Piaget, Clare Coffey, Sebastián Molano, and Maria José Moreno Ruiz - https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/handle/10546/621046
• Report by Sandy for Oxfam in 2018, ‘Gender Equality is Everyone’s Responsibility: Oxfam’s work engaging men and boys for gender justice’ - https://oxfam.app.box.com/s/2sk4nd2i74otsm7ukiki082k3ole3i3x
• Conversation UK article by Sandy and Stephen - ‘Roe v Wade: men benefit from abortion rights too – and should speak about them more’ - https://theconversation.com/roe-v-wade-men-benefit-from-abortion-rights-too-and-should-speak-about-them-more-185523
• Piece by Sebastián for Voice Male magazine, ‘Will peace ever get a chance in Colombia?’ - https://voicemalemagazine.org/will-peace-ever-get-a-chance-in-colombia/
• ‘What it means to be a man and the struggle for gender equality’, TEDx Talk by Sebastián, 20 March 2015 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io9vXNII7eI

Prisons can be hyper-masculine, harsh, hierarchical environments where there is a lot of pressure to be tough, never show weakness or emotion, and be prepared to use violence in order to survive. But is it possible to work with men in these spaces to unpack the rigid, restrictive expectations of masculinity that boys and men learn from wider society – and which might have played a part in why they are in prison in the first place? We talk to Dan Boyden, lead facilitator on the ‘Man Up’, ‘Family Man’ and ‘Fathers Inside’ programmes run by the UK charity Safe Ground, about how they do this in their work. We discuss how, in order to reduce crime, perhaps we need to not only work with individual men in prison, but also change prison cultures and the criminal justice system more broadly.

Safe Ground design and deliver arts-based programmes for people in prison and the community. Find out more (pdf): http://www.safeground.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Safe-Ground-A-Vision.pdf. Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Safe_Ground and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safe_ground/

Dan Boyden is also the director of an organisation called The Change Collective, which brings together creative practitioners seeking to use the arts as a tool for social change: https://www.thechangecollective.com. Follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-boyden-4517542b/. He has given a TED Talk on ‘Creativity and the Alchemy of Groups’: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_boyden_creativity_the_alchemy_of_groups

We cover the following topics in this episode:

• What the ‘Man Up’, ‘Family Man’ and 'Fathers Inside' programmes are about, and what Safe Ground’s work with men in prisons involves
• Challenges involved in doing group work with men in prison
• How the prisons themselves interact with Safe Ground’s work
• Shifts in penal policy in the UK towards more punitive responses
• Why Dan and Safe Ground use arts-based methods
• Engaging with men in prison about fatherhood
• What impacts the work has on the men who take part
• The need for more engagement with men and boys across society about masculine norms and expectations
• How Dan got involved in working on masculinity issues, and the impact the work has on him

Further reading:

• ‘Treatment of UK prisoners during Covid meets UN definition of torture’ (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/20/treatment-of-uk-prisoners-during-covid-meets-un-definition-of-torture
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
• Theatre of the Oppressed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed, and its founder, Augusto Boal: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augusto-Boal
• Poet, playwright and performer Inua Ellams: http://www.inuaellams.com
• ‘Growing Out of Crime’ by Andrew Rutherford, which discusses the work of Jerome Miller in Massachusetts, decarceration and young people: https://www.watersidepress.co.uk/books/growing-out-of-crime-9781872870496/
• A great US documentary, 'The Feminist on Cellblock Y': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYxTzsabkH8

The surging interest in Euro 2022, the Women’s European Championships taking place in England this summer, provides more evidence that we are in a ‘new age’ when it comes to coverage of women’s football. It highlights that much has been achieved in building gender equality in soccer in the UK and beyond. However, numerous recent issues, from questionable stadium choices to high-profile cases of sexual and domestic violence by male players, demonstrate there is still a long way to go, particularly in getting more men to become allies to women and speak out against sexism and misogyny at all levels in the game. In this episode of Now and Men, we talk to Dr Stacey Pope about her extensive research in this area – on issues from attitudes among male fans, to experiences of women in football – which gives vital insights into what the problems are and how things can be changed. 

Stacey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University. She studies issues of gender, sport and inequality and is a leading figure in research into women sports fans. She has written a book, ‘The Feminization of Sports Fandom: A Sociological Study’, published by Routledge in 2017: https://www.routledge.com/The-Feminization-of-Sports-Fandom-A-Sociological-Study/Pope/p/book/9780367233006

Follow Stacey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StaceyPope20 or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-pope-104a2a57/. Read more about her work: https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/stacey-pope/.

We discuss the following topics in the episode:

• Where Euro 2022 fits in the history of women’s football in England
• What the Women’s Euros tell us about gender equality in the game today
• Tackling violence against women in football
• Stacey’s research on attitudes among male fans towards women’s football
• Progressive shifts in masculinities in football
• Challenging stereotypes about football fans and working-class masculinities
• Stacey’s research on the history of female football fandom
• Experiences of women football fans today
• Where Stacey’s own interests in football come from
• How to build gender equality in the game, including examples from other countries
• How men in football can be allies to women
• Who will win the Euros!

Further reading:

• Just after we recorded the episode, an exciting new campaign was launched by the phone company EE called #HopeUnited #NotHerProblem, featuring several high-profile men and women players challenging sexist and misogynistic abuse online – https://www.eehopeunited.co.uk
• A recent piece by Stacey in The Conversation – ‘Why football needs a gender revolution’ – https://theconversation.com/why-football-needs-a-gender-revolution-182394
• Stacey’s research on ‘a new age’ of media coverage of women’s sport –  https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038518797505
• Stacey’s research on men’s attitudes towards women’s football: https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385211063359, and a summary of the findings: https://theconversation.com/women-in-sport-misogyny-among-male-fans-is-rife-but-progressive-masculinities-are-on-the-rise-175091
• The website for Stacey’s latest research on Women Football Fans – https://womenfootballfans.org
• Suzanne Wrack’s book, ‘A Woman's Game: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Women's Football’ (Guardian Faber, 2022) – https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9781783352159-a-womans-game/
• End Violence Against Women Coalition ‘Which Side Are You On?’ Campaign – https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/campaign/fa-and-premier-league-which-side-are-you-on/
• A piece by Stephen for Transforming Society – ‘Gareth Southgate’s England team have shown us more caring ways of being a man’ – https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2021/08/13/gareth-southgates-england-team-have-shown-us-more-caring-ways-of-being-a-man/
• Alex Scott’s BBC documentary, ‘The Future of Women’s Football’ – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61923505

Many older men, especially those who are socially isolated, face significant challenges – from physical ill-health, to loneliness, to marginalisation and poverty. These struggles can be compounded by the ‘hard shell’ of masculinity, learnt young and persisting through the life-course, which can leave some older men feeling a loss of a sense of purpose and potency, and prevent them from opening up about their vulnerabilities or the need for connection and support. Yet growing older can also provide opportunities for reflection, taking life in new directions, and leaving behind restrictive gendered expectations. 

In this episode of Now and Men, we have a moving conversation with Sé Franklin about the work he does with older men in Ireland on these issues – as well as the profound impact of doing ‘inner work’ guided by feminist principles. We consider some of the significant social change which has been taking place in Ireland – from divorce reform, to marriage equality, and abortion rights – and what it tells us about gender in Irish society today. The episode ends with Sé reading out a piece he has written on being an older man.

Sé Franklin has been ‘sitting with men in circles’ since 1997. He has worked with the Men's Development Network and other community-based organisations for many years. He has been part of the MenEngage Europe Network since its inception. He is a husband, father and grand-father, and lives in rural County Wexford in the South-East of the Republic of Ireland.

In this episode we cover the following topics:

• The group work Sé does with older men in Ireland
• The role of masculinity in this work and in older men’s lives
• The positive effects engaging with older men can have
• Having a men’s health strategy in Ireland
• The personal impacts that doing this work has
• How poetry can be used in engaging with men
• The value of doing inner work
• Stopping men’s violence against women in Ireland after the killing of Ashling Murphy
• The implications of ongoing social change in Ireland around divorce law reform, same-sex marriage and abortion
• Sé’s reading of his piece, ‘An Old Man’s Masculinities’

Links:

• Men’s Development Network - https://mensnetwork.ie
• We talk to Colm Kelly Ryan, Head of Programmes and Advocacy at the Men's Development Network, in episode 6, 'Men Marching Against Violence Against women' - https://now-and-men.captivate.fm/episode/seville-march
• White Ribbon Ireland - https://mensnetwork.ie/whiteribbon/  
• MenEngage Europe - https://menengage.org/region/europe/

Explainers:

• Irish Men’s Sheds Association - https://menssheds.ie
• ‘Calls for action on gender-based violence after Ashling Murphy killing’ (The Guardian) - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/17/calls-for-action-on-gender-based-violence-after-ashling-murphy-killing-ireland
• ‘Huge Republic of Ireland vote for gay marriage’ (BBC News) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32858501
• ‘Ireland votes by landslide to legalise abortion’ (The Guardian) -  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/26/ireland-votes-by-landslide-to-legalise-abortion
• ‘Jake Daniels: Blackpool player says coming out will allow him to be ‘free’ and ‘confident’’ (BBC Sport) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61467159
• ‘Divorce in Ireland - A controversial history’ (RTÉ) - https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2019/0505/1047643-divorce-history/
• Report by Sandy, ‘Working with Older Men: A Review of Age Concern Services’ (2006) - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237443978_Working_with_Older_Men

Luis Lineo was born in Ukraine to Chilean parents, and was raised there by a single mother. He moved to Sweden at the age of 12 as a refugee. As an adult, he became involved in work on masculinity, violence, and gender equality. We speak to him about the impact of watching on as his country of birth is invaded, and why masculinity and gender matter in the horrifying war on Ukraine. We also explore issues of inequality, integration, and violence in contemporary Sweden, and why Swedish society is more complicated than the beacon of gender equality it is often perceived to be.

Luis is actively involved in Sweden’s Feminist Initiative Party and works at the secretariat for MenEngage Europe (MenEngage is a global network of civil society organisations working with men and boys for gender equality). For over 15 years he has been a journalist and sexuality educator, and helps to run a media house called Fanzingo for young people in a low-income area south of Stockholm. He is an active member of MÄN, a leading organisation in Sweden and Europe working on preventing men’s violence against women and a range of other masculinity issues. He is also a fan of rugby, and used to play for the Swedish national men’s rugby team!

We cover the following topics in the episode:

• The impact of the war on Luis and his friends and family
• Luis’s life growing up in Ukraine – and what led him to move to Sweden
• Luis’s experience of hosting a Ukrainian refugee family since the war began
• Why a masculinities perspective is so relevant to the war in Ukraine
• Rapid changes in Swedish foreign policy – including potentially joining Nato
• Luis’s experience of being involved in the Feminist Initiative Party
• Gender equality, gender norms and backlash in Sweden, e.g. around parental leave
• Riots against the burning of the Quran in Sweden – and the influence of xenophobia and the far-right
• How Luis first got involved in gender equality work
• Being a rugby player, and masculine cultures in rugby

For more information...

• Follow Luis on Twitter - https://twitter.com/lucholineo
• Feminist Initiative Party - https://feministisktinitiativ.se/sprak/english/election-platform/
• MenEngage Alliance - https://menengage.org
• Media House Fanzingo - https://fanzingo.se/in-english/
• MÄN - https://mfj.se/en

Explainers:

• Sweden has not yet signed or ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) - https://www.icanw.org/sweden
• Malmö: Two women killed after violent attack at Swedish school (BBC) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60830059
• Swedish parental leave policy (Swedish Institute) - https://sweden.se/life/society/work-life-balance
• Women's Equality Party (UK) - https://womensequality.org.uk
• Sweden riots over Quran burning: What is happening? (Al Jazeera) -https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/19/what-do-we-know-about-the-sweden-riots
• Locker Room Talk (Sweden): https://lockerroomtalk.se
• Beyond Equality (UK): https://beyondequality.org
• UK Rwanda asylum plan: Who does it target and is it going to happen? (The Guardian) - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/apr/14/rwanda-asylum-plan-who-does-it-target-and-is-it-going-to-happen

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Some men are playing an active part in speaking out against violence towards women – but not nearly enough. So how do those men who are involved in anti-violence activism come to that position, and what can we learn from their experiences? March 2022 marks one year since Sarah Everard was murdered by a serving police officer, and given the anger this precipitated about the continued prevalence of violence against women and girls in the UK, this is a vital moment to consider what has changed since then, and what change remains needed – especially regarding men’s role in the solution. To explore these issues further, we speak to Professor of Criminology Nicole Westmarland. Nicole is the Director of Durham University’s Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse (http://www.dur.ac.uk/criva), and is internationally recognised for her research in this area. Together with colleagues in Sweden and Spain, Nicole and Now and Men hosts Sandy and Stephen wrote a book entitled ‘Men’s Activism to End Violence Against Women’, published by Policy Press in 2021.

The book is available to buy, or for free as an open access e-book, here: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/mens-activism-to-end-violence-against-women. We have also written two pieces for The Conversation UK, ‘How men can be allies to women right now’: https://theconversation.com/how-men-can-be-allies-to-women-right-now-157126 and ‘Sarah Everard, police culture and the ‘masculinised’ workplaces we can all help change’: https://theconversation.com/sarah-everard-police-culture-and-the-masculinised-workplaces-we-can-all-help-change-169774. In addition, we have produced a toolkit for the UK Government Equalities Office on ‘Engaging with men and boys about masculine gender norms’: http://dur.ac.uk/criva/geotoolkit/

Nicole has also written a number of other books, including 'Violence Against Women - Criminological Perspectives on Men's Violences' (Routledge, 2015): https://www.routledge.com/Violence-against-Women-Criminological-perspectives-on-mens-violences/Westmarland/p/book/9781843923985 and ‘Researching Gender, Violence and Abuse’ (Routledge, 2019): https://www.routledge.com/Researching-Gender-Violence-and-Abuse-Theory-Methods-Action/Westmarland-Bows/p/book/9781138641266. She has co-led one of the biggest pieces of research about work with perpetrators of domestic abuse in the UK, Project Mirabal: https://projectmirabal.co.uk. You can find out more about Nicole's work here: https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/nicole-westmarland/, and follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nwestmarland.

We cover the following topics in this episode:

• What has changed in the year since Sarah Everard was murdered
• The implications of this case for the police and for workplaces
• Why Nicole wanted to research men who speak out against violence towards women
• Key factors in why men get involved in this kind of activism
• Potential tensions when men become anti-violence activists
• Male victim-survivors’ experiences of domestic abuse 
• Nicole’s journey to becoming a professor – including her work and research as a taxi driver
• The impact of doing this research on being a parent
• Work with perpetrators of domestic abuse and men’s capacity to change
• Meaningful things men can do to stop violence against women

Explainers: 

• No recourse to public funds - Many people who have migrated to the UK have no recourse to public funds, which means they cannot access many aspects of social security and housing assistance.
• Professor Stuart Hall at the 1970 National Women’s Liberation Conference creche -  https://www.ruskin.ac.uk/blog/on-this-day-at-ruskin-college-national-womens-liberation-conference/
• The John Worboys case - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cdwjdpex8qxt/john-worboys-case
• The Prison Reform Trust - http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk
• Professor Pat Carlen - https://www.britsoccrim.org/pat-carlen/
• EDI = Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• 'Theresa May says there are 'boy jobs and girl jobs' in the home’ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-philip-may-husband-boy-jobs-girls-one-show-take-bins-out-bbc-prime-minister-marriage-a7727481.html

For domestic abuse support in the UK, contact the National Helpline: https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk, the Men’s Advice Line: https://mensadviceline.org.uk, or the Respect Phoneline if you’re concerned about your own behaviour: https://respectphoneline.org.uk

If you've been affected by sexual violence, information and support is available from Rape Crisis: https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/

There is probably no one who has had as big an impact on understandings of men and masculinities as Professor Raewyn Connell. She is one of the founders of this field of research, and has written what is perhaps its key text, the 1995 book ‘Masculinities’, in which she developed her hugely influential concept of hegemonic masculinity. Raewyn has also written and researched on a range of other issues in addition to gender and sexuality, from ‘Southern Theory’, to class, neoliberalism, education, and the politics of intellectual life. Now Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney, she recently received the International Sociological Association's Award for Excellence in Research and Practice, in recognition of her enormous contribution to social science.

It was therefore a huge privilege to talk to Raewyn for this episode of Now and Men. We discuss her views on everything from Russia’s horrifying war on Ukraine, to the Covid-19 pandemic, to some of her earliest research with young men and its relevance to today, to the environmental movement, to her own life history and the experiences of trans women (and other trans groups). Raewyn is also a published poet, and she kindly shares one of her poems with us at the end of the episode.

You can find out much more about the wealth of work Raewyn has done on her personal website, http://www.raewynconnell.net. Her most recent book is called ‘The Good University: What Universities Actually Do and Why It’s Time for Radical Change’, which was published by Zed Books in 2019: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/good-university-9781786995407/. She also recently wrote an article about this topic for The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/remaking-universities-notes-from-the-sidelines-of-catastrophe-175920

Explainers:

• The 2nd edition of the book ‘Masculinities’ was published in 2005 by Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Masculinities/Connell/p/book/9781741145199
• The 4th edition of the book ‘Gender: In World Perspective’ was published by Polity in 2020: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=gender-in-world-perspective-4th-edition--9781509538997
• The book ‘Southern Theory: Social Science and the Global Dynamics of Knowledge’ was published by Polity in 2007: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=southern-theory-social-science-and-the-global-dynamics-of-knowledge--9780745642482
• The book ‘Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division’, was published by Routledge in 1982: https://www.routledge.com/Making-the-Difference-Schools-families-and-social-division/Connell/p/book/9780868611327. Raewyn also wrote an article about it in 2010 – ‘Making the Difference, Then and Now’: https://doi.org/10.1080/0159630022000029812
• Raewyn wrote an article about the climate crisis called ‘Masculinities in the Sociocene’ in 2017: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26241448
• ‘Boys in Zinc’ by Nobel prize-winner Svetlana Alexievich (Penguin, 2017) - stories from the Soviet-Afghan War: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/295/295485/boys-in-zinc/9780241264119.html
• Attempts in Texas to open ‘child abuse’ investigations into parents who pursue gender-affirming surgeries and medical care for trans children: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/01/lawsuit-aims-to-block-texas-investigating-parents-seeking-care-trans-children
• We mention 2 books by Prof Lynne Segal: ‘Out of Time: The Pleasures and the Perils of Ageing‘ (Verso, 2014): https://www.versobooks.com/books/1634-out-of-time and ‘Slow Motion: Changing Masculinities, Changing Men’ (3rd edition, Palgrave, 2007): https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230582521