Derbyshire council to spend £40,000 teaching pupils about toxic masculinity

Derbyshire County Council went out to tender for an “exploring masculinities” programme earlier this year and the year-long programme will be led by Devon charity Beyond Equality.

The programme the county council hired the charity for is detailed as follows: “Exploring masculinities will support pupils in secondary education setting, as well as education staff, to be able to reflect on pressures young people face regarding masculinity and produce an action plan to support embedding safe respectful behaviours in the whole setting.

“This project will serve to support students, and their school settings to reflect on the pressures they experience concerning masculinity, and develop school communities that support respectful, safe, healthy behaviour of the whole school.”

Through the workshops carried out by the charity, either in person or via Zoom, boys are encouraged to “take off their armour” and reflect on how they may be pressured to act.

Dan Guinness, director of Beyond Equality, says on the charity’s website: “There’s a need and an opportunity in the UK to engage men in a brave and transformative rethinking of what ‘being a man’ means for them and others.

“We need to engage all men in preventing gender based violence and creating communities that are safe for everyone. We need to give all men and boys the chance to develop identities and behaviours that are healthier for themselves and others. Boys won’t be boys, they’ll be what we teach them to be.”

The charity’s website says it aims to let “boys choose how to be boys” and gives space for “conversations about ‘being a man’ so boys can do better by women and girls, non-binary folk and each other”.

With its staff workshops the charity says: “We are not aiming to tell participants how to “fix boys” but instead we provide staff with an opportunity to see the structural factors that can lead to negative behaviours as a result of attempts to appear ‘manly’ or fit in.

“We will provide you with guidance on how to create more opportunities for your pupils to be the type of person they want to be/explore their authentic selves.”