Boys need to talk more about feelings and fight inequality, report says

Article here. Excerpt:

'A report – The State of UK Boys – has been published to mark the launch of the US initiative in the UK, pulling together findings from a range of academic research over the past 20 years – with insights from 15 researchers in the field of gender, masculinities and boyhood.

One of the report authors and fellow of Equimundo, David Bartlett, said: “How boys and men behave makes an enormous difference to the lives of girls and women, and individuals of all gender identities, in all areas of their lives.

“From sexual harassment and gender-based violence, to the gender pay gap and relationship breakdown, the attitudes and behaviour of boys and men are hugely influential.

“So, we need to raise a generation of boys who are able to build and sustain healthy, respectful, caring relationships with people of all genders, and not be influenced by restrictive gender stereotypes.”

The 35-page report claims that, as ideas of gender and boyhood are changing to be more fluid, traditional notions of masculinity such as physical, sexual and intellectual prowess – as well as heterosexuality – still dominate.

It states that children understand “real violence” as involving men and struggle to perceive or name other acts as being violent, such as violence between peers or siblings or emotional or sexual violence in schools or homes.'