Boys will be Boys
Birmingham Literature Festival
The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 200 Jennens Road, B4 7XR
£12 (£10)
Book tickets through Birmingham Literature Festival's website

Birmingham Literature Festival
Boys will be Boys: Confronting Power, Patriarchy and Toxic Masculinity
With Clementine Ford, Darren Chetty, Iesha Small and Jamie Thrasivoulou.
The topic of masculinity is being discussed more than ever before across a wide range of contexts. From the #MeToo movement to the new Gillette razor ad released in January 2019 ‘We Believe: The Best Men Can Be’ - our understanding of masculinity is changing. The concept of ‘manliness’ and ‘traditional masculine ideology’ is now under a very public microscope, and long-held beliefs about what it means to be a man are being challenged.
Masculinity is changing and being redefined, and people talking about ‘toxic masculinity’ claim that there is a crisis in masculinity or argue that we need to ‘reclaim masculinity’.
Join best-selling author and fearless feminist Clementine Ford (Boys Will Be Boys), writer, poet and lyricist Jamie Thrasivoulou, and Darren Chetty and Iesha Small - two writers and educators who have developed and contributed to a new book called What is Masculinity? Why Does It Matter? And Other Big Questions.
Our panel will discuss gender equality, and the big questions surrounding definitions of masculinity, including where ideas of masculinity have come from and the effects of gender stereotyping.
Chaired by Dr Fen Coles.
About the speakers:
Clementine Ford is a writer, broadcaster and public speaker. She is a columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, and has written about feminism and equality for The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, The Telegraph, The Sunday Mail, The Big Issue and ABC's The Drum. Her TEDx talk on rape culture has received almost 1 million views. She is the author of Fight Like A Girl.
Darren Chetty taught in London primary schools for twenty years before becoming a Teaching Fellow at UCL Institute of Education. Darren's award-winning research focuses on philosophy for children, multiculturalism and racism. He is the author of the essay 'You Can't Say That! Stories Have to be About White People' in the British Book Award-shortlisted anthology, The Good Immigrant.
Iesha Small is an author, speaker and Head of Strategy at national youth charity YHA. She has particular interests in creating a fairer society, mental health and designing a meaningful life. Iesha has previously been a maths teacher, governor and education researcher. She has written about education and society for The Guardian, TES and Schools Week. Iesha has contributed to various books covering education, mental health, and gender. Her writing has also explored masculinity in music. She is the author of The Unexpected leader.
Jamie Thrasivoulou is a writer, poet and educator from Derby. His work has been published in: The Morning Star, Low Light Magazine, The Arsonist, Glove and Here Comes Everyone. Silhouette Press published his debut collection 'The Best Of A Bad Situation' in 2017. His next collection 'Our Man' is forthcoming through Burning Eye Books in July 2019.
Dr Fen Coles is a co-director at Letterbox Library, a 36-year-old, not-for-profit children’s booksellers specialising in equality, diversity and inclusion. She also co-runs the Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction.
Birmingham Literature Festival
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