I am told male voices have been centred for millennia. That “men have had their say” already, listened to and catered for, and it’s time to let someone else have a go. However – I also talk to men every day, who feel the exact opposite to this. That they have to hide who they are, how they feel, and what they think. That they’ve never once “had their say”, and the issues that they care so deeply about, haven’t spent a single moment in the sunlight of public awareness, let alone “millennia”. When it comes to so many things, I think they’re right. When exactly did male victims of abuse “have their say”? When has society ever talked about how badly boys are doing in school? What about the voice of broken fathers deprived of their children? The thousands of men who needlessly die every year at work? Or those who have been raped or sexually assaulted, especially by women? In fact, rather than being centred, I find that men, particularly on the left, have been mercilessly brow beaten out of discourse entirely; becoming ‘politically homeless’ in a landscape that simply doesn’t listen, or care bout them. I know that in last year’s election, it was the first time in my life that I voted for nobody. And I know it won’t be the last. I know, for 80% of my followers, they are afraid to share my content at all, despite agreeing with it, because the pushback is too much to bear. And I feel this too. I rarely speak about these things openly either, and certainly not on my personal social media pages, for the exact same reasons. Sadly, these life saving conversations for men and boys are had in quiet corners of the internet, or half empty conferences, or hidden from view as protestors blockage entrances, pull fire alarms, and shout and scream to stop us. So why do we insist men have had their say, when so few have been able to speak at all… So tell me, what have you been afraid to speak about, for fear of backlash? (FYI although these are all responses from men, I’d love to hear from some women too!)

2025-04-30