E78: The Right to Feel | Movember’s Peter Fisher on Men’s Mental Health, Social Norms, and Emotional Freedom - Real Men, Real Conversations

Send us Fan MailIn this week's episode of Aspire - Real Men, Real Conversations, host Alex Prout is joined by three student co-hosts, Vishudh, Shreyas, and Kaiden, for a conversation with Peter Fisher. Peter is a research fellow at the Movember Institute of Men’s Health. He explains how his work looks at the social norms, identity pressures, and “man box” expectations that shape boys’ and men's behavior, especially around emotional expression and connection.The conversation focuses on how harmful masculinity norms are formed early, reinforced by peers, schools, family systems, sports culture, and social media, and why young men often feel pressure to act tough even when it's against their own interest. Peter introduces Movember’s research on the “perception gap” and “pluralistic ignorance,” explaining how many boys and men overestimate how much others expect them to stay silent, self-reliant, or emotionally restrained.A major theme throughout the episode is prevention through early intervention. Peter discusses Movember’s youth programs like Game Changers, which uses near-peer mentors, sports, and emotional literacy tools to help boys build healthier habits and stronger support systems. The co-hosts share their own experiences with friendship, competition, school pressure, and family relationships, grounding the conversation in real-life examples of how young men can learn to speak up, check in on others, and resist harmful norms.They close with a hopeful message on correcting misperceptions, creating trusted spaces, and how making emotional expression feel normal can lower the barrier for boys and men to seek help and connect more honestly with others. Peter’s “I have the right to” statement, “I have the right to feel," captures the heart of the episode’s message about emotional freedom and healthier masculinity.For more information on Movember, please visit https://movember.com/To join I Have The Right To's mission to create a world free of sexual violence, visit https://ihavetherightto.org/take-action/Support the showAspire is produced by BenHudakProductions.com