Prof Michael Flood - Engaging Men and Boys: Theory and Evidence

Work with men and boys has been growing rapidly in the last 30 years, especially around the issues of preventing violence and abuse, building gender equality, promoting fatherhood, and health and wellbeing. To what extent is this a positive development? What are some of the opportunities, challenges and problems that engaging men and boys brings? And how can this work be delivered most effectively, to have a serious impact in tackling issues such as gender-based violence? There are few experts around the world better equipped to provide answers to these questions than Prof Michael Flood. He gives an in-depth, critical overview of the ‘engaging men’ field, and discusses his own story of being an anti-sexist activist since the 1980s. He also explains why it’s vital to think about issues like pornography and online misogyny in this work, and gives some pointers for parents in how to address these issues with children, and sons in particular. Michael is a Professor in the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. He has written numerous academic publications on issues including violence against women and violence prevention, men and masculinities, pro-feminist men’s advocacy, male heterosexuality, fathering, and pornography. This includes a book with Palgrave Macmillan in 2019, ‘Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention’. He also runs the website XY Online, which is full of resources on men, masculinities and gender politics.More info about Michael’s work: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/m.floodFollow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelGLFloodLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-flood-5b906713/Read his book: https://xyonline.net/content/new-book-engaging-men-and-boys-violence-preventionCheck out XY Online: https://xyonline.netResources on men’s roles in ending violence against women: https://xyonline.net/content/engaging-men-violence-prevention-key-resourcesRead his articles mentioned in the episode:‘Work with men to end violence against women: A critical stocktake’ (2015) - https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2015.1070435‘Lust, trust and latex: Why young heterosexual men do not use condoms’ (2003) - https://doi.org/10.1080/1369105011000028273In this episode we cover the following topics: Why the ‘engaging men’ field has been growing, and why that’s a good thingKey lessons from research about how to engage with men and boysIssues of concern in the development of this workMistakes which can arise in work by and with men and boysThe tensions of having a public platform as a pro-feminist academic and activistThe usefulness of terms such as ‘toxic’ and ‘healthy’ masculinityTrends in work with men which should give us optimismWhy it’s important to think about pornography when addressing sexual violenceTalking to young men about pornography and online misogynyMichael’s PhD research on young men’s heterosexual relations with womenHow Michael first got involved in anti-sexist activism, and how he’s been able to maintain his commitment over time