Welcome to the 117th episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast. This month’s theme is all about challenging adversity and adverse circumstances. Linked to International Men’s Day on Friday the 19th of November we are talking about toxic masculinity.
One of the six pillars of International Men’s Day is to improve gender relations and promote gender equality not only for men but for women too. In this light, our theme for 2021 is “Better relations between men and women.”
A key part of creating better relations between genders is recognising and discussing Toxic Masculinity. Coined in 1980s men’s movements, “toxic masculinity” spread to therapeutic and social policy settings in the early 21st century, coined by Shepherd Bliss an academic and leader in the mythopoetic men’s movement.
To join me to talk about this in further detail is Kevin Brazant Founder and CEO of Daddy CPR limited.
Listen to the episode
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About my guest Kevin Brazant
Kevin Brazant has worked as a learning and development designer and consultant in a broader context in higher education. He has delivered training to social workers and public sector staff for over a decade.
He would really like to open up a dialogue about masculinities (in various contexts, work, family, life) as part of his niche side-hustle consultancy Daddy CPR (Coaching Promotes Resilience). In essence, Daddy CPR is a coaching intervention targeting professionals and social workers engaging men and fathers as part of their practice.
It is essentially a training and coaching toolkit training professionals in approaches to engage men and fathers with resources such as learning guides, problem-solving frameworks, and live coaching. The toolkit is intentional in helping professionals respond to themes of suicide prevention, and family/ relationship breakdown from a male perspective.
His hope is to extend Daddy CPR beyond the immediate context to other industries and occupations. So everyone can feel confident in responding to men in crisis. Of course, this can be your son, husband, uncle, or work colleague.
In today’s show about Toxic Masculinity
- About Kevin and why he developed Daddy CPR. [03:23]
- Why he decided to niche down on rethinking masculinity. [04:54]
- What the terms “toxic masculinity” means to him. [06:39]
- The biggest challenges men have when it comes to accessing mental health support and being able to talk about societal expectations of masculinity. [12:40]
- His top 3 tips for looking after his mental health. [24:23]
Quotes on Toxic Masculinity
- I actually have a bit of an issue with the term toxic masculinity, I find it to be very limiting as a term.
- However, I think the term toxic masculinity has been something that has managed to hit the public sphere and capture people’s imagination about how men may identify.
- What I found that has worked really well is having visual campaigns that enables men to feel like it’s okay engage in conversations around mental health.
- I always make sure that I do something that I really love to support my mental wellbeing.
- I usually allocate a day or an afternoon each week to turn off my phone and other distractions, and try to engage in something other work related activities.
Connect with my guest and learn more about Toxic Masculinity
- Kevin J Brazant on Twitter
- Daddy CPR on Twitter and LinkedIn
- Daddy CPR’s Newsletter
- Lounge Akademics
- Campaign Against Living Miserably: CALM
- Brothers Safe Space on Instagram and LinkTree
- Black People Talk CiC
Work with me
Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC
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Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.