The Menspedition

A pilgrimage, A rites of passage, a journey both onward and inward, and a crusade into the depths and magnificence of our collective and individual masculinity. 

A space to truly galvanise what it really means to be a man, to question the masculine persona that modern western society projects onto us and embeds so deeply into our psyche, and our personal situations and circumstances have further perpetuated, to reconsider how we treat one another, how we treat women and how we treat ourselves.

To love and nurture our inner child that was taught to be tough and told to swallow their emotions - to ‘man up’ and ‘grow some balls’. To explore the masculine archetypes and how they manifest in our individual lives, not as an attempt be a perfect man, but to take a pure quality, and use it as an ideal to follow.

Learning to be in touch with one's emotions can change lives, and the way men are traditionally taught to hold them in can be connected to an avalanche of unhealthy outcomes. In a society that traditionally views masculine traits as strength, courage, independence, leadership, and assertiveness, there is no greater gift than the space and opportunity to call in the opposite, and to rather embrace the compassionate, sensitive, supportive, empathetic, tender part that resides deep within all of us, but that we are often afraid to connect with.

The current socio-political landscape is attempting to rewrite masculinity, to step away from the tyrannical patriarchy and to honour the feminine, as women lead a new stage of evolution: the shift from achievement to self-actualisation.

Are men and boys just the victims of cultural brainwashing into misogyny and aggression, requiring reeducation into the ‘right’ beliefs? Or are these problems more deep-seated, and created by the myriad insecurities and contradictions of men’s lives under gender inequality? The problem with a crusade against toxic masculinity is that in targeting culture as the enemy, it risks overlooking the real-life conditions and forces that sustain culture.

Our culture is lacking a rites of passage, a ritual that marks the change in status from boyhood to manhood, from girlhood to womanhood, or a process that marks a major milestone or change in a person’s life. They exist in cultures around the world, but In the UK today, a rites of passage has been belittled to drinking too much on your 18th birthday or losing your virginity, with no real lessons, no growth, no real catalyst for change. We need to reintegrate these rituals in western culture, to provide a sacred space, to evoke sense of renewal and belonging, a connection with our past, and to help us make sense of change by overcoming fears.