Free events and fun times in London: The roots of the Centre for Male Psychology, 2014 – 2020

CommentaryEvents

Jan 6

Picture: Male Psychology Network Conference 2016 at UCL

Imagine going to a talk about male psychology at a top university, given by an expert on the subject. Imagine also that the event is free, is in a distinguished and pleasant location that’s easy to get to. Furthermore, imagine the other people attending the talk are some of the most informed, intelligent and fun people you have ever met, and they want you to join them afterwards at a nearby pub for a couple of hours of food, drink and lively conversation. Well that, dear reader, is what we did for five years at University College London (UCL) as the Male Psychology Network (MPN, forerunner of the Centre for Male Psychology), until covid restrictions made organising such events impossible. But has covid finished us off? Before talking about what the future holds, let me first tell you about the glory days.

Up until early 2020, every couple of months we put on an event, which could be a free talk by an expert, a workshop, debate, movie, or book launch. We put on talks on topics that other venues dared not. We had a range of expert speakers on topics in male psychology, including an ethnography of incels by Dr Rob Whitley of McGill University, Canada, in 2019 (who also gave an excellent lecture on victim blaming in 2018); gamma bias theory in 2018 by Martin Seager & I (our 2019 animation is here); Prevention of child sexual abuse by Dr Sarah Goode (University of Winchester); an brilliant talk by Glen Poole (Australian Men’s Health Forum) on the social determinants of male suicide in the UK compared to Australia; in October 2016 the highly respected Prof Gijsbert Stoet (then of University of Glasgow) addressed the question ‘are boys failing in school or are schools failing boys?’

One of the most popular was the talk in Feb 2019 by Margaret Gardener, Director of False Allegations Support Organisation (FASO), on the psychological aspects of false allegations of sexual abuse, the video of which has been viewed 21,000 times (at time of writing). There have been a lots of genuinely orginal presentations, too many to list in full here.

Our first debate was in May 2017, on the motion that masculinity is not toxic. Arguing against the motion were Leila Wildsmith (Regents College London), Phil Price (Domestic Violence Intervention Project) and Michael Conroy (A Call To Men UK). Arguing for the motion were psychosexual therapist H Eli Joubert (University of Surrey), Naomi Murphy (HMPS Whitemoor) and Martin Seager (Central London Samaritans). The audience at the debate voted both before and after they heard the arguments and ultimately the motion was carried with a narrow majority. The debate can be seen here.

The second debate was in Dec 2017 on the motion 'this house believes that masculinity is not simply a social construct' (see a clip of the debate here). The panelists for the motion: Dr Brenda Todd, Developmental Psychologist (City University London), Dr H Eli Joubert (University of Surrey), and Dr Becci Owens (University of Sunderland). Against the motion were: Leila Wildsmith (Regents University London), Martin Tod (Chief Executive, Men’s Heath Forum, UK) and Dr Ben Hine (University of West London). The chair was Martin Daubney, award winning journalist. Despite Martin Tod being a former contender in the World Debating Championships, the motion was carried through, though not without some impromptu debate about whether the motion was framed in an inconsistent way which impacted the outcome e.g. it was advertised on Eventbrite as ‘Is Santa sexist if he gives your son a robot?’

Our third debate was ‘the debate that never was’, because we couldn’t find anyone to argue against the motion that the APA and PTMF guidelines on male psychology should be rejected.

We showed two films: Welcome to the Men’s Group, with an introduction and Q&A by the lead actor and director, Joseph Culp, in June 2016. We also showed the legendary The Red Pill, directed by and starring Cassie Jaye, which was shown twice, first by the (now defunct) Gender Equity Network in Dec 2016, and secondly by the MPN in Jan 2017. We also hosted the launch of the seminal Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health with presentations from several of the chapter authors, including Prof Kenneth Gannon (University of East London), Dr Nathan Hook, Belinda Brown (UCL), June Brown (Kings College London), Martin Seager, and John Barry.

We also had an annual conference, which started as a one-day event in 2014, and from 2015 onwards became a two-day event. I won’t say much here about the conferences because they are covered in some detail here, except to note that they got bigger and better each year, and never lost their hallmark atmosphere of infectious friendly enthusiasm.

The final talk at UCL – although we didn’t know it at the time - was in December 2019, and the final external event we were involved with was at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, on 11th March 2020. The Strathclyde event happened just before the first UK lockdown, and in fact it came very close to being cancelled. The talk went ahead, but my family and I had a difficult time getting back home due to travel restrictions, and had to hire a car for the return journey because the train timetable had become so unpredictable.

It's a cliché to say that you don’t appreciate what you have until you lose it, but this just proves how true cliches can be. For many regulars to our events, the JZ Young Lecture Theatre – where our events started out and where most of the conferences and talks took place – holds many good memories, and after two years of absence, some nostalgia. The same is true of the local bar where ideas and drinks flowed in equal measure, especially in the warmer weather when we could sit at the tables outside. The speakers and attendees talked freely with each other, sometimes resulting in new ideas and even new collaborations.

If you were lucky enough to be there, other events you might have seen were: sociologist Dr Rob Hadley on how men ageing without family become invisible and alienated, consultant psychotherapist Andrew Briggs on the importance of fathers to mental health, US psychiatrist Dr Paul Dobransky on how to help men have more enduring relationships and greater job satisfaction, Stuart Hontree on parental alienation (on two occasions), Dr Sarah Goode on prevention of child sexual abuse, Anil Kumar (coaching in India) on compassion when working with men in distress, Tam Roper and John Barry on the mental health benefits of a visit to the barber, consultant clinical psychologist Martin Seager and John Barry on sex differences in the needs of therapy clients, and Martin Seager and John Barry on male gender blindness. On a technical note, I should confess that although we recorded the events, the sound quality was pretty bad up to 2018 (I am no Stanley Kubric), but from 2019 Anthony Cornish of Good Man Gone Productions began to help with our A/V and the quality improved considerably.

When are we going to resume our in-person events? Sign up here to our newsletter and be the first to find out! Not only are we coming back with in-person events, we are extending our reach with online events, which is great news for our supporters in North America, Australia, Spain, Germany, South America and the other places we know are interested in what we do. I for one am certainly looking forward to the next time, and hope you can join us, and make the events bigger and better than ever.

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Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, legal advice, or other professional opinion. Never disregard such advice because of this article or anything else you have read from the Centre for Male Psychology. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of, or are endorsed by, The Centre for Male Psychology, and we cannot be held responsible for these views. Read our full disclaimer here.