Welcome to What Men Really Think About… A place to discover what men really think and feel about all the big life issues!
NEXT FORUM
Our next forum – What Men Really Think About… Masculinity is to be held on 11 July, 2012. Book your tickets now from the Wheeler Centre website.
What defines masculinity? Muscles? Maturity? Money? Physical power? Penis prowess? Or is it a sense of sureness? Confidence? How do we measure masculinity? And as men, how do you know if you are indeed measuring up? Where do our ideals of masculinity come from? Our parents? Society? Religion? The Media? And is masculinity regulated to men only? Do our notions of masculinity constrict or liberate us? Are men comparing themselves to an intangible goal of the ultimate masculine only to find themselves always falling short?
Three iconic men from diverse backgrounds blow apart the mythologised masculine. A footballer, a writer and an actor talk about what the masculine means to them… how it shapes their identity, the events in their lives and their interactions with the world, especially the feminine.
Date of Forum: Wed, 11 July
Time: 6.15 – 7.30pm
Location: The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Price: Free
Tickets: Wheeler Centre website
Panel Guests: TBC
Mailing List: Join our mailing list to be notified of upcoming forums
What Men Really Think About… Masculinity is part of an emotionally confronting yet humorous series looking at men in a society famous for male repression. Guests speak with stark honesty about issues most men usually never talk about – and especially not in public. Everything from love to the desire for status to purpose to parenting to porn to mental health to body image to death, and more.
This kind of raw honesty turns on its head the notion of the closed-book Aussie bloke by unashamedly revealing what men really think and feel. The series investigates the costs and consequences of living by a silent code of self-censorship, why men don’t communicate their feelings, and what happens to them (and everyone around them) when they do.
RMIT SEEDS SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FUNDING
What Men Really Think About would like to thank RMIT SEEDS for their belief in our vision. WMRTA has just been granted seed funding through the SEEDS Social Enterprise Fund. Click here for more info.
MAILING LIST
Add your name to our mailing list to ensure you are the first to hear announcements of future forums.
WHAT MEN REALLY THINK ABOUT… FATHERHOOD
Our Fatherhood forum was a massive success. Once again our special guests kept the audience completely absorbed with their personal stories and incredible ability to openly share their experiences with us. Read their stories to find out what it was all about.
FORUM TOPICS
Email us to let us know what topics interest you, and we’ll consider it for our ongoing forum series. Please join our mailing list so we can notify you when we announce each public forum.
WATCH the LOVE FORUM on video
There will be a video of the What Men Really Think About… Love forum on our website very soon. Join our mailing list so we can notify you when it is uploaded. In the meantime, watch the entire forum on The Body here.
READ the MEN’S STORIES
In each forum, the men share a personal story related to the topic. Read these incredible stories in the Men’s Stories page.
LEARN more about the FORUMS
Discover all about the forums here.
What is What Men Really Think About?
What Men Really Think About is a series of ongoing public forums held in Australia with a panel of 3 men and host documentary filmmaker Kim Farrant talking about all the issues men usually keep to themselves.
Each forum drills down into a particular topic as the men each read out a personal story they have written about that topic and how it effects them in their own life. They are then are interviewed by Kim, followed by a live Q and A with the audience.
Each forum will cover a different topic: love, intimacy, sex in long term relationships, body image, money, purpose, mental health, suicide, family, death, porn… the list goes on. Email us if there is a topic that you would like discussed.
Inspiration for What Men Really Think About – By Host Kim Farrant
I have observed over the last forty years that most men live by an unspoken code that ensures they conceal their emotions, especially their frailties. This can make interacting with them incredibly difficult at times because there is often a wall to get past, break down, climb over, in order to fully understand their thoughts, feelings, actions, wants and needs. Social, parental and religious conditioning in most cultures programs men to shield their emotions, especially from each other, so I understand why they armour themselves, however, the results of this ingrained behaviour is increasing domestic violence rates, higher male suicide rates and relationship breakdowns both within families and work environments. Through the WHAT MEN REALLY THINK ABOUT… forums, we want to create emotionally articulate role models to inspire men to express their feelings so that they live in less emotional isolation and have more fulfilling communication in their everyday lives.
This is really a great event, wish I have booked earlier then I would have got the chance to go and listen what they talk about it in details, I am always wondering what men really want in love, but seems not much chance to do so, if there is another event for this, would you please let me know? Thanks
This sounds very exciting and very promising. Well done.
What a great idea.
This is the sort of thing men have needed.
Women seem to get all the attention so it good that men’s health and well being can be addressed in this manner.
This would make an excellent TV show.
Another fantastic and fascinating initiative by The Wheeler Centre.
Well done guys and keep up this special place that we have in our own beatiful City of Melbourne.
Well done on an outstanding event! I was transfixed, moved to tears and laughter. Kim you have a really extraordinary ability to interview people with integrity, empathy and authenticity. I can’t wait for the next forum!
other topic ideas
women’s bodies
marriage
dating
infidelity
I loved this quote from a man in the audience at the last forum – he asked:
“If I am not my job, or my relationship, or my bank balance, then who am I?”
Now that the word is out about these amazing forums that Kim Farrant is bringing us, you’ll need to book early for the next one if you want a seat, for they are surely addictive- AND very healthy!
From the moment ‘Kim’s Men’ take a deep breath and expose their underbellies to tell us what they REALLY think about… we are whisked to the core of their tough, emotional, funny and vulnerable selves. You can feel the audience nudging Kim as she elegantly yet tenaciously nudges these courageous heroes deeper and deeper towards their ‘tender places’. Beautiful evening, beautiful people, beautiful work.