New UWE Bristol film promotes positive masculinity

Men from across UWE Bristol and the wider Bristol community have come together to feature in a new film promoting positive masculinity.

Actor and radio presenter Joe Sims, the Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees and Criminology Professor Kieran McCartan are joined by a group of students in the project, which poses the question “What does it mean to be a man?”

The video has been created by UWE’ Bristol’ss Student Communications Team and the Film Production Team, to try to encourage male students to consider the topic of positive masculinity.

Professor Kieran McCartan said: “Research in this area shows that many young men need encouragement to think about their actions and behaviours, particularly how their feelings about masculinity can impact both their own self-esteem, but also their attitudes towards, and relationships with, women.

“It’s been shown that the best way of influencing change, is to focus on positive male voices and reframe the conversation so that they can think about how to be the best man they want to be.”

The team enlisted the help of influential male figures across the university and the wider Bristol community, to prompt discussion and debate around how to promote positive behaviours amongst men. The video features students including UWE Jets basketball player Corey Samuels and UWE Bristol rugby player Louis James, as well as Students’ Union Vice Presidents Bethel Ekaette and Fayaz Abdul Kareem.

It has been launched on UWE Bristol’s social media channels, with the aim of encouraging male students to consider their own attitudes and behaviour, as well as opening up the wider conversation around positive masculinity. People are invited to join the conversation using #WhatItMeansToBeAMan