Boys Won’t Be Boys. Boys Will Be What We Teach Them to Be. | Ben Hurst | TEDxLondonWomen

Boys will be boys, right? Ben Hurst rejects this commonly-used phrase as a ‘get-out-of-jail free’ card for boys, men and toxic masculinities. Instead, he states, boys will be what we teach them to be. Citing Tony’s Porter’s TED talk, ‘A Call to Men’, Ben references the workshops he conducts with boys and young men to illustrate the pressure the patriarchy places on men to repress their feelings and embrace hyper-sexualisation and violence. Ben believes that we need to challenge our assumptions around toxic forms of masculinity by encouraging conversation, providing space for men to express emotion, refusing to accept minimum standards of behaviour and building positive masculinities. Ben’s work focuses on challenging traditionally toxic forms of masculinity, and exploring ideas of minimum standards and positive masculinities.