A new center has opened in Barcelona to encourage men to go beyond traditional role models. The Center for Plural Masculinities has been named as “a place to talk about sexuality, without taboos, a place to explore masculinity.”
Stephen Burgen / Guardian
It’s hard work maintaining the macho image of the Spanish man. But help is at hand in the shape of Barcelona’s new Centre for Plural Masculinities, which offers men the chance to cast off the machista straitjacket.
“This isn’t a place for men to come and beat themselves up for being bad men,” says Laura Pérez, the Barcelona councillor for feminism and LGBTI, who has overall responsibility for the project.
“It’s a place to talk about sexuality, without taboos, a place to explore masculinity. It’s all to do with how boys are educated to be men. Men have to be heroes, they’re not allowed to be afraid, boys don’t cry. This doesn’t allow for the many different versions of masculinity that are possible.”
While the centre aims to confront misogyny and homophobia, the emphasis is on encouraging men to explore other ways of being, beyond traditional role models. Spain, after all, is the country that gave us the word “machismo”.
While the centre’s staff of 10 arrange group and individual discussions on the premises, perhaps the organisation’s most important function will be the outreach work it does.
Through exhibitions and events in museums, libraries and other cultural institutions it hopes to raise the debate about masculinity. It will also be active in the city’s numerous sporting associations.
Pérez sees sport as being one of the last areas where men cannot be open about their sexuality, a point borne out by the media attention given to Josh Cavallo, the young Australian footballer who came out as gay last month.
The centre will also attempt to fill the void of discussion about gender roles and identity in school by involving parents and teachers. Pérez says there is little sex education and almost no discussion of sexuality in the Catalan education system.
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