‘I’m either a man or I’m a victim’

Filming started this week! The script is great and feels real thanks to the members of the steering group who have shared their experiences. It’s all very exciting.

As part of this project I’ve been creating training materials to go with the film and found this video by Seth Shelley. It talks about how men/boys deal with being abused when the cultural message is: ‘I’m either a man or I’m a victim.’* The implication being that if you are a victim, you’re not a man. The talk below is about that but it is worth anyone watching because it’s also about being heard, writing your own story and not being defined by others.

References

*Lisak D (1993) Men as victims: Challenging cultural myths. Journal of Traumatic Stress 6(4): 577–580. DOI: 10.1007/BF00974326.