The Oxford-based Man Collective hosted an event called “The Gathering” in London last weekend.
The Man Collective was founded by a student at Merton last year to enhance the status of men and celebrate masculinity. With the motto, “Men going beyond mediocrity”, the Man Collective hopes to give men the tools to “step up to their innate brilliance”.
The event welcomed “any man committed to offering other men greater possibilities in the ways they live – through whatever means”. Men were asked to “bring [their] ideas, inspiration and integrity”.
The Gathering was held at East House in Camberwell, London on Saturday 27th March. It began with a request that all women-haters vacate the premises.
Man Collective founder, Alex Linsley (pictured), said, “We had about 25 leaders of ‘men’s work’ in the UK attend The Gathering. We took time to explore the development of ‘men’s work’ and examine the status quo for guys today. The rest of the day was given over to discussion and idea generation.”
Men’s group leaders, therapists, policy makers and charity leaders attended The Gathering.
Lansley commented, “the day was a great success. It has reinforced my belief that men’s groups, or any other resource, are merely a means to the end of getting people inspired by life and offering their full potential.”
One attendee, Glen Poole, chairman of the Men’s Network and a former spokesperson for Fathers for Justice, said, “it was fantastic to meet people from around the UK who share our vision and are already working to make a difference in their individual fields”.
When asked about The Gathering, Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, gave a positive response. “Gender equality is crucial to the well being of both men and women and organisations that work to break down the barriers to achieving this are important.
“However, whether these organisations work on issues of particular interest to men or to women, it is critical that the focus is always placed on achieving equality and not on promoting one gender over another.”
It has, however, met with some feminist backlash. Of organisations like the Man Collective, Olivia Bailey, national Women’s Officer of the NUS, commented, “discrimination against men on the basis of gender is so unusual as to be non-existent, so what exactly will a men’s society do?”
When first created in November of last year, the Man Collective received a huge amount of media attention.
Since then, Linsley has been running a weekly men’s group in Oxford. He described the number of men attending these weekly sessions as “varied” but added that “with all the guys currently involved, we have a group running at about capacity.”
However, a male second-year at Merton claimed that, beyond Linsley, he knows of no other person involved in the Collective, which he stated has a “negative profile” in college. “I think it’s a load of rubbish,” he said. “There’s no need for it.”
The organisation’s Facebook page has just four fans.
