Shammi knows all too well about not fitting in. As a child, he felt like an outsider – different to the other boys in school. He didn’t enjoy sport, hated football, and his voice hadn’t broken till he was much older than his peers (often being confused for his sister’s whenever someone called the landline). So he grew up questioning if all of these characteristics made him any less of a man. In the eyes of society, did he behave and act like a man was supposed to? What did it even mean to ‘be a man?’
It is this question that has built Shammi’s campaign on re-defining masculinity for young boys and men so that they can live freely outside the confines of the ‘man box’: the pressures put on boys and men to behave a certain way, which drives 84 men in the UK to kill themselves each week (three times that of women). Having battled bullying in his early years, then depression in later life, Shammi has fought hard not to fall victim to this statistic. He’s defied society’s expectations in order to define his own masculinity.
He now encourages others to do the same. He helps young boys and men to step outside the 'man box' by encouraging them to: (1) think critically about their perceptions of 'what it means to be a man' today; (2) question why certain types of masculinity are dangerous, damaging and harmful; and 3) form their own definition of masculinity that is progressive, positive and drives social change.
Shammi believes that talks are only as engaging as their audiences are engaged, which is why he tries to use – where possible – a conversational approach when addressing students. His most successful talks are ones where students feel involved, fired up through debate and discussion, and able to express their beliefs without judgment or fear.
Featured in HuffPost (formerly known as the Huffington Post), Shammi’s writing has also served as a basis for many teachers looking to integrate the gender debate in students’ cultural learning. Shammi provides an experienced voice on the subject of masculinity, driven by a mission to inspire the next generation of forward thinkers, leaders, and believers looking to level the playing field for boys and girls, men and women everywhere.
London
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