Liverpool Lib Dem leader Carl Cashman calls for ‘positive masculinity’ as he covers Attitude (EXCLUSIVE)
Cashman talks to Attitude for his inaugural cover interview, ahead of this year’s PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards Europe, supported by British Airways
Liverpool Liberal Democrat leader Carl Cashman has called for “positive masculinity”, warning too many isolated young men are being drawn into the online manosphere.
Speaking in his new Attitude cover interview, ahead of this year’s PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards Europe, supported by British Airways, Cashman reveals he is working with centre-right think tank Bright Blue on a “manifesto for positive masculinity”, which aims to understand why some young men are being drawn towards far-right politics.
“We live in a world now where people are very isolated, particularly young men, and when they get isolated, they’ve got one place to go, which is online,” Cashman says. “Then, you know, they see the world through the prism of this manosphere.”
“Young men have got this attitude towards women that even I didn’t see when I was in school” – Carl Cashman on the manosphere
The politician says the project will involve speaking directly to young men in sports clubs, boxing gyms and youth clubs.
“I want to understand why they are being drawn into the far right,” he explains.
Cashman says he was particularly troubled by Louis Theroux’s recent documentary exploring the manosphere.
“[It] really worried me,” he says. “Young men have got this attitude towards women that even I didn’t see when I was in school.”
While acknowledging concerns around misogyny, Cashman argues the public conversation has become too quick to dismiss masculinity altogether.
“There’s massive amounts of positive masculinity that is hugely important to society” – Cashman
“There’s massive amounts of positive masculinity that is hugely important to society,” he says.
“The thing that really pisses me off about woke culture – even though people would describe me as woke myself – is the broad categorisation of masculinity as toxic.
“It pushes those young men more into that space because it’s telling them, ‘Oh, you’ve got masculine traits – that’s inherently toxic,’ when actually masculinity is very healthy, in the same way femininity is healthy.”
Cashman also reflects on growing up under Section 28, recalling: “Nobody was out. There was still that kind of standoffishness to openly being gay.”
Today, however, he says many of his former classmates are now “living their best life”, including two women he once dated who later came out as lesbians.
“The weirdest thing about that is two of them are girls that I was with at one point.”
Cashman’s full interview will appear in issue 371 of Attitude magazine, on sale in print and digital on 3 July. Pre-order Attitude magazine issue 371 in print now, or in digital on the links below on Apple News+ and the Attitude app.