JJ Bola and Natalie Fiennes

In Mask Off, JJ Bola exposes masculinity as a performance that men are socially conditioned into. Using examples of non-Western cultural traditions, music and sport, he shines light on historical narratives around manhood and debunks popular myths.

‘JJ Bola succeeds not only in holding men accountable for the ways in which we have benefited from male privilege, but also in liberating us from its violently toxic demands. Without instrumentalising feminism for male interests, ‘Mask Off’ bravely seeks to dismantle intersectional axes of oppression that materialise from patriarchal structures’ — David Lammy, MP

JJ Bola is a writer, poet and educator. He is the author of the novel No Place to Call Home (2017). He is a contributor to Derek Owusu’s Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space.

From contraceptives to virginity, consent to pornography, transphobia to sexual abuse, Behind Closed Doors demands a radical, inclusive and honest sex education. Going beyond the ‘birds and the bees’ it unravels how our desires are influenced by powerful political processes that can be transformed.

Natalie Fiennes is a journalist and filmmaker. She is currently working in documentary film making and has taught sex education and consent classes in schools, universities, and youth centres around the UK.

Platforming underrepresented voices; intervening in important political issues; revealing powerful histories and giving voice to our personal experiences; Outspoken is a book series unlike any other. Unravelling debates on sex education, masculinity, feminism, mental health, and class and inequality, Outspoken has the answers to the questions you’re asking.