What Teenage Boys Actually Think | Jesse Rothgrew

Teenage boys are growing up in a world where manhood is being put under the microscope and redefined in real time. The mixed messages are everywhere — be strong, but vulnerable; speak up, but don’t say the wrong thing; just be yourself, but only if you fit the mould...

And while adult voices dominate the conversation on how young men should behave, very few are actually asking boys what they think and feel. 18-year-old Jesse has been doing just that...As a member of White Ribbon Australia's youth advisory group, he's spent the past few years helping shape how issues like respect, masculinity and consent are spoken about with young people.

We explore the quiet conflict young men face — the pressure to live up to an image that's not who you are: and the mass appeal of the ‘alpha male’ narrative'. From everything labelled 'toxic', to missing the point entirely, from peer dynamics to the search for meaning, this is a perspective on what it’s actually like to grow up as a teenage boy today — and what to do when the world’s telling you who to be.

This is Jesse Rothgrew...