I’m building JACK

It's time to build something for men.

For years doing something for men has been burning in my heart.  

Building Sanctus, I felt like I made a huge difference in mental health and doing it as a young man was part of my story. 

Yet there’s been unfinished business when it comes to men. There’s more to unlock. More to say.  More to do. More potential. More men to reach.

Today I’m launching JACK.

JACK is starting life as a publication and space for men to talk about the issues and challenges we face today. We’re tackling taboo topics and creating an environment for men to grow in. We’re going to talk about everything; from relationships, body, sex, porn, mental health, male friendships, loneliness and more.

Yeah, we’re going there and I want you to tell me what you want us to talk about.

---

The content I see online for men and about men isn’t good enough. It’s either social media influencers slowly walking to their private jet whilst selling get rich courses, or reels where a man shouts angrily at a woman telling her she’s stupid.

I don’t like what’s being said about men or what’s being said to them. The online “manosphere” needs a different perspective, one that’s more grounded in the real issues men face.

I see men getting massively sold to, our deep insecurities preyed upon. Many young men want to get rich, have a six pack and attract a partner. These core desires are often manipulated online and men are sold extreme content that I don’t believe is healthy or productive.

Men are changing and many men are open to change. All the men I know are way more into their health and fitness than they were ten years ago. Many men I know are way more open about their mental health than they were 5 years ago. Men take care of themselves, their health, their looks and their mind. These shifts are important and we need a new conversation that represents how men are changing.

The flipside to these shifts is that many men still battle against typical “lad” or “macho culture”. They might find themselves mindlessly wandering around a gym lifting weights when it does nothing for them. They might find themselves endlessly flicking through instagram reels of young women in bikinis when they could be bettering themselves. They still don’t know how to talk to their mates about what’s really going on in their lives. Or, the chat in the lads group is still only about football and girls when everyone really wants to talk about more important stuff. They are lacking in male role models who present themselves as men to look up to.

I know this, because I live it. I’ve changed a lot in the last 10 years and I’ve seen all the lads I know change too. 99% of the men I know want to grow, be healthy and be a good person. Whether we all act like that every day is another question, the intention is there.

As my interests have waned from typical “lad” stuff I’ve found it harder to fit in. I’ve swapped pints at the pub for a 5km run and a flat white. I’ve swapped watching the champions league for a yoga class (where I’m probably the only guy) and I’ve begun to feel increasingly uncomfortable towards some of the chat targeted at men online and some of the ways we all act in groups.

If I were to redownload instagram today, before liking or following any account I’ll be targeted with reels of young women on the streets of miami talking about the “craziest thing they’ve done in the bedroom” or videos of women in bikinis dancing. Purely because I identified as male on my profile. I’m a 33 year old man. I’m married. There’s much more to me, and all the men I know, than women in bikinis.

Being a good man, or being the man you want to be isn’t always easy in the culture we live in. I want to change male culture for the better, so that we can grow into the men we want to be. Right now, many men act like boys - we’re better than that, I know we are.

The world is changing quickly and I believe men need to catch up. If I compare the way women are able to articulate “what it is like being a woman in the world’ to how men might describe “what it is like being a man in the world”. Women, and other minority groups, are leagues ahead in how they’ve understood how current culture impacts them. Men, need to do the same.

Your grandad probably went to war, or worked in grim conditions. Your dad has his own issues, you either know or don’t know about that impacted you. You’ve grown up in a world that told you to be strong, love sport, drink beer, see girls as objects and we’ve barely ever spoken about this. Now’s our time.

I want a world where I’m proud to be a man. Where boys can grow into the men they want to be. Where we have role models that are good men. Where there are many styles of man to become.

Right now, I don’t know where to find that. I don’t know where to find positive male role models. I don’t know where I can go to explore manhood, masculinity or the issues that continue to evolve in my life as a man. I don’t know where I can have good conversation with other men, where there’s more curiosity than there is judgment.

If I don’t know where to look. It’s likely there aren’t many places to go.

This why I’m starting JACK. 

A place, a space, a movement, a community, a publication. I don’t know if I’m totally honest. But something like all of that; for men. Something, for men.

Imagine a barbershop where you can have a good serious chat with your barber about whats going on in your life and there are other men sitting around having similar conversations. Talking freely, looking after themselves, investing themselves. That picture, that feeling, that ethos. That’s JACK. 

To begin with, alongside other men I’m going to be writing regularly about men and their lives on JACK. Subscribe with your email and you’ll get:

• Weekly articles sent to your email inbox 📥

• Q&As for the JACK community, away from the crowd on social media ❓

• Events for like-minded men across the UK 🙋🏻‍♂️ (COMING SOON)

Cheers,

James x