ome of the most courageous work we can do in our communities is to
start new conversations about what it means to be a man. We’ve seen
how the long-told narrative that men need to bury their feelings and have
it all figured out has been destructive on many levels, and yet we still find
ourselves—usually unknowingly—repeating sentiments that reinforce it.
The Man Cave, founded by Hunter Johnson and his mates Jamin Heppell and
Benton Saulo, is working directly with boys and young men to redefine their
ideas of masculinity and ultimately shape the broader culture, so that men can
stand in their truth with openness, vulnerability and mutual responsibility.
Since its beginnings in 2004, The Man Cave has engaged more than 25,000
young men across Australia, giving them opportunities to confront their social
conditioning and connect with a deeper part of themselves. Hunter works with
his facilitators to create safe and non-judgemental spaces in which the boys
can take off their masks and feel seen and heard by their peers—often for the
first time. The program has gained traction around the world. In 2018, Hunter
was named one of the Queen’s Young Leaders, a Commonwealth-wide initiative
which honours young people doing extraordinary work in their communities.
When he accepted the award at Buckingham Palace, Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle said they’d wished the work was around when they were young.
Personable and engaging, sensitive and self-aware, Hunter models the kind
of masculinity that he talks about: the kind that we need to heal so much
of our current social and systemic dysfunction. He observes that this work
isn’t about rejecting the masculine altogether, it’s about acknowledging
wholeness—the feminine and the masculine that exists within each one
of us—and how certain traits can become destructive when they’re not in
balance with others, or given their full expression. After chatting with him
for an hour, I felt present to a new wave of leadership, and positive that
the deep work of culture change was not only possible, but happening.