Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined (Outspoken by Pluto) - Softcover

JJ Bola

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745338747 ISBN 13: 9780745338743

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2019

Synopsis

From song lyrics to gang signs, how does society cause toxic masculinity?

An urgent call to unravel masculinity and redefine it, prize-winning writer JJ Bola explores masculinity, finding it at the heart of love and sex, the political stage, competitive sports, gang culture, mental health issues and more.

“An antidote to Jordan Peterson” – Guardian

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, debunking popular myths along the way. Mask Off explores how LGBTQ men, men of colour, and male refugees experience masculinity in diverse ways, revealing its fluidity, how it's strengthened and weakened by different political contexts, such as the patriarchy or the far-right, and perceived differently by those around them.

“confronts the harmful myth of modern masculinity” - ID Magazine

“uncompromising, heartfelt and completely vital… this is the book about masculinity that we ALL need” - Jeffrey Boakye, author of Black, Listed: Black British Culture Explored

“This incredibly enjoyable book utterly destroys the myths around masculinity and is a great read for younger men” - Socialist Worker

“A vital addition to books on masculinity. It is opening up conversations, whilst offering guidance towards joyful, emotional, non-violent masculinities” - Bad Form

Winner of a 2019 Creative Review Book Covers of the Year award.

Mask Off is part of the Outspoken by Pluto series.
Platforming younger, underrepresented voices; intervening in important political issues; revealing powerful histories and giving voice to our experiences; Outspoken by Pluto is a book series unlike any other. Unravelling debates on sex ed and masculinity, feminism and class, and work and borders, this series has the answers to the questions you’re asking. These are books that dissent.

About this title

About the Author

JJ Bola is a prize-winning Writer, Poet, and Educator, born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and raised in London.

He is the author of the novels ‘The Selfless Act of Breathing’ (2021), 'No Place to Call Home' (2017), three poetry collections and a children’s picture book called Fly Boy (2023).

One of the winners of the 2017 Spread the Word Flight 1000 Associates Prize, he is also a High Profile Supporter for the United Nations High Council for Refugees. JJ has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck University and also works as a Mental Health Social Worker, in a community mental health team

JJ Bola is based in London, but often travels across the UK, and internationally, for workshops, lectures, and talks. He is passionate about empowering people to transform their lives. And loves basketball, and carrot cake.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745338747
• ISBN 13: 9780745338743
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128