NatWest Bring it 2020 has provided £50 of match funding
MY BOY CAN DANCE
Southsea, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Let's stop saying a boy shouldn't or can't do something because he is a boy and start saying MY BOY CAN and still be a boy.
Let's stop saying a boy shouldn't or can't do something because he is a boy and start saying MY BOY CAN.
We want to raise awareness to the stigmas and negativity boys face for choosing to like and take part in activities deemed for girls.
By raising discussions within society to question why when a boy does not conform to the hyper masculine gender stereotype of male- boys are shamed in to believing they can't or shouldn't do something because they are a boy.
We support boys who challenge the gender stereotype and their families: by bringing the boys and their families together within a like minded community. Offering support, guidance and positivity to help boys to be themselves and know they can be whoever they want to be.
Our Workshops
We create opportunities for the boys to take part in all boy workshops in dance, costume, make up, hair styling, painting, photography for example.
The workshops are hosted by men from within the industries, creating role models for the boys and allowing them to meet and discuss with men who have achieved success even through the stigmas they faced.
The workshops bring together boys from within the communities, but also parents - helping us all to find ways to support our boys within a world that can be cruel to them at times.
So far we have launched in Portsmouth; hosting our photo shoots, workshops and launched our first annual show. We would now like to take our campaign and launch these projects to more communities across the UK.
Your money will allow MY BOY CAN CIC to start reaching more boys within our MY BOY CAN DANCE campaign and launch in cities closer to you. If we achieve our crowdfunding target of £12000 we will be able to come to 4 locations out of:
- KENT
-CORNWALL
-MIDLANDS
-WALES
-NORTH
-SCOTLAND
- ESSEX
The more funding we raise- the more locations we will be able to host workshops at. We need £3000 for MY BOY CAN CIC to launch in one location. Each location will see us build a team to run and host our campaign, develop a programme of workshops and schedule a 'THIS BOY CAN DANCE' show.
How we improve male mental health
We are also keen to improve male mental health and hope by creating new friendships with like minded boys and families- boys who do face negativity can find positivity in each other.
Our workshops focus on creating safe spaces for the boys to discuss mental health and learn tools to cope with negativity they may face. The tools learned in our workshops can be applied in other settings, helping the boys to cope better when in negative situations and learn not to internalise feelings.
My Boy Can Dance Show
We have launched our first ever all Boy dance show in Portsmouth. Inviting any boy dancers who would like to take part and celebrate in showing that boys can dance.
We believe by creating shows that are available to the public, we not only support the boys taking part in showing their love for dance: we are also showing the public the importance of raising awareness to the negative stigmas boy dancers face for choosing an activity, that society deems for girls.
We would like to create annual MY BOY CAN DANCE shows to various communities across the UK, to help their local community to come together in a voice of empowerment for our sons.
Your money will allow us to bring the shows and the opportunities for the boys to perform in the show to your communities.
Who is behind MY BOY CAN?
My name is Sassy Harvey and I am a mother to a boy myself. I started my Facebook page as a blog to air my frustrations to the world I faced with my son, who was then a princess loving, barbie playing, mermaid obsessed, ballet dancing 4 year old. I was always conscious of how others would maybe judge him and indeed myself for his choices to like things that society deems as "for girls". I was always worrying about how if I allowed him to be himself, was I setting him up to be bullied for not conforming and being the typical 'boys' boy.
In a world where feminism has seen a new wave of girls being encouraged to be whoever they want to be, to like what they like and to stand strong against the stereotype - it saddened me that my own son was facing comments like 'big boys don't cry', 'boys don't wear princess dresses', 'you shouldn't be playing with dolls' and even being told 'you're gay if you do ballet'.
My son was 4 years old and already the negativity surrounded him within our community to conform to an ideal that I didn't believe to be gender equal. I want my son to enjoy the things that make him happy, regardless of whether he is a boy. I want him to grow up knowing that his voice and feelings are valid and that emotions can be shared and do not have to be internalised. I also hope one day, my son will be a father and know how to take care of a baby, just as he does with his dolls today. I want him to believe he can be himself regardless of societies ideals.
By raising my frustrations on my Facebook page, I was able to find I wasn't alone and other families were out there. Who like me had a son who had a personality that challenged the male stereotype and I heard the stories of the people- I heard the negativity that many of us parents and our sons faced for saying MY BOY CAN.
I decided I needed to do something to help improve this and help not only my son, but all sons to know that they too can be who they want to be, that we support them and show them they are not alone.
Positive Message
All our work is to create a message that boys do not have to conform to a hyper-masculine gender stereotype, they can be whoever they want to be: we are encouraging more people to say MY BOY CAN cry, can dance, can play with dolls and learn to be fathers, can dress up as a princess, can have long hair AND STILL BE A BOY.
This project successfully funded on 10th April 2020