What is the purpose of men ? (Venue B: Starbucks)

THE VENUE: Starbucks

Rain is currently forecast for Sunday (again), but things may change. So, the default is to meet indoors but please look out for updates before you leave home.

When we meet inside, we run the same event in two locations: Caffè Nero and Starbucks, so as to provide capacity for as many people who would like to attend. Thus, there will be two events published, and you can choose which one to attend. Please don't sign up for both. This event is for the Starbucks location.

We meet upstairs at Starbucks. An organiser or regular attendee will be present from 10.45. We are not charged for use of the space so it would be good if everyone bought at least one drink.

An attendee limit has been set so as not to overwhelm the venue.

Etiquette
Our discussions are friendly and open. We are a discussion group, not a for-and-against debating society. But it helps if we try to stay on topic. And we should not talk over others, interrupt them, or try to dominate the conversation.

There is often a waiting list for places, so please cancel your attendance as soon as possible if you subsequently find you can't come.

WhatsApp groups
We have two WhatsApp groups. One is to notify events, including extra events such as meeting for a meal or a drink during the week which we don't normally put on the Meetup site. The other is for open discussion of whatever topics occur to people. If you would like to join either or both groups, please send a note of the phone number you would like to use to Richard Baron on: website.audible238@passmail.net. (This is an alias that can be discarded if it attracts spam, hence the odd words.)

THE TOPIC: What is the purpose of men ?

This week's topic represents the combined efforts of Becky, Duncan and Miguel.

The discussion is premised on the following claims, any or all of which you may disagree with:

• traditional Western gender roles have worked to the disadvantage of women
• some progress has been made in rights of women over the last 100 years
• there is now a crisis in masculinity

With that in mind:

• what were the traditional roles and how can we criticise them ?
• what has feminism actually done and is at all good ?
• how is masculine identity reproduced ?
• what is the purpose of men and what roles should they now inhabit ?
• how do we resolve this crisis whilst continuing progress with women's rights ?
• do non-traditional family structures have a role to play ?

This is potentially a contentious topic, so please treat others with kindness and criticise the argument rather than the person.