Make Britain more like Brighton to tackle toxic masculinity, says Danny Dyer

Former EastEnders actor Danny Dyer said that the way to tackle “toxic masculinity” was to turn the rest of Britain into Brighton.

Dyer, 46, was presenting a two-part documentary for Channel 4 called How To Be A Man on Tuesday and last night (Wednesday 17 April).

Over the two hour-long episodes, he returned to the benefits of living in Brighton in what Channel 4 said was “an insightful journey into the heart of modern British masculinity”.

The actor and presenter met members of the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus as well as Woody Cook, 23, son of Norman Cook, the DJ known as Fatboy Slim, and broadcaster Zoe Ball.

He went shopping at Lucy and Yak, in Kensington Gardens, with Woody Cook where they tried on some colourful outfits.

He also met sex therapist and sex shop owner Calandra Balfour, 45, who starred with her husband Tim Richardson, 63, and their family in another Channel 4 show, A Very British Sex Shop.

Dyer said: “Brighton is such a little safe haven. You can be whoever you want to be.

“Turn the rest of the country into Brighton and then the world’s a beautiful place. That’s how simple it is.

“There’s something here that gives me hope for the future – of some men at least.

“Be who you want to be … if you want to wear a dress, wear a dress, as a geezer. No one’s going to say boo to a goose.”

Channel 4 said: “With his signature charisma and candour, Danny will meet individuals who believe traditional masculinity is under threat as well as those advocating for a more progressive and inclusive version of the male identity and manhood.”

Dyer said: “As an actor, I’ve played countless characters, but now I am making a documentary about what the evolving place of men really is.

“If you were to look on social media, it might seem like people are either completely embracing or rejecting traditional gender roles, without much room for nuance.

“That’s why we wanted to chat to real men that are representative of the UK today, to hear their thoughts on what being a modern man is to them.

“To me, being a man isn’t about trying to fit a mould, it’s about showing a bit of heart and respecting yourself and others so I’m hoping this documentary gets the geezers talking.”

James Jackson gave the show a mixed review in The Times yesterday (Wednesday 17 April), saying that at one point, “Dyer’s disquisition on masculinity was pinballing all over the place.”

But he concluded: “Weirdly, he is increasingly becoming an oddly mesmeric man.”

The Independent said that at the end of episode one, after meeting Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus, Dyer was swept away by their evolved non-traditional brand of masculinity.

Dyer said: “These fellas give me hope for the future. They can teach all men a thing or two for sure.”

But Lucy Mangan, in The Guardian, was less impressed. She said: “By the end of a superficial, overstuffed, chaotic hour it’s hard to feel that either we or Dyer are much the wiser.”

She quoted Dyer at the start of the show, saying: “Channel 4 bunged me a few quid to talk to geezers up and down the country. Is there really a war on men?”

And the cameras followed him to “a rare men’s refuge for male victims of domestic violence – 29 per cent of DV sufferers are men, we are told”.

But, Mangan said: “There is no time to ask whether – as I suspect it does – this figure includes those who are abused by male partners. And we are left with the impression that they are all victims of women.

“The points made about the difficulty in being believed and the humiliation of confessing are, of course, important, but the lack of clarity elsewhere obscures any possible answer to Dyer’s original question. Can it be a war on men if men are mostly warring with other men?

“Then to the Gay Men’s Chorus in Brighton, who extol the virtues of talking to each other after choir.

“This doesn’t really shed any light on straight or toxic masculinity and what we need to encourage, alter or eradicate about it.”

She concluded: “Nothing is properly understood, explored, no conclusions beyond platitudes reached. A frustrating waste of Dyer, of time and of Channel 4’s few quid.”

The show is available on catch up on All 4.