MF MEETS JOURNALIST TIM SAMUELS, AUTHOR OF A NEW BOOK THAT TACKLES THE PRESSURES AND UNCERTAINTY OF MASCULINITY

At a time when men’s mental health is at crisis point and male suicide at an all-time high, the concept of masculinity has never looked so shaky. In Future Man, Tim Samuels argues that modern man – driven by a hunter gatherer sense of duty he is unable to fulfil and more often than not trapped in a nine-to-five office job that suffocates his need for nature – faces an uncertain future. So what can be done?

WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO BE A MODERN MAN?

“There are two main reasons. The first is that, physically, we are living lives that our bodies are fundamentally not designed for, because we haven’t really evolved since caveman times. We are walking – or rather, sitting – around in bodies that are wired to hunt and gather. We are so much more sedentary these days, we are overwhelmed by stress triggers that are completely different to what we’re designed to deal with, and we’re stuck in of ces for most of our lives. So physically, modern life is completely different to how our hardware is meant to run.

“As well as that, the economy is a big deal, because so much of men’s identity, sense of purpose and mental wellbeing comes from the jobs we do. We’re in a situation where hunter gathering is still central to who we are, but the economy makes it so tough to feel comfortable or secure. Our fathers’ generation had a cost of living that was about half that of ours, so we are killing ourselves to make ends meet. We’ve got the gig economy, blue collar jobs have disappeared, and all of this creates a real uncertainty – and intense pressure – for the modern man.”