Storytelling: For preserving and passing on traditions,
for challenging and breaking traditions,
and for the creation of new traditions.

To strengthen social norms that support healthy masculinities and gender equality, and to help eliminate gender-based violence, homophobia and other oppressions that are intertwined with masculinities, through men´s public story-sharing events, documentary films and other mass media.

The Men's Story Project (MSP) is a public performance and community dialogue project that explores social ideas about masculinity and manhood, employing the arts for community-strengthening and social change. It highlights men's stories that are less often heard; breaks silences on issues including sexism, racism, heterosexism, ableism and violence – and ways in which these are often intertwined with masculinities; celebrates men’s beauty and humanness; and stimulates active dialogue on what contemporary masculinities can be all about. The ultimate goal of this replicable project is to help expand the presence of genuine self-expression, peace, health and justice in communities. The MSP started in San Francisco in 2008, and is intended for local implementation and evaluation around the world.

In each live MSP presentation, a diverse group of approximately 15 local men share pieces they have created about their own lives with a public audience, on subjects including sexuality, gender identity, romantic relationships, friendship, family, mentors, rites of passage, HIV/AIDS, perpetration of and healing from violence, personal transformations, and the men they wish to be – all with a framing focus on exploration of masculinities and men’s roles. Presentations are multi-medium (e.g., slam poetry, monologues, prose, music, dance), followed by audience-presenter discussion. MSP presenters have included national celebrities, local artists, activists, and men who have never been on a public stage.