Loss of manual jobs could be driving toxic masculinity, says Sting

Many men no longer use their hands and physicality daily, which may contribute to toxic traits in modern masculinity. Deindustrialisation is described as removing physical productivity for men and eroding direction for male energy and strength. A musical about shipyard workers centers on men whose identities are taken away as shipyards close. The closure of shipyards is tied to a shift away from industries that created Britain’s wealth, including coalfields, steel towns, mill towns, and shipyards. The production is not meant to romanticise a brutal industry marked by accidents, fatalities, asbestos, and toxic chemicals, while still reflecting on the skills and identity that were discarded.

"The fact many men no longer use their hands and physicality on a daily basis may be driving some of the toxic traits in modern masculinity, according to Sting. The singer, who on Wednesday announced that his musical about the last days of a shipyard was coming to the West End this autumn, told the Guardian that one of the byproducts of deindustrialisation was the loss of physical productivity for men."

"I work with my hands every day as a musician, and I'm lucky. It's a rare thing for modern men to actually use their hands and use their strengths to do anything. We've lost something there. I don't have any answers, but maybe the toxicity in society at the moment is [a result of the fact] that we've lost that direction for our energy, that male strength. It's rare we have to use it."

"The Last Ship, which debuted in Chicago in 2014 before a run on Broadway, focuses on the fate of men who work at a shipyard similar to Swan Hunter's in Wallsend where Sting grew up, before the yards closed during deindustrialisation in the 1970s and 80s. Lots of male characters in the musical are in a moment of crisis as their identity is being taken from them. One asks: For what are we men without a ship to complete?"

"Sting says the production isn't an attempt to romanticise what could be a brutal industry where there were hundreds of accidents a year and fatalities were not uncommon. I'm the guy who didn't want to work there and for good reason, he said. They were working in asbestos, all kinds of toxic chemicals. At the same time, I'm nostalgic for the"

Read at www.theguardian.com