Gus Worland: Why We Need To Change The Rules About What It Means To Be An Aussie Bloke

Aussie blokes need to change the rules and ditch outdated expectations about what it means to be a man – says Sydney radio host Gus Worland.

The father and media personality launched Gotcha4Life, a charity with the goal of reshaping men’s attitudes towards mental health, after losing his mentor and friend Angus Roberts to suicide. 

“80% percent of being an Aussie bloke is really cool, but 20% we’ve got it wrong,” he told What’s Your Problem? | The Aussie Men’s Health Podcast. 

What’s wrong, he says, is our societies expectations that men “harden up” and “don’t be a sook”, leaving us with generations of men who don’t know how to talk about their feelings 

“That’s because we haven’t changed what the rules are around what it takes to be a man today.

“The stereotypical Australian bloke – you know “she’ll be right”, “don’t worry about me, I got this sorted. All that BS that we keep telling ourselves, putting on the mask every day and saying everything’s cool when it isn’t.  That is a stereotype that has been built for so long, it’s very difficult for people to turn it around and change that – but we are doing it slowly.”

Men to feel able to talk about their issues with people they trust, without worries of judgement, he says, because it’s killing them.

“We need to take away the stigma attached to not being ok, and be able to out our hand up and say ‘Hey, I’m not ok’ “

“You do need to have one person in your life that you’re talking to and you can talk warts and all without any judgment.”

Listen to Gus here: 

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