Guilherme Valadares quickly realised something had to change when school boys started asking him, "Am I toxic?"
"If you tell a young boy to Google masculinity or go to TikTok or YouTube, he's going to find a lot of nasty content," says the leading research director, institute founder and gender expert.
"You've got to be tough; don't show feelings.
"When we go to schools, boys come to us and ask, "Am I toxic? Am I a disease? Am I the problem? Am I a monster?"
They were the kinds of interactions that inspired his latest project, according to the Brazilian co-founder of Papo de Homem, which translates to "man-to-man conversation".
Over a week in the mountains, the initiative involved teaching 11 diverse boys a curriculum based on research about what they need and what girls want them to change.
