“There is a crisis of masculinity in Britain because of the pressures rapid economic and social change have placed on masculine identity. Like the film Fight Club – the first rule of being a man in modern Britain is that you’re not allowed to talk about it” – Diane Abbott MP
“Broken X” is a digital therapist. The title is derived from the radical feminist notion that the male Y chromosome is best described as a broken X chromosome, and that the male brain is a female brain that has been damaged at various times throughout development by testosterone.
The installation is for adult male members of the public to engage with individually and in isolation. During the interaction, the digital therapist attempts to provide the visitor with insight into their life situation and to offer tools for improving well-being.
It seems that the difference men can make in their own lives through the use of therapeutic engagement is considerable, but stigma, availability, finance and denial, in combination with the clear failings of Freudian analysis, make most of us unlikely to try any before we reach a “crisis”.