> Summary - Participation of Men in Achieving Gender
> Equality
>
> In the past few weeks we have been exploring whether
> men
> should be involved in achieving gender equality. In
> assessing
> where we are in achieving the goals of feminism, it
> has become
> important to ask whether we have strategically
> involved all
> possible role-players in restructuring of society.
> Most feminist
> efforts in the past have been targeted at
> empowerment and
> mobilization of women, in an attempt to start
> shifting power
> relations within society. As we look back and
> forward, we have
> to acknowledge that there are still gaps that exist
> in our
> strategies, gaps that span a range of issues. On
> this list we
> have already started engaging about the generational
> gaps,
> but for this specific issue we look at what are the
> pros and
> cons for excluding or including men.
> Why should men be involved?
> Several of the discussants iterated that men's
> contribution
> and participation in the gender equality efforts
> will make a
> greater impact on social justice, because it
> guarantees equal
> contribution and opportunities for female and male
> voices in
> the society. Secondly, change itself cannot be
> wrought by one
> group alone, especially when it involves a change in
> all people
> and societies.
> Ayesha Chatterjee stated clearly that "the exclusion
> of men
> communicates that innumerable concerns, like rights
> violations,
> violence etc, are specifically 'female problems'
> that women alone
> should deal with. This is far from the truth. For
> example, the
> issue of domestic violence - excluding men implies
> that women face
> the violence and are also responsible for dealing
> with it. If we
> fail to address the men (many of them perpetrators),
> we are
> failing to rectify the problem at its source and
> instead
> perpetuating existing ideas of patriarchy and male
> dominance."
> However, Funmi Balogun noted that "I am not sure I
> agree with the
> notion that they should be involved because they
> hold power to key
> decisions, and so to involve them to decide
> reproductive choices
> for example is in the interest of women - this
> strategy gives
> credence to the notion of 'patriarchal benevolence',
> all knowing
> men giving space to women to operate - this I think
> disempowers
> women even more!" Thus, when we talk about including
> men, we have
> to be clear, that we do not dismiss women's own
> power and agency.
> The second strong argument was put forward by
> Richard Mabala, who
> articulated very strongly that "one of the major
> reasons for many
> of the conflicts at present is that we have, to a
> greater or
> lesser extent 'deconstructed' femininity over the
> past 30 years
> but we have done almost nothing to deconstruct
> masculinity.
> Thus you have unreconstructed males trying to cope
> with empowered
> females, at which point the males regress to an even
> earlier point
> in time as far as their behaviour is concerned."
> This argument
> was further supported by Agnes Yawe and Zitto Zuberi
> Kabwe who
> stated that the greatest challenge was changing the
> mindset of
> other men, and that men themselves could play a
> major role in
> facilitating a new way of looking at the world.
> Petronella
> Goliath and Rose Osinde advocated for empowerment
> and
> capacity-building in relation to this, that men
> themselves should
> accept change and make it happen; women can't make
> them do it. They
> have to have change agents from their own ranks,
> too, to make it
> happen.
> Katie Hume raised her voice in support of Funmi's
> earlier statement
> and also to add to what Richard had been saying. She
> advocated that
> we should look at men's involvement in the movement
> for gender
> equality as "allies yes, feminists no. The feminist
> movement is
> about empowering women, and if men are brought into
> that equation,
> you risk reinforcing ideas of paternalism etc.. That
> said, I
> absolutely believe in a masculinist movement, and I
> don't think
> that feminism will ever fully achieve it's goal of
> gender equality
> without such a co-movement. If men can organize
> themselves to
> change that mindset, explore masculinity as women
> have explored
> femininity, and begin to embrace femininity as
> something to be
> revered, rather than ridiculed, then gender equity
> will be possible."
> Why are there so few male feminists? Should there be
> more male
> feminists?
> Firstly, it was raised that many men do not see the
> need to be part
> of the feminist movement. Manana raised the issue
> that feminism is
> seen as a women's domain (women's what-what). Laura
> Shumba supported
> this and added that whereas men don't need
> organizations and
> foundations for male advancement, the majority of
> male society
> takes a back seat on issues that "aren't their
> concern." Differences
> in enthusiasm between men and women are rooted in
> the past when women
> took on primarily domestic and maternal roles. Men
> have never needed
> to prove themselves as men before proving themselves
> as anything else.
> Because of this, men seem to take a laissez-faire
> attitude towards
> feminism."
> Secondly, the question of whether men can be
> feminists raised some
> interesting points. Funmi raised the provocative
> question of whether
> "men can be 'feminists' - I don't think so, because
> even though
> feminism is an ideology, men do not experience
> gender discrimination,
> not in the way women do. And we have to understand
> that gender
> discrimination confers privileges even on the most
> gender sensitive
> male" Jennifer Myles felt it important to add to the
> debate that "as
> sensitive as a man might be to gender-based
> discrimination, his
> understanding will be limited because he doesn't
> personally experience
> and therefore identify with the same things (as
> different as these
> "things" may be according to different cultures and
> societies)."
> Lastly, the experiences of men involved in gender
> equality work, shed
> some light on 'exclusivity' of the movement. Sipalla
> Humphrey also
> noted that male feminists feel lonely because most
> gender organisations
> are almost wholly constituted by women, and
> secondly, men feel alienated
> from the male clique when they identify themselves
> as feminists.
> Richard Mabala added that "male feminists have not
> always felt welcome
> within the movement. While I fully accept that I am
> a man and therefore
> cannot feel/experience/think exactly like a woman, I
> think the
> 'politics of difference' have often become the
> 'politics of exclusion'."
> Rose Osinde and Elnura Osmonalieva also supported
> Sipalla's second
> argument by saying that "due to the impressions
> already existing about
> feminism and gender development work i.e. that women
> are fighting for
> the male space, some men shy away from identifying
> with such individuals
> or organisations." She advocated for awareness about
> the goals and
> objectives of the gender equality movement to
> support transformation.
> What are some of the concerns of including men?
> The first concern is that we as a movement do not
> lose sight of where
> we are as a feminist movement and what our goals
> are. Manana
> strongly advocated that we as a movement understand
> what feminism
> and gender equality means, and what we need to
> achieve with including
> men. Ayesha felt that we can only include men
> without being cautious,
> once the women's movement has embedded its roots
> firmly and women
> have begun to experience a greater degree of
> security and assurance
> about their rights. Funmi further added that we need
> to achieve a
> critical mass of women who believe in the cause
> before we think about
> including men. She also felt that strategising
> around male
> participation is actually quite easy - but the
> challenge is really how
> do we achieve the critical mass of women to agree to
> and work towards
> the notion that every individual should have equal
> rights and that
> women have been disadvantaged?" Tracy Nacli
> supported this argument
> by asking "can we really start talking about men's
> participation, when
> there are clearly very many spaces (eg. The United
> Nations) where women
> are still under-represented and unable to
> participate?"
> Thus, if we want to include men, we should
> pro-actively make provision
> for a number of affirmative/positive discrimination
> actions for women.
> This point was articulated by a number of
> discussants. Secondly, Nishadi
> (Sri Lanka) and Jackie Oluoch advised caution as to
> the extent to which
> we take men's contribution. That we need to guard
> against
> "possibilities/risks of unhealthy male dominance and
> prominence. But
> again, positive discrimination should be guaranteed
> in a transparent
> manner, which should facilitate understanding of
> reasons behind the
> positive discrimination."
> Lastly, Richard Mabala's statement "I feel that this
> is the time to
> involve men more fully. Feminists have set the
> agenda, and can set
> the boundaries as well to ensure that the inclusion
> of men does not
> lead to subversion of the agenda.", alerts us to the
> need as a movement,
> we cannot only blame men when our agenda is
> subverted. It is a
> reflection of other problems within the movement.
> Conclusion
> The discussion illuminated many critical issues.
> Although we do not
> all agree on every aspect, I think it is safe to
> safe that men's
> involvement in gender equality is necessary.
> However, it is important
> to be clear about what we mean when we talk about
> men's involvement
> and participation in achieving gender equality. As a
> strategy it is
> absolutely necessary, but we have to contextualize
> the strategy we
> are using to achieve it, and from there talk about
> men's participation
> and whether they're feminists or not.
> Also, when we talk about young women's leadership,
> this issue is
> significant in that through strategic engagement
> with young men, we can
> make provisions for the next generation to
> understand issues of gender
> and its impact on society.-----------
>
>
> -- AWID's Young Women and Leadership Email List ---
>
> Resources on Men's Participation in Gender Equality
>
> 1. UN Men's Group for Gender Equality
> - www.undp.org/gender/programmes/men
> "Predominantly, gender power relations have left a
> legacy whereby
> women are more likely to be disadvantaged relative
> to men, have
> less access to resources, benefits, information and
> decision making,
> and to have fewer rights both within the household
> and in the public
> sphere. Thus far, then, these concerns and the
> struggle for gender equality
> have been narrowly perceived to be a "women's
> issue," and gender
> programmes designed with a sole focus on women. But
> if men generally
> benefit from gender power relations - can we
> continue to ignore their
> roles in the struggle for gender equality? "
> On this site you will find various resources.
> a. Outline of why we need to look at men's
> participation in
> gender equality
> b. Publication May 2000 - "Men, Masculinities and
> Development"
> c. A bibliography of other resources on the issue
> that can be downloaded
> from the site.
> --------------
> 2. The State of the World's Population 2000
> - http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2000/english/ch04.html
> Chapter 4: Men, Reproductive Rights and Gender
> Equality
> "Equality between men and women is a matter for
> society at large, but
> it begins in the family. Understanding gender
> discrimination means
> understanding opportunities and constraints as they
> affect men as
> well as women. Men's attitudes and behaviours are
> strongly
> influenced by societal expectations about what it
> means to be a man.
> In particular, the assumption that contraception,
> pregnancy, childbirth
> and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases are
> exclusively women's
> concerns reinforces men's lack of involvement in
> safeguarding reproductive
> health - both their own and that of their partners."
> --------------
> 3. GST Gateway - Bringing Men into Gender
> http://gstgateway.wigsat.org/gen/men.html
> Has links to a range of resources including men,
> masculinities, putting
> men onto the gender agenda and many others.
> 4. Oxfam - Gender Equality and Men
> http://www.oxfam.org.uk/gem/backgrnd.htm
> Background to the Gender Equality and Men Project
> (GEM) which
> is improving Oxfam's anti-poverty work by developing
> a more
> comprehensive idea of gender within the
> organisation. The site
> also provides information on workshop materials,
> presentations and
> case studies from the 'Gender is everyone's
> business: programming
> with men to achieve gender Equality' workshop held
> 10-12 June 02.
> As well as Resources & Links - links to web based
> resources
> concerning work with men and masculinities
> -----------------
> 5. Jeff Hearn - Men and Gender Equality: Resistance,
> Responsibilities and Reaching Out.
> Keynote Paper, Men and Gender Equality, March 2001,
> Sweden
>
http://www.cromenet.org/customers/crome/crome.nsf/resources/
>
B357628D3112B213C2256A16004CE972/$file/Men+and+GEc.doc
> How do we think about and understand men's relations
> to and
> involvement with gender equality? What are the
> different kinds of
> relationship that men have to gender equality? Why
> is gender equality
> of interest to some, often relatively few, men? Why
> is it not of interest
> to some, often many, men? What are the theoretical,
> political, policy
> and practical reasons why it is important for men to
> become involved
> in these issues? How is this to be done? What are
> the promises and
> dangers of these.
> ---------------------
> 6. Partners in Change: Working with Men to End
> Gender-Based Violence -
> INSTRAW/Ser.B/57, ISBN 92-1-127058-8
> The papers in this volume explore the different
> kinds of partnerships
> for ending gender-based violence, and men's roles
> and responsibilities
> within these. These roles in and responsibilities
> for change range across
> the spectrum, from men changing their relationships
> with their intimate
> partners to male-dominated institutions changing the
> way they function
> in order to better confront issues of gender and
> violence. Some
> of the individual, institutional and structural
> changes that are required
> are discussed in this volume, as are ways in which
> men can become
> partners, with each other and with women, in making
> these changes.
> For more information on ordering the publication:
> www.un-instraw.org-------------------------
>
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