Lead Researchers: Andrea Cornwall , Tessa Lewin , Samia Afroz Rahim
Representations of men as perpetrator and patriarch have profoundly shaped the terms of gender and development’s engagement with masculinities discourse and practice. Many of those working in the field have remained hesitant, tentative, often hostile to the notion that men might be potential allies in the struggle for gender justice. This work explores what role there should be for men in women's empowerment.
Activists, academics and practitioners Kate Bedford, Stevi Jackson, Kamala Kempadoo, Jo Doezema, Jennifer Radloff and Jeanne Prinsloo, Chris Dolan, Amy Lind, and Alan Greig define ‘heteronormativity’ in a series of short interviews. …
The nature of men's involvement in the struggle for gender justice has long fiercely divided gender-equality advocates. After nearly three decades of disagreement this seam of tension doggedly persists, little engaged with and largely unresolved. …
A diverse mix of people came together in Dakar, Senegal from 13-19 October 2007, to debate issues of men, gender and power: unconventional practical academics, open-minded policymakers, reflective practitioners and activists. It was a unique gathering and offered a unique opportunity – to inform and inspire a greater engagement by men in the struggle for gender justice and broader social change. The symposium was borne out of a realization that much of the most innovative work on men and masculinities has worked at the level of the personal, such as seeking to transform men’s sexual behaviour, violence against women and relations of fatherhood. The HIV epidemic has forced an open space for greater acknowledgement of the fluidity and diversity of men’s sexual and social identities. …
Zelal Ayman, Ulrika Holmstrom, Monica Williams, Marcos Nascimento, Kuhu Das, Dean Peacock, Carolyn Hannan, and Anita Gurumurthy reflect briefly on the question, “What do men have to do with women’s empowerment?” …
This panel session from the AWID Forum in Cape Town, November 2008 on engaging men in feminist struggles and movements sought to address how to engage men in feminist movements, why men question or give up their masculine images, and what is needed to mobilize men in feminist and social movements. …