Gender Equality and Men: Learning From Practice - Softcover

Ruxton, Sandy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0855985143 ISBN 13: 9780855985141

Verlag: Oxfam GB, 2004

Inhaltsangabe

* Why is it important to include men in gender equality and anti-poverty work?
* What works with men in practice?
* What is the impact of including men in gender analysis and action?
* How should organizations develop work with men?

Oxfam GB’s "Gender Equality and Men (GEM) project" has been seeking since 2002 to address men and boys more fully in the organization’s gender work through regional workshops, internal training, piloting new approaches, and policy and practice change. This book draws upon conclusions from this project, and shares knowledge about, and experience of, work with men on gender equality in programs run by Oxfam GB and other organizations. It also explores how work with men can be developed to promote broader gender equality and poverty reduction strategies, and to encourage a more active engagement with men through gender programming.

This collection brings together fourteen articles by development practitioners and researchers worldwide and addresses a range of key issues, including: the value of including men in gender equality and anti-poverty work; the difficulties that are likely to arise -- both for men and women -- and how they can they be overcome; practical evidence from different spheres (e.g. in relation to sustainable livelihoods, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health); lessons regarding the impact of including men in gender analysis and action; future strategies and directions for development organizations and practitioners.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Since 1996 Sandy Ruxton has undertaken freelance policy and research. Organizations for whom she has worked include NSPCC, Oxfam, Age Concern, The Institute for Public Policy Research, European Women's Lobby, UNHCR, Separated Children in Europe Programme, and Cirque du Soleil.

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Gender Equality and Men

Learning from Practice

By Sandy Ruxton

Oxfam Publishing

Copyright © 2004 Oxfam GB
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-85598-514-1

Contents

Foreword, vii, 
Acknowledgements, ix, 
Contributors, xi, 
Introduction Sandy Ruxton, 1, 
Transforming our interventions for gender equality by addressing and involving men and boys: a framework for analysis and action Michael Kaufman, 19, 
Masculinities: resistance and change Benno de Keijzer, 28, 
The things they don't tell you about working with men in gender workshops Maree Keating, 50, 
'How do you eat between harvests?' and other stories: engaging men in gender and livelihoods Thalia Kidder, 64, 
Mainstreaming a male perspective into UK regeneration: the experience in South Yorkshire Cinnamon Bennett, 77, 
Men As Partners: lessons learned from engaging men in clinics and communities Manisha Mehta, Dean Peacock, and Lissette Bernal, 89, 
Taking the bull by the horns: working with young men on HIV/AIDS in South Africa Gaetane le Grange, 101, 
Fatherwork in the Caribbean: examples of support for men's work in relation to family life Janet Brown, 113, 
Addressing men's role in family violence: the experience of the 'Sakhli' Women's Advice Centre, Georgia Rusudan Pkhakadze and Nana Khoshtaria, 131, 
'Liberation for everyone, not just men' A case study of the Men's Association Against Violence (AMKV) in Timor Leste Mario de Araujo, 140, 
How do we know if men have changed? Promoting and measuring attitude change with young men: lessons from Program H in Latin America Gary Barker, with Marcos Nascimento, Marcio Segundo, and Julie Pulerwitz, 147, 
Strategies and approaches to enhance the role of men and boys in gender equality: a case study from Yemen Magda Mohammed Elsanousi, 162, 
What men think about gender equality: lessons from Oxfam GB staff in Delhi and Dhaka Sharon E. Rogers, 177, 
Evolving the gender agenda: the responsibilities and challenges for development organisations James L. Lang and Sue Smith, 194, 
Conclusion Sandy Ruxton, 207, 
Appendix: Conclusions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, 48th Session, The Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality, 230, 
Index, 235, 

CHAPTER 1

Transforming our interventions for gender equality by addressing and involving men and boys: a framework for analysis and action

Michael Kaufman

Among NGOs, governments, and international institutions such as the United Nations, there has been a tremendous surge of interest in the last few years in the subject of men and boys. This interest reflects several overlapping perspectives. There are those who understand we must reach men so that interventions for women and girls are not derailed by male resistance. There are those who see the quest for gender equality as being enhanced by specific initiatives aimed at men and boys, such as awareness campaigns to end gender-based violence. And there are those who realise that meeting certain needs of men and boys will actually enhance an equity and equality agenda (and vice versa). This chapter endorses all these approaches, and therefore rejects the competing view that the rush to improve the lives of women has resulted in males being ignored or even harmed – this assertion simply doesn't bear scrutiny.

My concern in writing this chapter is two-fold, firstly that this new-found interest in the lives of men and boys doesn't become a passing fad, and secondly that we analyse the lives of men and boys and develop appropriate programmes in the context of achieving gender equality, equity, and social transformation. I believe it is only the latter approaches that will ensure that the focus on men and boys is an enduring one. Only if organisations see the productive results of men and boys taking co-responsibility for gender transformation will new approaches for men not only gain a lasting place in the development world, but also maintain a transformatory edge.

This chapter will discuss a framework for such approaches, drawing on some examples from the White Ribbon Campaign, a campaign that aims to engage men and boys in the struggle to end men's violence against women.

Leaving out boys and men: a recipe for failure

This interest in masculinities, in the lived realities of men and boys and in the capacity of men to play a positive role in challenging sexism and patriarchy, has been cultivated by over two decades of work by a small number of individuals and organisations around the world. We have seen ourselves as allies with the women's movement and the struggles led by women. It is not surprising, however, that a widespread acceptance of our approach has been slow in coming. After all, our work has developed within a critique of patriarchy, the very system that has given undue power and privileges to men. As a result, many women have been concerned that any attempt to include men and boys in working for gender equality would not only redirect scarce resources back to men (who, worldwide, already monopolise resources), but would also rob women of hard-fought social and political spaces. Meanwhile, many men and male-dominated institutions resist our initiatives for the same reasons that they resist equality work led by women: many men feel threatened by direct challenges to their own definitions of manhood, and some share the concerns raised by some women.

There is validity to such concerns. However, these fears arise from an assumption which is, at least partially, false. The goal of our work to promote women's empowerment is not only a matter of directing resources to women and girls but, in a broader sense, is also aimed at meeting the needs of women and girls. By this I mean not only immediate needs, but also what we might think of as women's transformatory and strategic needs within a framework of their empowerment. This is one place where men and boys fit in. To cite but two examples: programmes aimed at men in order to increase fathers' involvement in day-today parenting and domestic tasks may be money spent on men, but it is part of the process of gender transformation to the benefit of women and girls. Similarly, money supporting a men's organisation to carry out awareness programmes with men and boys to end men's violence against women and girls, is not money spent on women and girls, but is money spent to meet the needs of women and girls.

Another way to approach this issue is to ask what will be the consequences of not addressing and involving men and boys. There are a number of reasons for such an omission being a recipe for failure. Most obvious is the fact that men are the gatekeepers of current gender orders and are potential resistors of change. If we do not effectively reach men and boys, many of our efforts will be either thwarted or simply ignored. At best, male leaders will pay lip service to the goals of women's rights, but these goals will not be fully integrated into local, national, and international priorities. In addition, if we don't involve men we are de facto removing men from the gender equation. In doing so, we effectively marginalise women and women's struggles. It should be no surprise, then, that our best efforts are thwarted in moments of national or international crisis or in the midst of economic cutbacks, or that they are virtually ignored at the highest levels of social, economic, and political decision making.

Ultimately, gender is about relations of power between the sexes and among...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Oxfam GB
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2004
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0855985143
• ISBN 13: 9780855985141
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 258
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Anja's; service@anja-karge.de; ; Von-Gumppenberg-Str. 94; Pöttmes; 86554; Deutschland