Articles

I’m going to start with some points about men, patriarchy, and feminism which I hold to be self-evident. That is, some basic truths. And I will end with some harder questions.

So, this first section is “Engaging Men 101”.

Some truths I hold to be self-evident

To achieve gender equality, we’ll have to engage men.

To end patriarchy, to achieve gender equality, men will have to change. Putting this another way, we will have to engage men. Above all, because gender inequalities are sustained in large part by men – by men’s attitudes, behaviours, identities, and relations.

Patriarchy is about men – about male privilege, about men’s practices and relations, with women and perhaps more so with other men.

Men are members of a privileged group, and we receive various benefits and dividends whether or not we want to. We have an ethical responsibility, a political responsibility, to challenge and undermine this privilege, to change our own sexism and to challenge other men’s.

So, to put it far too simply, men are part of the problem, and men are part of the solution.

This XY collection focuses on men and abortion: on the role that men can play in supporting women's reproductive health rights and choices, on debates over abortion, and so on.

Please see the very bottom of this page for the items in the collection, as attachments.

Also see:

This resource is a guide for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and governments to support the review and updating of existing policies to ensure they fully engage men and boys in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and HIV/AIDS.

There are great resources for encouraging norms of sexual consent and respect among men and boys, building skills in negotiating consent, and so on. Here, we have collected some useful, accessible pieces. Further suggestions are most welcome.

Further pieces on XY which focus on consent include the following:

What is men's violence against women? What are its causes and consequences? Here are some key readings and reports, on domestic violence, sexual violence, and other forms of violence against women. They include shorter or more accessible pieces and longer discussions and reports.

The MenEngage Alliance, a global network of more than 630 organizations working with men and boys for women’s right and gender justice, has worked to enhance accountability in this field for some time, building on many years of work by women’s rights organizations. The MenEngage Alliance understands accountability as the commitment that activists and organizations working in the engaging boys and mend field must have toward women’s rights groups and other social justice movements.