'Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls 2011 - So, what about boys?' is the fifth in a series of annual reports published by Plan examining the rights of girls throughout their childhood, adolescence and as young women.
The report shows that far from being an issue just for women and girls, gender is also about boys and men, and that this needs to be better understood if we are going to have a positive impact on societies and economies.
Articles
The victims of violence often are male. This is true in particular of collective, public forms of violence (in wars, political conflicts, street and gang violence). For example, in areas of political conflict such as Palestine or Northern Ireland, young men have a greater exposure to and participation in violence than young women (Reilly et al. 2004). However, males also comprise a significant proportion of the victims of violence in relationships and families. The perpetrators of these diverse forms of violence also are predominantly male.
Both 9/11 and domestic murders have claimed thousands of lives. Over 3000 victims were killed in the September 11 attacks - about 2000 victims/year are killed in the United States by their intimate partners. Both were results of terrorist attacks - 9/11 from Al Quaeda, domestic murder from "domestic terrorists." Both kinds of terrorists use fear, violence and intimidation to get what they want. But Al Quaeda terrorists are vilified, while domestic terrorists are often called "pillars of the community."
Efforts to prevent sexual violence against women and girls now increasingly take as given that they must engage men and boys. The theatre-based intervention described in the previous issue of Feminism & Psychology (Rich, 2010) is one of a wave of programmes and strategies focused on males. Using that intervention as a springboard, this article asks: why should we engage men and boys in preventing violence against women, what strategies are under way and do they work? Educational interventions among males often invite them to become active or pro-social bystanders, taking action to stop the perpetration of specific incidents of violence, reduce the risks of violence escalating and strengthen the conditions that work against violence occurring (Powell, 2010: 6–7). However, engaging men in challenging rape-supportive norms and behaviours is hard work. This article concludes by discussing the barriers to, and supports for, men’s bystander interventions.
When men participate as students in Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) classrooms, they undergo feminist change. They adopt more progressive understandings of gender, show greater support for feminism, and increase their involvement in antisexist activism. Male students in WGS classrooms benefit to the same degree as female students, showing similar levels of change, although they start with poorer attitudes and thus the gap between them and their female peers persists. At the same time, male students’ presence highlights critical challenges to feminist pedagogy: gendered patterns of interaction, resistance to feminist teaching, and limitations on women’s critical reflections on personal experience. When men teach WGS, typically they are ‘‘graded up’’—evaluated by students as less biased and more competent than female professors. Male professors face distinct dilemmas in teaching about gender inequality from a position of privilege. Yet, like male students, they can adopt traitorous and antipatriarchal social locations and standpoints, developing pedagogies for and by the privileged.
This XY special collection brings together a range of critiques of 'fathers' rights' groups - anti-feminist men's groups focused on issues of family law, fathering, and other areas. Such groups overlap with 'men's rights' groups. Flood's chapter "What's wrong with fathers' rights?" provides a short introduction, while other other pieces provide more detailed commentary. See the end of this page for the pieces, in PDF. The collection includes the following pieces:
1. I can receive praise or acknowledgement for doing the same or similar work as female colleagues, who will not receive similar praise or acknowledgement.
2. My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.
3. I can have very little experience but still be pushed (or pulled) into visible leadership positions.
.... (For the remainder, please see below.)
Do you have an inspiring story about someone who has stood up against the tide? Engagingmen.net's e-magazine is seeking stories of resistance and change to publish.
This document was found on the website of Men Against Pornography in the late 1990s. While I can no longer find it online, I've put this copy up on XY as a record of this powerful and provocate statement regarding profeminist men's accountability to particular feminists and feminisms. I am unsure of its publication date. Michael Flood.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV programmes are likely to have greater impact on communities if they address constructively the actual and potential role of men in society. At present, however, many such programmes often fail to target men, to address their specific needs and understand the wider influence of male and female gender norms.