International Men’s Day 2020: Men for Gender Equality

International Men's Day is an annual international event celebrated on the 19th of November. The objectives of celebrating an International Men's Day are set out in 'The Six Pillars of International Men's Day'.

The 6 Pillars of International Men’s Day:

1. To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sports men but every day, working class men who are living decent, honest lives.

2. To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, child care, and to the environment.

3. To focus on men’s health and wellbeing; social, emotional, physical and spiritual.

4. To highlight discrimination against men; in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law

5. To improve gender relations and promote gender equality

6. To create a safer, better world; where people can be safe and grow to reach their full potential.

Men have responded to the feminist movement in very different ways, some supportive, some antagonistic. The challenge of achieving gender equality many women has been ignoring the issue of men and their socialisation within the patriarchal system.

Achieving Gender Equality in India

India’s progress towards gender equality, measured by its position on rankings such as the Gender Development Index has been disappointing, despite fairly rapid rates of economic growth.

In the past decade, while Indian GDP has grown by around 6%, there has been a large decline in female labour force participation from 34% to 27%. The male-female wage gap has been stagnant at 50% (a recent survey finds a 27% gender pay gap in white-collar jobs).

Crimes against women show an upward trend, in particular brutal crimes such as rapes, dowry deaths, and honour killings. These trends are disturbing, as a natural prediction would be that with growth comes education and prosperity, and a possible decline in adherence to traditional institutions and socially prescribed gender roles that hold women back.

Cultural institutions in India, particularly those of patrilineality (inheritance through male descendants) and patrilocality (married couples living with or near the husband’s parents), play a central role in perpetuating gender inequality and ideas about gender-appropriate behaviour.

The dowry system, involving a cash or in-kind payment from the bride’s family to the groom’s at the time of marriage, is another institution that disempowers women. The incidence of dowry payment, which is often a substantial part of a household’s income, has been steadily rising over time across all regions and socioeconomic classes.

This often results in dowry-related violence against women by their husbands and in-laws if the dowry is considered insufficient or as a way to demand more payments.

These practices create incentives for parents not to have girl children or to invest less in girls’ health and education. Such parental preferences are reflected in increasingly masculine sex ratios in India. In 2011, there were 919 girls under age six per 1000 boys, despite sex determination being outlawed in India. This reinforces the inferior status of Indian women and puts them at risk of violence in their marital households. According to the National Family and Health Survey of 2005-06, 37% of married women have been victims of physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their spouse.

Current literature provides pointers from policy changes that have worked so far. One unique policy experiment in village-level governance that mandated one-third representation for women in positions of local leadership has shown promising results.

Evaluations of this affirmative action policy have found that in villages led by women, the preferences of female residents are better represented, and women are more confident in reporting crimes that earlier they may have considered too stigmatising to bring to attention.

Behavioural studies find that while in the short run there is backlash by men as traditional gender roles are being challenged, the negative stereotype eventually disappears. This underscores the importance of sustained affirmative action as a way to reduce gender bias.

Another policy change aimed at equalising land inheritance rights between sons and daughters has been met with a more mixed response. While on the one hand, it led to an increase in educational attainment and age at marriage for daughters, on the other hand, it increased spousal conflict leading to more domestic violence.

Improvements in labour market prospects also have the potential to empower women. An influential randomisation study found that job recruiter visits to villages to provide information to young women led to positive effects on their labour market participation and enrolment in professional training.

This also led to an increase in age at marriage and childbearing, a drop in desired number of children, and an increase in school enrolment of younger girls not exposed to the programme.

Recent initiatives on training and recruiting young women from rural areas for factory-based jobs in cities provide economic independence and social autonomy that they were unaccustomed to in their parental homes.

For India to maintain its position as a global growth leader, more concerted efforts at local and national levels and by the private sector are needed to bring women to parity with men.

Educating Indian children from an early age about the importance of gender equality could be a meaningful start in that direction.

Most gender equality advocates now realise that solidarity and an understanding of intersectionality are essential to achieving the shared objectives.

The Male Privilege

Men must begin by acknowledging the privileges we have been born into as a result of the patriarchy- the system of society and government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. The patriarchal system has historically placed the masculine at the centre of the universe, favouring men and excluding women.

Often men are not aware of this system because we have always enjoyed these privileges. This system has marked relations and forged unequal power between the genders. This is clear in most countries in the political, economic, cultural and social spheres, and is a regressive system that must be challenged.

Show of Solidarity

Although raising awareness of male privilege and acknowledging that girls and women face discrimination shows progress, this alone will not stop the perpetuation of those forms of oppression.

It is necessary to stand with women and girls in their daily struggles for the eradication of patriarchal, sexist, and misogynist constructs so they may have access to equal freedom, equal respect and equal power.

The Universal Nature of the Problem

The root causes of discrimination and inequality are same throughout the globe- unfair gender roles, normalised abuse and harassment, and a tendency to undermine women in order to exert control over them. To illustrate, Plan International’s research - Unsafe in the City - sheds light on the universality of harassment and abuse in the world’s cities, from Stockholm to Cairo. To tackle issues of this scale - gender-based violence has been described as epidemic in proportions worldwide - girls and women will need male allies.

Negative Masculinity

In its most extreme form, negative or ‘toxic’ masculinity is discrimination, subjugation or violence towards the feminine. We often see a toxic masculinity in the form of social violence that manifests itself in many forms. This has led to high levels of femicide and murder of individuals because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

Negative masculinity can also encompass pressure to display ability and not make mistakes. Fulfilling this social role leads men to high levels of stress and conversely, an accumulation of emotions. Such ‘macho’ attitudes affect men’s health and their interpersonal relationships. In short, these masculinities serve no-one.

Intersectionality has become fundamental within the social justice movement to work towards a shared vision of progress. The pursuit of gender equality must include social progress for other groups in society that have less power. This includes, but isn’t limited to those with disabilities, minority or indigenous groups and the LGBTIQ+ community.

Change in Power Dynamics

Men often fear that the empowerment of girls and women will mean losing out but equality benefits us all. For example, distribution of care and domestic tasks in the home encourages more satisfying and happy relationships. In the labour force, greater equality leads to better levels of production and satisfaction.

Simply not displaying male superiority is not enough. We must be allies against all forms of discrimination and abuse, and we must help create a new type of man by addressing men’s fear and resistance. We can also become positive role models for other men, to show that caring for ourselves and the wellbeing of others is not just a feminine trait.

 Supporting Girls in Leading

Unfortunately, men under patriarchy have tended to massively underestimate girls’ and women’s power to create change and to benefit the whole community. Therefore it is our role, as progressive boys and men, to share those spaces that patriarchy has granted us and promote girls’ and women’s leadership.

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but the necessary foundation to achieve a peaceful, thriving and sustainable world. Fighting together for equality and justice is the only way to build an equal society.

A new report by the NGO, Plan International, says gender equality cannot be achieved unless men and boys are convinced of the importance of equal opportunities for women and girls.

"Policies alone can't do it - we need to start looking for ways to engage boys and men so that they start to see the value in equal opportunities for girls," said Edith Wanjohi, gender advisor for Plan's regional office in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

According to Plan, when it comes to gender equality, men generally fall into three categories: those who acknowledge that women and girls deserve equal rights but fear that boys will lose out if girls are allowed to enjoy these rights; those who do not believe in equal rights - the largest group; and those who believe in equality and put these beliefs into action - the smallest group.

A Plan survey of more than 4,000 adolescent children in India, Rwanda and the United Kingdom found that boys were often conditioned to have negative attitudes towards women. Some 65 percent of respondents from Rwanda and India totally or partially agreed with the statement that "a woman should tolerate violence in order to keep her family together". More than 60 percent of children interviewed in India agreed that "if resources are scarce it is better to educate a boy instead of a girl".

"The cost of not working with boys and young men is that programmes and policies [working] with young women and girls will continue to come up against the barrier of male power and expectations, structures and beliefs that benefit men over women," the authors state. "The price that will be paid is simple: the continuing disempowerment of girls and young women down the generations – and the restriction of boys and young men to traditional 'male' roles."

As a result of the women-centred approach of gender programmes over the years, men have largely been side-lined in the discussion and have often felt alienated by the sometimes confrontational approach taken by gender activism.

Men have the most important role in achieving gender equality and promoting women empowerment initiatives. Men as an ally can be a role model in elevating women’s access to  employment, appropriate working conditions, control of economic resources and full participation in decision-making.

UN Women’s campaign HeForShe is an example of a similar solidarity campaign to achieve equality by encouraging all genders to partake as agents of change and take action against negative stereotypes and behaviours. A man can contribute by:

• Increasing participation in domestic work and family responsibilities to strive for work/life balance together.
• Advocating for women’s access to employment, rights, and opportunities.
• Creating positive male role models on gender equality by introducing fair employment practices, anti-discrimination measures, and gender-inclusive decision making and by combating sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Currently, around the world, men hold decision-making positions in all key areas, such as in the executive, economic decision-making, media, academia, and the judiciary. The top to bottom change is necessary to fill the leadership gap and to have our next-generation to be more inclusive and diversified. The involvement of all ‘humans,’ regardless of the gender they identify with, is necessary to have a future which is bright, open and free of any inequality.

The way together is the way forward!