Society Of
Masculinities and Gender
by Deepti Priya Mehrotra
"Men are not
a homogenized blob," noted Alan Greig, US-based expert on gender,
violence and HIV/AIDS. "Too often the policy discourse invisible-ises
men, stereotyping them as an undifferentiated mass, all perpetrators of
crime. In fact, men's lives are marked by complex issues of race, class,
nationality, gender and sexuality."
Greig was speaking at a panel discussion on 'What Policies Can Inspire
Men to End Gender-based Violence?' held in New Delhi, recently. The
discussion hoped to begin a dialogue on masculinities by bringing into
the public sphere the idea of men partnering with women and girls on
issues of gender equality.
The event was part of the formal launch of a four-year UNDP-UNFPA-UNIFEM
programme for the Asia-Pacific region - 'Working with Boys and Men to
Prevent Gender-based Violence'. Having worked on issues of gender,
violence and masculinity in the US and Africa, Greig emphasized that
work with boys and men must emphatically support women's empowerment and
should have a clear pro-feminist engagement. Although the notion of men
as bearers of solutions to violence against women is riddled with
contradictions, it does help to examine diverse male possibilities,
beyond the one-dimensional image of batterers and "domestic terrorists".
Greig criticized the increasingly fashionable discourse on 'men and
masculinities', as frequently tending to reinforce demarcations between
women and men, whereas what is needed is to highlight the overlaps in
human experience.
In order to understand themselves, perhaps men need to undertake some
"good old-fashioned consciousness-raising". Feminist movements
discovered the potential of consciousness-raising - intensive sharing of
experiences and self-analysis within small groups - as a method to
transform personal identities. "We need a non-violent masculinity" and,
as men, "to be in touch with our own femininity," felt Greig. Men need
to reflect on privilege, and voluntarily give up many privileges. In the
absence of this effort, the masculinities discourse can become part of
an anti-feminist backlash. Some men, resentful of loss of privileges,
can react. The privileges they enjoy can obstruct any change they try to
bring about. "Each of us is a part of the structures and mindsets that
we try to transform yet may often end up replicating," he said.
Quoting radical thinker Angela Davis, Greig pointed out that the state
itself might be infused with racism, classism, homophobia and sexism.
The men and masculinities discourse has yet to come to grips with this
kind of institutionalized violence. It tends, instead, to be moralistic
or pseudo-psychological: "The 'all men aren't bad' kind of talk - which
is not terribly helpful in helping us look at structures."
Can such a state actually work to bring about an end to violence against
women? There has been some positive policy response in the US around
these issues, but at the same time they have also got depoliticized.
State policies should aim at ending impunity around interpersonal and
public violence, including issues such as domestic violence, violence by
the police and proliferation of small arms. A slew of policies is
needed. And, a much more critical engagement with men, who should be
held accountable
for their actions, is needed.
Dean Peacock, Co-Director of the Sonke Gender Justice Network in Cape
Town, South Africa, related further problems in the work for ending
violence against women. He revealed that in a recent rape case his
organization followed up, the police did not respond to repeated phone
calls. Finally, when they got through to a woman police officer, she
pleaded inability to investigate the case because she already had charge
of over 100 cases of rape and abuse, with no investigation machinery.
Given such an overburdened and under-funded criminal justice system in
South Africa, it is impossible to get justice for women. Peacock
confessed that this indicates not only a failure of policies, but also
of civil society organizations' work for justice. He introspected,
"While we have some notable achievements, I think our network of men as
partners is not doing enough for the women's rights movement. Our work
is not always aligned with women's movement priorities, or realities."
Peacock highlighted the importance of working for structural change, in
the face of cuts in public health, education and social welfare budgets.
The overall policy environment in South Africa is neo-liberal. Economic
growth is iniquitous. In this
scenario, grassroots work is all-important. Work with boys and men, even
though it is visionary work, is frequently quite technocratic and elite
driven. 'Gender mainstreaming' should, instead, support, not draw
attention away from, grassroots work.
James Lang, Program Advisor, Gender, UNDP Asia-Pacific Region, noted
that the more time men spend caring for children, the less they spend
being violent. Recent research conclusively proves the benefits of men
undertaking a range of caring tasks. The Asia-Pacific programme seeks to
replicate such 'good practices'. At the policy level, this would
necessitate changes like
paternity leave, flexible work-schedules, and on-site child care
centers. The vision for such work should be long term.
The audience included a cross-section of seasoned activists and
academicians such as Indira Jaisingh of Lawyer's Collective, Gouri
Choudhry of Action India, Dr Neera Chandoke of Delhi University's
political science department, Varsha Das, Director of Gandhi Museum and
writer Anna Sujata Mathai.
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