WUNRN
Direct Link to Report:
POLITICISING MASCULINITIES: BEYOND
THE PERSONAL
_____________________________________________________________________
AWID - http://www.awid.org
Association for Women's Rights in
Development
Politicising
Masculinities: Beyond the Personal - A Review
Produced by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), this report
summarises and draws inspiration from the Politicising Masculinities
symposium, which took place 15-18 October 2007 in Dakar, Senegal. AWID
reviews the report, which reflects on four key areas of discussion that
took place at the symposium: new ways of theorising; male bodies and
sexualities; shaping policies and transforming institutions; and
mobilisation, activism and movement-building.
By Rochelle Jones - AWID
The
Politicising Masculinities Symposium took place in Dakar, Senegal, from
15-18 October 2007. Its aim was to inform and inspire a greater engagement
by men in the struggle for gender justice and broader social change. The
symposium was attended by 43 participants from different parts of the
world, and was organised, led and facilitated by IDS researchers Andrea
Cornwall and Jerker Edstrom, and Alan Greig, an independent consultant. The
International HIV/AIDS Alliance, along with the Alliance Nationale Contre le
SIDA a Senegal (ANCS), co-hosted the event.
A common sentiment amongst the organisers of the symposium is that work on
men and masculinities has traditionally focused on the personal rather than
the power and politics that form an integral framework in socially
constructed gender stereotypes. As Alan Greig explains: "An interest in
men's personal motivations for, and processes of, change in their own
gender attitudes and practices has obscured larger political questions
about structures of power and their sustaining gender ideologies, and men's
relationship to these in terms of complicity and accountability" [p7].
The report begins with a brief introduction and overview of what took place
at the symposium. It also provides some brief notes on masculinities -
essentially creating a starting point of understanding masculinities,
providing a solid framework within which participants could work. The
author's approach toward masculinities is that they are multiple, complex
and influenced by relationships between both men and women, and among
groups of men. Importantly, they also recognise that masculinities are not
static and work at different levels - the individual or personal level, as
well as the collective, such as cultures and institutions.
The first section of the report really lays the foundations and captures
the dynamic nature of the symposium, taking the reader on a journey through
the different techniques used to narrow discussion, create momentum and
inspire ideas. The next section then focuses on four key areas that emerged
from discussions: new ways of theorising; male bodies and sexualities;
shaping policies and transforming institutions; and mobilisation, activism
and movement building.
NEW WAYS OF THEORISING
Theorising masculinities in the context of the symposium focused on
transcending binary stereotypes of female victims and male perpetrators. In
doing so, however, it was recognised this "draws a false equivalence which
ignores the real differences in power and privilege experienced by women
and men on the basis of gender, and glosses over men's accountability for
the ways in which they choose to act out their privilege. So while we need
to engage with poor men's realities and explore how these normative
constructs of gender are playing out in contexts of economic
marginalisation, we need to do this without positing men as the 'new
victims'." [p32]
To minimise the risk of 'false equivalence' then, participants agreed that
the challenge is not to "fall into the trap of counterposing women's and
men's experience and perpetration of violence. Rather it is to help
illuminate the workings and functions of violence within the systems of
oppression that organise our different societies, while holding accountable
the individuals and institutions (mostly men and male-dominated) that are
responsible for enacting this violence. [p33]
An interesting point of discussion also highlighted in this section was
around the issue of heteronormativity and "its potential as an articulating
principle between a spectrum of different political struggles" [p36]. How
to
problematise heteronormativity and how to destabilise norms were some of the
major themes of discussion.
MALE BODIES AND SEXUALITIES
"Across diverse cultures, manliness is associated with (hetero) sexual
potency and prowess." [p37]. This part of the report discusses this
association and how it leads to complex issues in terms of living up to
socially prescribed norms about male sexuality, ultimately impacting on
both men and women.
"That men exist who violate and abuse women was not in question. But the
problem with focusing only on the most negative dimensions of male
sexuality is that we lose sight of the everyman in the midst of it all -
men who are confused about the signals they get from their bodies and don't
know how to read them, men who are scared of anyone knowing they find it
difficult and painful to 'perform', men who would much prefer to have
someone special who they can love but worry that if they don't 'screw
around' they will be mocked by their friends..." [p42]
Unrealistic and oversimplified expectations of male sexuality are a
"source
of intense anxiety for men", and any inability to live up to these social
expectations carries with it profound implications. An 'unpacking' of these
norms is hence critical in order to construct new logics of meaning and
transform hegemonic (and heteronormative) discourse.
SHAPING AND TRANSFORMING INSTITUTIONS
This section highlights how "particular - often toxic - forms of
masculinity are embedded within institutions: the military, other uniformed
services, the education system, commercial sports, the media." [p43]. It
also discusses the role that institutions play in reproducing hegemonic
masculinity - most notably military institutions. Human rights emerged as
an important tool to hold governments accountable for the actions of their
militaries, and for "addressing the harmful links between militarism and
masculinities" [p44].
At the local level, it was noted that "there are informal systems which
have greater influence over people's lives - the family, religious
institutions, informal work collectives, and so on. More thinking needs to
occur on how to engage with these informal institutions to bring about
gender transformation." [p49]
MOBILISATION, ACTIVISM AND MOVEMENT BUILDING
"Mobilising men to engage in broader struggles for social and gender
justice is often left off the agenda. What would work with men look like if
we took seriously issues of social mobilisation? [p50]
The answer to this question was formulated based on an initial agreement
that activism and mobilisation around masculinities has mostly been taking
place at the level of the personal - with workshops and trainings - and
this needs to shift and evolve towards a greater social and political
engagement. Practical strategies highlighted in this section to achieve
this include:
*consciousness-raising on structural issues;
*mobilising men to campaign for changes in government policy, the legal
justice system, and corporate practice;
*capacity-building for men as activists, and;
*training, including on partnership building and on the functioning of
social movements.
Identifying common agendas and participating in political spaces was also
noted as important - as well as challenging sexism and homophobia in
already existing movements.
THE NEXT STEPS
The symposium was hopefully the beginning of an effort to bring
masculinities further and more constructively into larger debates on
gender. The IDS is producing a set of outputs from the symposium, including
an edited compilation of the chapters presented by participants, and
specialist briefing papers on men, HIV, sexual health and rights. All
papers from the symposium will be available online at Siyanda -
http://www.siyanda.org. The report also lists other follow-on possibilities
and ideas that came out of the symposium, such as a follow-up meeting on
heteronormativity.
The report is an interesting reflection of discussions at the symposium -
and it especially illustrates the complexity of the issues because the
report at times seems to cover too much ground. This is a true reflection
of conversations that took place, however, and some of the tangents
followed by the report add another dimension of interrelatedness to larger
debates on gender and development. It makes frequent reference to work with
HIV/AIDS, health and sexual rights, and is a suitable resource for anyone
interested in gender.
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Notes:
The full report "Politicising Masculinities: Beyond the Personal" by
Emily
Esplen and Alan Greig, can be downloaded at:
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