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Jim Freeburg
Joined: Sep 19, 2003
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Gender & Age: Male & 28
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The role of men and boys in gender equality
November 19, 2003 - 09:53 AM
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I just finished reading the very active thread regarding affirmative action for women and I was pleased to see people so concerned about the issue-especially males. For too long, men have been outside the arena of advancing human rights for women. Now, it is pretty much a consensus that men must be involved in gender equality because males are the primary gatekeeper of the rights that women should have.
In the thread I mentioned, I don't think it was explicitly mentioned that affirmative action is supposed to improve all of society by providing opportunities for those who in the past have been discriminated against. This means that men might have to give up some of their individual roles in positions of power (and responsibility) to women and minorities. In this way, we are guaranteeing that society is equitably represented in our leaders and workforce.
Along these lines, one of the themes of next year's UN Commission on the Status of Women is the role of men and boys in gender equality. I would like to involve youth in this discussion so we can show the world that youth are actively pushing for gender equality. If you would like to participate, please let me know. I will be discussing this with the NGO Committee on Youth that is based here in New York but we would really like to get more international opinion on this subject. Thanks
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Johannes
Joined: Nov 16, 2003
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Re: The role of men and boys in gender equality
November 19, 2003 - 11:52 AM
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Hey Jim!
This sounds really interesting and I'd like to get involved if I can?
Johannes
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Jim Freeburg
Joined: Sep 19, 2003
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reasons why men and boys should be involved in gender equality
November 20, 2003 - 11:39 AM
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From recent online discussion regarding the CSW, I found a few reasons why men should support gender equality:
· The negative impact on men's life and health of the "breadwinner" model and the "long hours"
syndrome; men's desire for a better work/life balance.
· Men's commitment to social justice or human rights principles, applied to gender issues.
· Survival needs, in conditions of poverty where more flexibility in gender arrangements gives
better economic chances.
· Desire for more active fatherhood, or to follow through on commitments to fatherhood already
made.
· Pressures on working men that arise from the gender system and limit the quality of their
working life or their economic flexibility.
And...some ways men can be involved in promoting gender equality:
· Using men's existing power or authority, to change the culture in a more equal direction, for
instance changing gender stereotypes in educational materials, and changing workplace
cultures.
· Relating to women in the workplace as persons, rather than as members of a gender category.
· Picking up "women's work", especially caring work in the home.
· Strengthening workers' organizations, especially in the informal economy, and integrating
gender equality into union principles.
· Modelling gender equality, e.g. by recruiting women to organizations, where they are
underrepresented.
· Changing public policies and employer practices to support more equal sharing of domestic
work, and equality and safety in the workplace.
The whole report can be found at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/men-boys2003/reports/egm-od-report.pdf
What are some ways that specifically youth can be involved, especially since we are not in many positions of power in the workforce or society as a whole?
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Lisa Campbell Salazar
Joined: Jun 14, 2002
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Re: The role of men and boys in gender equality
July 7, 2004 - 08:54 AM
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ummmm......
hello?
any other men have ideas about this?
*tap* *tap*
is this thing on?
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