Because I am a Girl - Plan USA

P l a n
Being cool,
working together
in El Salvador.
Work on gender is complex. It questions
who we think we are and how we perceive
ourselves in terms of others. It is about social
transformation – and social transformation is
never a direct process of change: it involves
conflict along the way. Work with men and
boys on masculinities and gender equality
challenges the perceptions that they may
have of the world and even questions their
sense of self. This may put them in conflict
with their family, peers, teachers, the
community, the media, and even institutions
such as school and government.
As one South African man said: “I
remember the first time someone suggested
to me that work around gender was
something men could do. It came as quite
a surprise, like, ‘What?!’ I’d always thought
that was simply the domain of women,
and perhaps I’ve even been defensive. But
once it became clear that, no, this is, in
fact, something that I can do and that I’m
welcomed in doing, that was very helpful.” 22
Work on gender equality may also be
problematic for men because they are
presumed to be the ones with the power,
the oppressors, and this is an uncomfortable
place to be. They are going against hundreds
of years of tradition and strong beliefs about
what a man should be that still predominate
in many cultures and religions.
In addition, the movement of men for
gender equality does not have the backing
of years of academic study and activism that
supports the women’s movement.
As Todd Minerson, Director of the White
Ribbon Alliance of men against violence
against women, said: 23 “When you’re
from the dominant group you don’t have
that history of struggle and analysis that
comes from the non-dominant group’s
perspective... Very few men have that history
or that analysis of those bigger pictures, the
dynamics, unless they’ve been part of an
oppressed group in one of those senses. It’s
not a natural, or it’s not something taught.
It’s not something that’s shared with us by
our fathers.’ 24
Men may also face opposition from
women’s groups who worry – rightly, at
times – that scarce funding and attention
may be diverted from working with women
to working with men. It is important that this
does not happen.
And they are operating in an arena where
a number of men’s groups exist that clearly
do not have a feminist agenda – and may
even be working against gender equality.
The litmus test for engaging men and boys
in gender equality work should be that this
work is in support of a women’s and girls’
rights agenda, something that networks like
MenEngage have made part of their core
principles.
The struggle for gender equality is not
easy. There are thousands of girls and
women around the world who take personal
risks every day in standing up to power. Now
is the time for boys and men to join them.
A different kind of young man –
Program H
First carried out in Latin America,
Program H (H stands for ‘homens’
and ‘hombres’, the words for men in
Portuguese and Spanish) has now been
built on and adapted by project partners
in more than 20 countries.
Program H supports young men aged
15 to 24 to help them engage and reflect
on traditional norms of ‘manhood’ in a
safe space. It uses a wide range of media,
campaigns and youth-friendly education
materials, and has an innovative
evaluation model. The activities consist
of role-plays, brainstorming exercises,
discussion sessions, a cartoon video
series, ‘Once Upon a Boy’, about gender
socialisation and individual reflections
about how boys and men are socialised;
positive and negative aspects of this
socialisation; and the benefits of
changing certain behaviours which lead
to a different understanding of what it is
to be a man. These interventions build
directly on insights gained from listening
to the voices of those young men who
openly question gender injustice. Program
H makes it ‘cool’ to be a young man who
believes in and practises gender equality.
How Program H has been adapted
In Brazil, the campaign was called Hora
H, which translates as ‘In the heat of the
moment’. The phrase was developed by
young men themselves who frequently
heard their peers say: “Everybody knows
you shouldn’t hit your girlfriend, but in
the heat of the moment you lose control.”
Or, “Everybody knows that you should
use a condom, but in the heat of the
moment…” Several major rap artists were
engaged in the campaign and lent their
voices to promoting gender equality.
In India, a community-based campaign
was developed which included comic
books, street theatre, posters, and a cap
and t-shirt with the campaign slogan,
developed by young men, called the
‘Real Man Thinks Right’. The logo shows
a young man pointing to his head, as if
thinking. Campaign slogans reinforce
the message that it is possible for men
not to use violence against women. One
poster reads: “When Anju does not want
to [have sex], Sandeep does not force her.
This is possible!” These messages are
acted out in street theatre.
After participating in these activities,
young men have reported a number of
positive changes, from higher rates of
condom use and improved relationships
with friends and sexual partners, to
greater acceptance of domestic work as
men’s responsibility, and lower rates of
sexual harassment and violence against
women. Girlfriends have also said that
they feel the quality of their relationships
has improved. 25,26 The numbers of those
justifying violence against a partner in
India declined from 25 per cent to 18 per
cent; and in Mare, Brazil, the percentage
of young men seeing their female
counterparts as equal to them increased
from 48 per cent to 68 per cent. 27
“When I started going out with a girl,
if we didn’t have sex within two weeks,
I would leave her. But now, after the
workshops, I think differently. I want to
construct something, a relationship, with
her.”
Young man, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 28
The success of Program H led to similar
work with girls and young women. Four
Latin American NGO partners and one
international NGO launched Program M 29
in 2003 to promote the empowerment of
young women by getting them to reflect
on stereotypes of masculinity and how they
affect their lives and relationships with men.
Program M (the M stands for ‘mulheres’
and ‘mujeres’, the Portuguese and Spanish
words for women) aims to make young
women more aware of oppressive beliefs and
expectations within their relationships and
to guard against reinforcing or reproducing
them.
P r o m u n d o / E C O S / S a l u d y G e n e r o / P a p a i
Once Upon a
Boy cartoon
series.
16 the s tate of the world’s girls 17