Because I am a girl: The State of the World's ... - Plan Deutschland

I sit there and struggle with stuff when I
really don’t need to. I think that lowers my
life expectancy and that of other men.” 35
A few facts and examples about
the negative repercussions of gender
stereotyping make the case very clearly.
• Young men have among the highest rates
of death by traffic accidents, suicide and
violence. 36 In Jamaica, Brazil, Colombia
and some parts of sub-Saharan Africa,
more young men die in these ways than in
countries at war. Even in Western Europe,
these external causes make up more than
60 per cent of mortality among boys and
young men from birth to 24 years of age. 37
• In countries of the North and in Latin
America and the Caribbean, boys are
now dropping out of school at a faster
rate than girls. They are also doing less
well academically. For example, in the US,
the average grade-point average in high
school is 3.09 for girls and 2.86 for boys. 38
• Men are three to six times more likely
than women to commit homicide. Over
90 per cent of gun-related homicides
occur among men. 39 In some countries,
gun-related violence leads to demographic
imbalances. Brazil currently has nearly
200,000 fewer men than women in the
age range 15 to 29. 40
• Young men also have higher rates of
alcohol and substance use. Studies in, for
example, both the US and South Africa
have found that young men who adhered
to traditional views of manhood were
more likely to engage in substance use,
violence and delinquency and unsafe
sexual practices. 41,42,43
• Young men are less likely to visit a
doctor or a clinic or to seek information
about their health – as a result, 60 per
cent of men and boys aged 15 to 24 do
not have accurate and comprehensive
knowledge about HIV and how to avoid
transmission. 44
• As we will see later in this report, young
men who become fathers may find that
they have little to do with, or even lose
contact with, their children.
These risks for young men need to be
monitored and interventions shaped so that
they are taken into account and addressed.
We will outline what needs to be done in
the final chapter of this report. Information
campaigns are important, but they also need
to be backed by support systems to deal
with the possible negative consequences
for individual young men of going against
current trends and beliefs.
The pressure to conform also needs to
be understood within the structural and
institutional factors that keep inequality in
place and the challenges that this poses to
individual action. As Todd Minerson of the
White Ribbon Campaign against violence
against women notes: “The notions of
masculinity that we’re taught to admire and
that we’re taught to strive for... Unless you
really start to think about it, or you’ve had
some kind of incident to bring it close to you
in your life, it’s so much easier to go along
and be a part of it and not critically look at it,
because it’s not costing you anything on the
surface… You’re a beneficiary of it. I would
argue that it is costing men on an emotional
and psychological level.” 45
More men like Todd are realising this
cost and have become inspired to work
on gender inequality. Change is possible,
especially for boys and young men – and as
we reveal throughout this report, it is already
happening.
4 Taking a life cycle approach
“Since I was a boy, I liked to follow my
father’s activities and ideas because my
father was friendly and respected by many
of the people in the village.”
Father of Sokhea, Cambodia 46
Attitudes and behaviours about what it is
to be a ‘real man’ or a ‘real woman’ are
formed at an early age, internalised through
childhood and adolescence, and made
concrete in the transition to adulthood and
the world of work. They are then passed on
from generation to generation.
So it is important to work with boys and
young men while their attitudes towards
women are still forming. When boys become
men, they will, in many cases, be the ones
with the greater power to change the way
that women are viewed and treated, both in
their own households and in the community
and workplace. Together with their sisters,
mothers, aunts and other female relatives
and friends, they can help ensure that
girls go to school, that they are safe from
violence, that they are not married young
and against their will, that they do not bear
the whole burden of work in the household,
and that they can earn a living where they
are paid the same as men for the same work,
and play their part in society.
Early Years
Individuals do not operate in a vacuum,
but within a society with its own structural
and institutional systems that perpetuate
social, economic and political inequality.
So the life cycle approach that we take
in this report in relation to individuals
is complemented by what is known as
Growing up
The diagram below shows the different ways in which boys and girls, women and men,
experience gender inequality throughout their lives
Childhood Adolescence
Adulthood
Reaching adulthood includes both
conformity and liberation for girls
who begin interacting with wider
social institutions, including the
workplace. Women are restricted to
certain low-paid jobs and are unable
to break through the glass ceiling
and make it to top managerial positions.
Women are considered the primary caregivers
for children and the family.
With the onset of puberty adolescent
girls begin to experience increased
sexual discrimination. They may
be married at a young age. At the
same time they are internalising and
reproducing the stereotypes which
restrict them. Girls are far more likely
than boys to experience sexual harassment
and violence on the way to school and in the
classroom, sometimes from their male peers.
Girls begin to experience the world
through social institutions beyond
their immediate family, including the
community and school. Girls are less
likely than boys to have time to play
as they are busy with household
chores and caring for siblings. Social
and cultural norms restrict girls’ mobility,
reducing the public spaces they may
enter safely.
Girls are born into a system of oppression
that begins with the first institution they
come in contact with: their family. Son
preference means fewer girls are born
in South East Asia. Legal discrimination
deprives girls of property, land and
inheritance rights. The devaluation of
girls mean they will be fed last and least and
are more likely to be malnourished.
Young men are expected to find work
and are often still seen as the providers
for their family. If they are unemployed,
this can lead to feelings of worthlessness
and depression and even violence. As
fathers, they may be distant from their
children.
With the onset of puberty, boys are
increasingly expected to behave in
stereotypical ‘masculine’ ways – to
be strong, tough, even aggressive
and not show their feelings. They
may engage in risky behaviour to
‘prove’ their manhood – dangerous
driving, drugs, unprotected sex – that can
have damaging effects on their health and
serious consequences for the women they
have relationships with.
Boys begin to experience the world
through social institutions beyond
their immediate family, including the
community and school. Boys are likely to
be more confident than girls. They are
prioritised over their sisters at school. But
in some countries in the North, and Latin
America and the Caribbean, boys are doing less
well at school than girls and some are dropping
out altogether.
Boys are born into families where
they are expected to play certain
roles as they grow up. They are
likely to be more valued than their
sisters, but may not be allowed to
express their emotions or behave
in ways not considered ‘manly’.
20 the s tate of the world’s girls 21