ENgAgiNg MEN iN gENdEr iNiTiATivEs - Catalyst

IgnoranceFifty–one percent of interviewees perceived thatsome men are reluctant to join in efforts to endgender bias because of ignorance—both realand perceived.Perceived ignorance. According to someinterviewees, what stands in many men’s wayis the belief that by virtue of being male they areuninformed about issues of gender and, therefore,lack the knowledge they need to be effectivechampions of gender equality. Certain intervieweesconsidered this belief to be ill-founded, a case ofmen not giving themselves enough credit.Men need to be a little more bold in assertingthe work that they need to do, rather than…always looking to women, saying, “Am I doingthe right work? Can you lead the effort? Andthen give me kudos, because I want to knowthat…it's being well received.”—U.S. ManReal ignorance. Interview participants also arguedthat a lack of awareness of gender bias was acritical barrier to men’s support for efforts to end it.This contention is consistent with the finding thatthe less aware men were of gender bias, the lesscommitted they were to issues of gender equality.Interviewees agreed that individuals must firstrecognize that a problem exists before they canbecome committed to solving it.When you're from the dominant group you alsodon't have that history of struggle and analysisthat comes from the nondominant group’sperspective. Almost universally, whether it'saround race, whether it's around gender, sexualorientation, ability…I find that a lot of men justdon't have the tools to really look at that bigpicture and make some of those connections.Very few men have that history or that analysisof those bigger pictures, the dynamics, unlessthey've been part of an oppressed group inone of those senses. It's not a natural, or it'snot something taught. It's not something that'sshared with us by our fathers.—Canadian Man16 | Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives