Pathways to gender equitable men: Reflections on findings from the International Men and Gender Equality survey in the light of twenty years of gender change in South Africa
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Date
2014
Authors
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Abstract
This article reflects on the findings of the International Men and Gender Equality
survey through the lens of contemporary South African contexts of change. While
huge strides have been made toward gender justice in South Africa since 1994, there
are many indications, including high rates of gender-based violence, that inequalities
on the basis of gender intersected with other forms of inequality persist. Further,
some research illustrates a growing resistance among men and women to gender
justice policies and measures. The article argues that far more work is required in
South Africa to shift both men and women's perceptions of the value of gender justice
for boys and men, and in facilitating a more authentic investment for boys and
men in their own and social change. It also points to how much of the current scholarship
on men and boys focuses on "problems" that reproduces a negative construction
of certain groups of boys and men that is also raced and classed. In taking stock of a lack of progress in twenty years of democracy and gender equality
goals in South Africa, the article argues the importance of shifting emphasis to what
may be seen as the "positive" moments of men's relationship to gender equality and
justice. It argues that the findings of the survey point to the value of strategic engagement
with and acknowledgment of existing participation of boys and men in alternative,
equitable, and constructive practices, such as more active participation in caring
practices.
Description
Keywords
Men, Masculinities, Gender equality, South Africa
Citation
Shefer, T. (2014). Pathways to gender equitable men: Reflections on findings from the International Men and Gender Equality survey in the light of twenty years of gender change in South Africa. Men and Masculinities, 17(5): 502-509