ARTICLE IN FULL
I can tell George Chesterton what has happened to the male feminist. I met many of them recently in Delhi, India, at a global conference on gender justice attended by 1,200 people from 94 countries. Almost two thirds of the participants were men - the other third being women's rights and transgender activists. The conference celebrated the hundreds of projects and programmes around the world that engage men in the feminist project. It was organised by the Men Engage network, which has 700 member organisations.
I was there because as a feminist woman and a writer, I had become increasingly concerned about many of the issues that Chesterton writes about so convincingly. Violence against women has remained at the same levels for decades, cutting across class, race and geography. Women still only make up 21.9 per cent of parliamentarians globally. Of the top Fortune 500 corporations in the US, only 24 are female-headed. Women and girls are still the ones with the double burden of bringing home the bacon and cleaning the toilets - they do the majority of unpaid work and childcare in the home on top of making up 40 per cent of the world's formal labour force.
Masculinity and socialisation
I had worked for 15 years on women's and girls' rights all over the world but it took a question from my son George, then 8 years old, to spur me to action. "Why are you obsessed with women's rights?" he asked. And I realised that he too had his place in the feminist story. As most women and girls live with men, gender equality is never going to be achieved unless men get on board.
But what would this mean in practice? I decided to find out for myself. During the research for my book Feminism and Men, I received many different answers from all over the world. Often these answers were about the way that boys are brought up to be men - "boys don't cry", "a real man is strong", "the male is the breadwinner and the head of the household". These ideas are still surprisingly deeply rooted among men and women even in countries that view themselves as progressive and gender-equal.
Others noted that men seem to be doing very nicely from our patriarchal system, thank you very much. They still hold the power at almost all levels of society, from the boardroom to the bedroom. Why would they give this up? Why would a man even want be part of the feminist movement?
Feminism benefits men too
The answer from the men working on gender equality for many years came back clearly - because they should, because feminism benefits the women in their lives, and because it benefits men too. "Not only does feminism give woman a voice, but it also clears the way for men to free themselves from the stranglehold of traditional masculinity. When we hurt the women in our lives, we hurt ourselves, and we hurt our community, too" said Byron Hurt, African- American documentary film-maker and anti-sexist activist.
Men who are violent are not happy men - and they often pass this anger on to their sons, who can turn this on the women in their lives - or on themselves. Suicide is one of the biggest killers of young men in many countries, including the UK.
How to be a feminist
As Helen Lewis points out in Chesterton's piece, fatherhood is one way in to changing these harmful ways of being a man. Which is why Men Care, now active in 25 countries, supports "You are my father" media campaigns from Turkey to Brazil to India, as well as working through the health system in countries like South Africa, running groups for fathers and fathers to be in maternity clinics.
Men are also increasingly demonstrating and campaigning alongside women against violence against women.
UN Women has recently launched its "He for She" campaign calling for men to sign up for gender equality.
So there are many ways for men to join the feminist project. They can work with boys in school, like the Great Men Value Women project here in the UK. They can be active in "bystander" groups of men who intervene when they see violence or abuse or sexual harassment being committed against women. They can join MenEngage, as individuals or as organisations.
They need to be clear that they stand alongside women, and be careful not to take over. And they can return to the feminist slogan: "The personal is political". The Delhi conference ended with a call to action, asking men and boys to "reflect critically on their own power and privilege, and to develop personal visions of how to be gender-just men."
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, from UN Women, was also in Delhi. In her invitation to men to join the gender equality movement, she said: "In Africa, we have a saying that I want to leave with you. 'If you go alone you go fast, but if you go together you go far'. Let us go far together."
So, I say, men should go for it. Don't be afraid of feminism or feminists. In joining us, you are part of a steadily growing minority all over the world.
I can tell George Chesterton what has happened to the male feminist. I met many of them recently in Delhi, India, at a global conference on gender justice attended by 1,200 people from 94 countries. Almost two thirds of the participants were men - the other third being women's rights and transgender activists. The conference celebrated the hundreds of projects and programmes around the world that engage men in the feminist project. It was organised by the Men Engage network, which has 700 member organisations.
I was there because as a feminist woman and a writer, I had become increasingly concerned about many of the issues that Chesterton writes about so convincingly. Violence against women has remained at the same levels for decades, cutting across class, race and geography. Women still only make up 21.9 per cent of parliamentarians globally. Of the top Fortune 500 corporations in the US, only 24 are female-headed. Women and girls are still the ones with the double burden of bringing home the bacon and cleaning the toilets - they do the majority of unpaid work and childcare in the home on top of making up 40 per cent of the world's formal labour force.
Masculinity and socialisation
I had worked for 15 years on women's and girls' rights all over the world but it took a question from my son George, then 8 years old, to spur me to action. "Why are you obsessed with women's rights?" he asked. And I realised that he too had his place in the feminist story. As most women and girls live with men, gender equality is never going to be achieved unless men get on board.
But what would this mean in practice? I decided to find out for myself. During the research for my book Feminism and Men, I received many different answers from all over the world. Often these answers were about the way that boys are brought up to be men - "boys don't cry", "a real man is strong", "the male is the breadwinner and the head of the household". These ideas are still surprisingly deeply rooted among men and women even in countries that view themselves as progressive and gender-equal.
Others noted that men seem to be doing very nicely from our patriarchal system, thank you very much. They still hold the power at almost all levels of society, from the boardroom to the bedroom. Why would they give this up? Why would a man even want be part of the feminist movement?
Feminism benefits men too
The answer from the men working on gender equality for many years came back clearly - because they should, because feminism benefits the women in their lives, and because it benefits men too. "Not only does feminism give woman a voice, but it also clears the way for men to free themselves from the stranglehold of traditional masculinity. When we hurt the women in our lives, we hurt ourselves, and we hurt our community, too" said Byron Hurt, African- American documentary film-maker and anti-sexist activist.
Men who are violent are not happy men - and they often pass this anger on to their sons, who can turn this on the women in their lives - or on themselves. Suicide is one of the biggest killers of young men in many countries, including the UK.
How to be a feminist
As Helen Lewis points out in Chesterton's piece, fatherhood is one way in to changing these harmful ways of being a man. Which is why Men Care, now active in 25 countries, supports "You are my father" media campaigns from Turkey to Brazil to India, as well as working through the health system in countries like South Africa, running groups for fathers and fathers to be in maternity clinics.
Men are also increasingly demonstrating and campaigning alongside women against violence against women.
UN Women has recently launched its "He for She" campaign calling for men to sign up for gender equality.
So there are many ways for men to join the feminist project. They can work with boys in school, like the Great Men Value Women project here in the UK. They can be active in "bystander" groups of men who intervene when they see violence or abuse or sexual harassment being committed against women. They can join MenEngage, as individuals or as organisations.
They need to be clear that they stand alongside women, and be careful not to take over. And they can return to the feminist slogan: "The personal is political". The Delhi conference ended with a call to action, asking men and boys to "reflect critically on their own power and privilege, and to develop personal visions of how to be gender-just men."
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, from UN Women, was also in Delhi. In her invitation to men to join the gender equality movement, she said: "In Africa, we have a saying that I want to leave with you. 'If you go alone you go fast, but if you go together you go far'. Let us go far together."
So, I say, men should go for it. Don't be afraid of feminism or feminists. In joining us, you are part of a steadily growing minority all over the world.