Men have responded to the feminist movement in very different ways, some supportive, some antagonistic. However, feminists too have at times taken a hard line, separatist stance, seeing the challenge of achieving gender equality as resting exclusively with women, ignoring the issue of men and their socialisation within the patriarchal system.
Thankfully, this is changing. Most gender equality advocates now realise that solidarity and an understanding of intersectionality are essential to achieving our shared objectives. But there are other steps I’d like to share with men, boys and non-binary people who support gender equality to help take the movement forward.
1. Acknowledge male privilege
Men must begin by acknowledging the privileges we have been born into as a result of the patriarchy – the system of society and government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. The patriarchal system has historically placed the masculine at the centre of the universe, favouring men and excluding women.
Often men are not aware of this system because we have always enjoyed these privileges. This system has marked relations and forged unequal power between the genders. This is clear in most countries in the political, economic, cultural and social spheres, and is a regressive system that must be challenged.