Gender Equality Is a Men's Issue

Ben Acheson explains why gender equality is a men's issue

Tags: emotion/desire, gender, feminism, masculinity, patriarchy, 00 to 05 mins
Year: 2014
Length: 2:19
Access: YouTube

Summary: This short video from the webseries "A Different Angle" can be used to draw attention to the somewhat narrow view that gender equality is only a topic that concerns women. Filmmaker and host Ben Acheson argues that men need to not only recognize the vital role they play in promoting gender equality, but men must also come to explore how gender has crucially structured their own lives and experiences. His argument resembles a similar one made by sociologist Jackson Katz, who explores how the ideas surrounding masculinity lead men to become both perpetrators and victims of violence (here and here). In another video posted on The Sociological Cinema, educator and activist Tony Porter argues that through the course of their socialization men come to occupy a "man box," which puts strict limits on the kinds of behaviors men are able to express. For instance, Porter describes a moment in his own childhood when his father was not able to openly cry following the death of one of his sons. In the featured video of this post, Acheson concludes by arguing that movements for gender equality must also be movements that work to redefine what it means to be a man.

Submitted By: Ben Acheson

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