Mobilising men for gender equality

Beyonce performing her hit song "Run the world (Girls)"

​Who run the world? Girls! (At least according to Beyoncé). The reality, however, is that men still run most of the world, and the fight for gender equality could move a lot faster if they joined in as allies. So how do we get men to become allies?
 
From what we know from the research on allies), advantaged group members are more likely to fight for the disadvantaged group when they identify more strongly with the disadvantaged group. It is also important that they view fighting discrimination as morally important, are angry about the inequality that persists, and feel a sense of efficacy in their ability to bring about change. But something else might be at work too in the case of gender discrimination. 

Preparing for the 52nd California Men's Gathering (Image from Flickr:Independent man, CC by 2.0)

As we’ve seen in the reactions, such as the hashtag NotAllMen and the backlash to this Gilette ad, men can feel threatened by the push for equality. These reactions tends to be more strong when men are more strongly attached to their group membership as men. In other words, stronger identification with men might make them less likely to act towards achieving equality.
 
Putting this all together, we investigated how we can can mobilise men to reduce discrimination against women. Men’s allyship in gender inequality has mostly been investigated in Western countries, and so we looked at whether these factors would work in Japan and the Philippines, where the degrees of gender inequality differ.  

What did we find out? In both countries, men are more willing to advocate for women when they (1) think gender inequality is an important moral issue and (2) feel like their actions can drive change. We found some interesting differences between Japan and the Philippines: For Filipino men, feeling more connected with women and their struggles was mobilizing (but not for Japanese men). For Japanese men, a stronger connection with men was demobilizing (but not for Filipino men). We suspect this may be a function of the broader context of gender (in)equality. In contexts like the Philippines where women are more visible in the public realm and in leadership roles, the push for equality may be less threatening to men. In contexts like Japan, where inequality is more visible and policies are being enacted to address this, men may feel more threatened, especially when they identify more strongly with their gender.   

Men holding up a sign rallying for women's equality.

, So what does this mean for getting men on board the gender equality train? Here are four tips:

1. Frame discrimination against women as an important moral issue
2. Make men feel a sense of efficacy – that their joint forces can bring about change
3. Redefine the male identity (for instance, shift away from dominance and highlight fighting injustice as central to male identity) and make the road to equality less threatening for men (read: we may have to rethink #MenAreTrash), especially in contexts where discrimination is highly visible

Increase identification with women and with feminist men, especially in contexts where discrimination is less visible (but persistent nonetheless) 

Guest post by Danielle Ochoa (The University of Philippines), Eric Manalastas (The University of Sheffield), and  Makiko Deguchi (Sophia University, Tokio). 

Read the full article: Ochoa, D., Manalastas, E., Deguchi, M., & Louis, W. (2019). Mobilising Men: Ally Identities and Collective Action in Japan and the Philippines. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 13, (14).