‘Men-streaming’ gender? Questions for gender and development policy in the twenty-first century

Abstract

Insofar as gender is still so often equated with women alone, the move from Women in Development to Gender in Development has changed very little. Men as a human category have always been present, involved, consulted, obeyed and disobeyed in development work. Yet men as a gendered category in a feminist sense - involving unequal power relations between men and women and between men - have rarely been drawn into development programmes in any substantial way. This paper addresses conceptual and operational obstacles to men’s involvement in gender and development, drawing on interviews with over 40 representatives of development organizations in Britain and the USA in 1999.

Working gender after crisis: partnerships and disconnections in Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean tsunami

“…The subsequent gender and development approach (GAD), however, focused on socially constructed differences between men and women and emphasized the need to challenge existing gender roles and relations (rather than perceiving women as the disfavoured sex), and prioritized gender mainstreaming for transforming society using equity and empowerment approaches (Connelly et al 2000;Reaves and Baden 2000). After the World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, gender mainstreaming became a 'buzzword' and has been criticized for being too donor-driven and bureaucratic, focusing more on the process of development than on changing the status of women (Baden and Goetz 1998;Chant and Gutmann 2002;Batliwala 2007;Subrahmanian 2007), and consequently losing the political potential of feminist and gender approaches to development. Despite this critique, mainstreaming is still believed to be a crucial method for working gender in many organizations.…”

Feeling ‘Pushed’ but ‘Clinging on’: Juxtaposing the Perceived Barriers and Support Strategies Used by Women in Leadership Positions in South African Universities

“…This refers to both the reproduction of gender power relations between men and women as well as a culture which assumes the centrality of men and 'masculine' values (Castillo, Baltodano, Carlson, Witcher Jackson and Mitchell, 2012;Chant & Gutmann, 2002;Madsen, 2011, Hornsby et al, 2012. These cultures are the consequence of historical patriarchal norms which determined the social order.…”

“The Reality of Today Has Required Us to Change”: Negotiating Gender Through Informal Work in Contemporary Argentina

“…In spite of frequently less-than-ideal working situations for women, on the whole, these changes in livelihood patterns have resulted in shifts in family organization, as men no longer have the sole responsibility for providing economic support for the family, and as women's identities and activities are decreasingly tied exclusively to their domestic roles (Chant and Gutmann 2002;Wainerman 2002;Latapí 2003). As Chant (2002) and Kabeer (2007) argued, however, these shifts have had contradictory outcomes that do not always result in increased empowerment of women within the home.…”

“…In spite of the increase in research on masculinity in the previous decade, however, the need continues to exist for issues of men and masculinity to be incorporated into studies on gender and development (Chant and Gutmann 2000;C. Jackson 2000;Viveros Vigoya 2001;Cleaver 2002).…”