2023-05-18 01:59:00
Over the past 100 years, women have won the right to vote and gain access to higher education and paid work. Women entered the “man’s realm” by utilizing qualities referred to as “masculinity” such as leadership, grit, and determination. However, there are still many problems such as wage gap, economic independence, and violence once morest women, and there is a long way to go. As the ‘backlash’, a resistance to gender equality, is intensifying around the world, ‘strongmen’, patriarchal national leaders with misogyny, are emerging, while some are spreading the theory of a ‘crisis of masculinity’.
<남성 해방>Jens Pantricht (54), author of (original title Why Feminism is Good For Men), says, “Men and feminism need each other,” and now it is time to pay attention to “men.” This book, published in the Netherlands, has been translated into German, Arabic, and English, and was also published in Korea on the 1st. In his book, he said, “Women have been educated and entered the labor market, but the role of men and masculinity has been neglected.” It has been urging the women’s movement,” he pointed out. He emphasized, “Feminism should have men to help make the world better, and men should have feminism to help them live better themselves.”
“Men and feminism need each other”
As Pantricht argued, a movement with the message that “feminism is good for men” once morest patriarchal headwinds is also spreading. MenEngage (Let’s get men involved), an international coalition of non-profit organizations advocating ‘transformative masculinity’, is a representative example. The number of organizations affiliated with Menengage increased from 400 in 2014 to 1,100 today. The group aims to work with boys and men to dismantle harmful and rigid notions of masculinity.
Fantricht said that his attention to the ‘men’s problem’ dates back more than 30 years. He felt that “there is a problem in society” when he met a woman who had suffered terrible sexual violence in 1988, and while discussing feminism with friends he met in a shared house in 1990, he realized that “this problem is my problem” and began to explore masculinity. did. He said, “I felt that socialization as a man, such as climate change, racism, and militarism, contributed to the injustice of the world.”
He studied women’s studies at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands in the 1990s, and following graduating, he studied ‘how to liberate men and how to engage men in feminism’. In 2009, at a meeting of the Menengage Federation, he realized that there were men with similar thoughts all over Europe, and in 2014 he founded ‘Emancipator’, which means ‘liberator’. He also participated in the production of the ‘IMAGINE Toolkit’, a male education guide for gender equality. I met Pantricht on the 15th at the Kyunghyang Shinmun. The following is a Q&A with him.
Why pay attention to ‘men’ and not women
-Why are you focusing on men and not women?
“Who needs to change their perception to solve the problem of racism? Absolutely white Because it takes place in a world ruled by them. Likewise, sexism and gender violence are men’s issues.”
-You said you should pay attention to men for men too.
“Belle Hooks, a black American feminist, clearly pointed out that ‘the first act of male patriarchal violence is not violence once morest women, but violence once morest himself’. In the Netherlands, men’s life expectancy is lower than women’s, and men have fewer opportunities to learn regarding caring because they work for their families all their lives. Men are confident that ‘I am strong and have no problems’, but recognize this problem only following facing a crisis. The price is ‘isolation’. This traditional masculinity is not beneficial to men. Because men cannot be who they really are.”
-You said that ‘masculinity is a constant battle once morest the patriarchal structure and other oppressive mechanisms’. What is Masculinity?
“Australian sociologist Lawin Cornell said that masculinity takes many forms across time and space. The type of finding the most legitimate answer under the patriarchal system can be called ‘hegemonic masculinity’. The white, straight, Western, and middle class of our time are examples. ‘Conspiratorial masculinity’ is not hegemonic but willing to accept the advantages of hegemonic masculinity, exists unconfused, and benefits from ‘patriarchal dividends’ from the patriarchal status quo. ‘Subordinate masculinity’ is the type that tries hard to prove itself and conform to the norm. There are also ‘marginalized masculinities’, socially marginalized types such as migrant men and gay men. A man has a subordinate position at work, but becomes the dominant patriarch at home, creates a coveted motorcycle club with friends of whom he is the boss, but is racially profiled by the police (prioritizing certain racial groups) because of his dark skin. Putting them on the line of the dragon or discriminatory treatment) is also the target. As such, masculinity is not just one form, and no man perfectly satisfies the ruling norms of masculinity.”
How men internalize violence
-You said that men can also be victims of violence.
“It goes without saying that violence once morest women must be stopped. But men are also the main victims of all types of violence. Still, the idea that violence once morest men must also stop seems less clear. You have to ask why men find it normal to live with the constant awareness that they may be threatened by other men.”
-Please explain the process by which men internalize violence.
“To be precise, most perpetrators of violence are men, but the majority of men are not violent towards women at all. However, it was found that the majority of men did not commit violent acts, but tolerated a world that justified violence once morest women. As a result, they are complicit in the injustice suffered by those close to them. Often men internalize it to the point of not being aware of it.”
“I wonder why the Korean president thinks so”
-The Korean president wants to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, saying, “There is no structural gender discrimination.”
“Many people think of ‘equality’ as opposed to men, but equality is good for everyone. We need gender equality to live a better life, and we need to look in the direction of creating a better world for everyone. I wonder why the Korean president thinks so. Even in the Netherlands, there is a tendency to think that gender equality is a problem in other cultures, such as Asia, South America, and Africa, but gender inequality is everywhere, including the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Violence once morest women, ‘equal pay (for men and women)’ is a big issue in the Netherlands as well. I hope the President will be inspired.”
-The gender wage gap in Korea is the largest among OECD member countries.
“Then (gender inequality) is a clearer problem in Korea.”
-In South Korea, men’s participation in caring is very low due to long working hours, but the government is trying to further ease regulations on working hours.
“The Netherlands is in a similar situation. The government says we have to work more hours. I had the opportunity to present at the Dutch Ministry of Equality last week and said that the government should change its practice of reporting only on paid work. Because ‘care’ is all we need. Caring is for the world we live in, for the next generation, and for each other. Several researchers say a ‘better’ distinction between paid work and unpaid care is good for families. It is good for society that couples share this more equally.”
“We can’t make the world a better place without men”
–<남성 해방>said its goal is to make the world a better place. How much better do you think the world has become than when you started researching ‘masculinity’?
“I think the world is going backwards in many ways, but there is also a movement of men who want change. I think the response for a better world is not a straight line, but an up-and-down one. So we need good forces. Since this is a social problem, not a women’s problem, men must be part of the solution. We cannot build a better world without men.”
-How can men contribute to making the world a better place?
“Men need to be freed from the bondage of stereotyped masculinity. We need to move away from an approach that reinforces gender differences, question stereotypes regarding femininity and masculinity, and create a ‘gender conversion approach’ that changes them. If we want to change the world, we must change ourselves as the smallest individual in society. No problem can be solved with the same level of consciousness that caused it.”
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