Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups

Efforts to promote gender equality often encourage changes to interpersonal interactions as a way of undermining gender hierarchy. Such programs are premised on the idea that the gender system can be undone when individuals behave in ways that chal...

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Main Authors: Pierotti, Rachael S., Lake, Milli, Lewis, Chloe
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Sage Publications 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/291351581479827090/Equality-on-his-Terms-Doing-and-Undoing-Gender-through-Men-s-Discussion-Groups
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33335
id okr-10986-33335
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-333352021-10-22T09:01:47Z Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups Pierotti, Rachael S. Lake, Milli Lewis, Chloe GENDER GENDER RELATIONS SOCIAL CHANGE HOUSEHOLD DIVISION OF LABOR GENDER EQUALITY AFRICA GENDER POLICY GENDER INNOVATION LAB WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS Efforts to promote gender equality often encourage changes to interpersonal interactions as a way of undermining gender hierarchy. Such programs are premised on the idea that the gender system can be undone when individuals behave in ways that challenge prevailing gender norms. However, scholars know little about whether and under what conditions real changes to the gender system can result from changed behaviors. The authors use the context of a gender sensitization program in the Democratic Republic of Congo to examine prospects for transformative change at the interactional level of the gender system. Over nine months, the authors observed significant changes in men’s quotidian practices. Further, the authors identified a new commitment among many men to a more equal division of household labor. However, participants consistently undermined the transformative potential of these behavioral changes through their dedication to maintaining control over the objective, process, and meaning of change, resisting conceptions of equality that challenged the gender system. Because quotidian changes left gender hierarchy intact, they appear unlikely to destabilize the logics that legitimate women’s subordination. 2020-02-18T17:41:00Z 2020-02-18T17:41:00Z 2018-08 Journal Article http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/291351581479827090/Equality-on-his-Terms-Doing-and-Undoing-Gender-through-Men-s-Discussion-Groups Gender and Society http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33335 English CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Sage Publications Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article Africa Congo, Democratic Republic of
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic GENDER
GENDER RELATIONS
SOCIAL CHANGE
HOUSEHOLD DIVISION OF LABOR
GENDER EQUALITY
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
spellingShingle GENDER
GENDER RELATIONS
SOCIAL CHANGE
HOUSEHOLD DIVISION OF LABOR
GENDER EQUALITY
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
Pierotti, Rachael S.
Lake, Milli
Lewis, Chloe
Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups
geographic_facet Africa
Congo, Democratic Republic of
description Efforts to promote gender equality often encourage changes to interpersonal interactions as a way of undermining gender hierarchy. Such programs are premised on the idea that the gender system can be undone when individuals behave in ways that challenge prevailing gender norms. However, scholars know little about whether and under what conditions real changes to the gender system can result from changed behaviors. The authors use the context of a gender sensitization program in the Democratic Republic of Congo to examine prospects for transformative change at the interactional level of the gender system. Over nine months, the authors observed significant changes in men’s quotidian practices. Further, the authors identified a new commitment among many men to a more equal division of household labor. However, participants consistently undermined the transformative potential of these behavioral changes through their dedication to maintaining control over the objective, process, and meaning of change, resisting conceptions of equality that challenged the gender system. Because quotidian changes left gender hierarchy intact, they appear unlikely to destabilize the logics that legitimate women’s subordination.
format Journal Article
author Pierotti, Rachael S.
Lake, Milli
Lewis, Chloe
author_facet Pierotti, Rachael S.
Lake, Milli
Lewis, Chloe
author_sort Pierotti, Rachael S.
title Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups
title_short Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups
title_full Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups
title_fullStr Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups
title_full_unstemmed Equality on His Terms : Doing and Undoing Gender through Men’s Discussion Groups
title_sort equality on his terms : doing and undoing gender through men’s discussion groups
publisher Sage Publications
publishDate 2020
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/291351581479827090/Equality-on-his-Terms-Doing-and-Undoing-Gender-through-Men-s-Discussion-Groups
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33335
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