To quote John Legend, “All men should be feminists. If men care about women’s rights, the world will be a better place. We are better off when women are empowered, it leads to a better society.”
In the feminist movement, males have always played essential social and cultural roles. This involves attempting to strategically utilize’ their male privilege to provide equal possibilities for women in a variety of social relationships. For Male allies have historically backed the fight for gender equality, from John Stuart Mill to Charles Louis de Montesquieu. And there are plenty of guys who are ardent feminists today – just ask Vidyut Jamwal, who has developed self-defense lessons for women in Mumbai, or Benedict Cumberbatch, who has become something of a feminist hero after he supported equal pay for equal work.
Parker Pillsbury, the long-forgotten pioneer of the women’s suffrage campaign in the United States of America, publicly identified as a feminist and used his position to advance the rights of women and slaves at a time when most men maintained conservative-masculinist views on the matter.
Returning to the present, our global leaders are going above and beyond to ensure gender equality. For example, renowned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made international news when he appointed the country’s first gender-balanced cabinet.
Another case in point is Barack Obama, the former President of the United States, who has always been a proud feminist; as the father of two girls, he has often pushed men not to fear using the term “feminist” or being identified as one. “[It] shouldn’t be something that causes a reaction because he completely believes in the equality of men and women and we still have an awful lot of work to do to achieve that,” he says.
And how can we forget our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who captured our hearts on Independence Day by speaking on a variety of themes ranging from women’s empowerment to menstruation and sanitary napkins? Menstruation is not often spoken in men’s lexicon, so having the leader of the world’s greatest democracy speak about it during a national address empowers not only women but also families. People commended his efforts, calling it a step towards breaking down old-age stigmas and taboos. The icing on the cake was the Prime Minister’s revelation of his government’s plan to form a committee to evaluate the minimum age for girls’ marriage, which is now set at 21.
When it comes to sanitary pads, our very own ‘Pad-Man,’ actor Akshay Kumar, has been a strong advocate for empowering women in various professions in our country. From period awareness campaigns to substantial donations to NGOs advocating for women’s rights, Akshay Kumar has been breaking down taboos and stigmas about women one campaign at a time.
Empowerment is a continuous process. Conversations, discussions, and acknowledgment occur gradually. This communication method should not be limited to marginalized and disadvantaged populations or one gender; it should be used by everyone to help them grow stronger, more confident, and more in control of their actions. To solve the problem from the ground up, males must be included in the process of women’s empowerment.
The UN Women campaign ‘HeForShe’ is an excellent example of a beautiful solidarity movement to achieve equality by encouraging both genders to participate as agents of change and act against harmful stereotypes and attitudes. Emma Watson, campaign ambassador, expresses succinctly and wonderfully how great female leaders encourage other women. In this struggle for equality, having a venue for women to lead this discourse is of tremendous importance.
This is how you can become an ally of women’s empowerment activities if you are a guy reading this.
• Increase your involvement in domestic work and family obligations to achieve work/life balance together; • Advocate for women’s access to jobs, rights, and opportunities.
• Create good male role models for gender equality in your organization by implementing fair employment practices, anti-discrimination policies, and gender-inclusive decision-making, as well as eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace.
Every person on our planet, regardless of gender identity, must participate to have a future that is bright, open, and free of inequity. Gender equality is not only a “women’s issue”; it affects all of us. It is healthier for the equilibrium, and it is better for all of us.