8 Ways Men Can Advocate Gender Equality this International Women’s Day
Advocacy goes beyond appreciation.
I’m sure for many women, the appreciation they receive on a day like International Women’s Day is really nice and encouraging. It is good to appreciate the women in your life!
However, guys, we can do more.
We can be making tangible changes in our lives and we can be advocating for systemic changes that benefit women (and we can do this every day). Here are some ideas.
1. Support all women.
Firstly, it is important that your support of women is in support of all women. For those of us with more privilege, it is easy to fall into different strains of feminism such as white feminism and trans-exclusionary (or as it’s been called more recently, gender-critical) feminism. We must not overlook issues that disproportionately affect women of colour in favour of reforms that simply benefit white women. We must not perpetuate understandings of gender that exclude trans women from womanhood. Other identity markers also affect one’s experience of womanhood, such as disability, size, age, etc. They shouldn’t be overlooked.
Read more: Everyday Feminism’s Ready to Ditch White Feminism? 6 Black Feminist Concepts You Need to Know.
2. At home, take initiative.
Understand what tasks need to be done and be purposeful in how you engage with them. Don’t rely on a woman to tell you what to do or ask you for ‘help” as if you are aiding her with a task that is her responsibility. If it’s your household as well, you need to be an equitable partner in running it.
Read more: French comic artist Emma’s depiction of gender equality at home, The gender wars of household chores: a feminist comic.
3. Boost the voice of women.
In work meetings, if a woman has made a good point that is being overlooked, redirect attention to her—and ensure you’re not simply repeating it on her behalf, as people may misplace the credit and leave her behind. On social media, retweet women, repost them to your Instagram stories. In all these instances, make sure you are actively listening to women. Continue to pay attention so you can elevate their contributions, their wisdom, their insights.
Read more: Want to Celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) Equitably? Pay Your Presenters. from the team at Femenuity.
4. Discuss your salaries.
All systems of power are intertwined and capitalism is no different. It benefits no one but the wealthy to have employees keep quiet about how much they earn. Discussing your rate of pay is a surefire way to see all gender pay disparities (as well other pay disparities along other demographic lines) come to light. We can only address what is known, so make it known.
Read more: Blog post Employers: Fix the Pay Gap, or You’ll Be Left Behind from Catalyst, or International Women's Day: How Do We Break the Bias at Work? from Next Gen Men.
5. Stand up for trans women.
With the trans women in your life, take the time to understand how publicly ‘out’ they are with their gender identity and what approach they’d prefer with how you talk about their gender in public. Correct people if they misgender them (unless they aren’t out yet, in which case, respect that).
While we’re here—don’t lump non-binary, genderqueer, and trans men in with women as if they are ‘women-lite.’ Nonbinary folks are nonbinary. Trans men are men. These folks are not women.
Read more: How can educators better support transgender students? from Next Gen Men’s youth team.
6. Elect women.
Many might argue with this point saying that they would like to vote for whoever is most qualified. This argument suggests that women aren’t as qualified as men—let’s question this assumption. Women tend to be over-qualified when they run for public office.
Read more: genEquality’s activation to Elect Broadly.
7. Believe women.
Medical bias is real. Speak to the women in your life about their experiences within the medical system and I am sure you will find many with stories to tell about being mistreated, ignored, and misdiagnosed. This is only amplified for Indigenous women, women of colour, fat women, disabled women, neurodivergent women, and more. When you speak to the women in your life about this, ask what you can do to support them. Maybe you can attend appointments with them and advocate for better care, or challenge the medical professionals when a concern is being brushed off.
Read more: Gender bias in medical diagnosis in Medical News Today.
8. Work towards prison and police abolition.
Police do not prevent violence, they respond to it. Prisons do not heal and rehabilitate, they punish. Transformative justice is focused on preventing violence. This involves advocating for different methods to achieve safety and accountability, away from the current punishment-based model that does nothing to heal people, relationships, or communities. This also means advocating for funding to be directed to support people and their communities—eliminating poverty, ensuring everyone is housed, ensuring everyone has access to health care (including mental health and harm reduction for substance use) and education, and creating trauma-informed, community-based ways to respond to harm.
Read more: Check out the organization Success Stories, building a world free of prisons and patriarchy.
These are just a handful of suggestions. There truly is a whole lot more we can be doing to support women. I encourage you to take a posture of humility and really learn. Commit to a journey of learning and unlearning, and you’ll realize what is holding women back is holding you back too.
In the words of Emma Lazarus, “until we are all free, none of us are free.”
But do not do this for work just for yourself. Do not only be motivated to make a better world for women because it’s mutually beneficial. Do it for them. Do it because all women and gender minorities are human beings, individuals who are worthy of a flourishing existence as much as anyone else.
Appreciation doesn’t replace advocacy. Be an advocate.
If you want to continue on your learning journey, consider joining us at Next Gen Men.
The Future of Masculinity newsletter is for people particularly passionate about engaging, educating, and empowering boys and men around gender and masculinity with news-you-can-use, tools, and events.
Kyle U. resides in the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabewaki, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Connect with them at NGM Circle Events, or online on our forum by becoming a Next Gen Menber!