This is a personal experience
This semester I had an opportunity to teach Gender and Development and one of my students said to me that GENDER has been strategically used to replace the word WOMEN within development discourse. In my discussion with this friend, he argued that as a man, he does not feel included in any strategies to address gender inequalities within society; rather, he is objectified as the problem. I thought about this statement since then. I heard the similar statement on Easter Sunday at church from my fellow youth and such statements are common in both the learned and the un-learned.
He agued that Gender and 'women' as key concepts in development created unnecessary divisions and tensions between men and women. Men are justified to feel subordinated. Women's issues have been blown out of proportion in the name of equality. The equality rhetoric is uncalled for and must be cancelled altogether. The more women issues are emphasized in development policy through the so-called 'positive discrimination or affirmative action' the more men become abusive. I totally agreed with him. Personally I think we have to completely abolish gender as a concept and concentrate on encouraging men to use their natural power to create opportunities for their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. Men should be encouraged to take responsibilities to protect and provide for their families. Men are more capable of assisting women. They can do it provided they are not opposed/challenged and/or discriminated against in the name of 'women empowerment'. Opposing men is actually creating unnecessary problems for women. In other words, WID, WAD and GAD approaches to development policy making brought disaster to our societies. We need approaches which seriously recognize that men and women live completely different lives because of their biological make and socially constructed roles and identities. Equality is a too simplified development narrative which needs to be completely abolished and replaced with mutuality.
Questions:
How many of you would agree with shadrack that men have been labeled as “The problem/cause to women’s subordinations?”
Is it also true that the term gender has replaced women and their issues in terms of development discourses?
N.B: If you meet men on party and you raise any discussions about women, this will raise a lot of discomfort especially for men in patriarchal societies. All concerns relating to women are generalised as gender issues without any attempts to make the distinctions between who are women and what is gender?
Another differing opinion is that Recognising what men and women's potentials are and what the nature of their accessibility to opportunities is central to how we can begin to approach issues concerning development in developing countries. What do you think?
I have been inspired to write to you friends and have this shared across with Dr. Bacwayo Elizabeth Kukunda. Please feel free to exchange your views.
