Men for Gender Equality
The Case of Men’s Committee of One Million Signatures Campaign in
M. Ali Abdi
Introduction
“At the national level, more and more countries are meeting their obligations to protect women through comprehensive legislation, better services for victims, stronger partnerships and increased efforts to engage men and boys in addressing the problem.“ (Emphasis added)
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, in his message for November 25th 2009, the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women[1]
Gender Equality is one of the millennium development goals of UN which must be reached no later than 2015. Through the last thirty years there have been two major approaches regarding gender equality and development: the women in development (WID) and the gender and development (GAD). The former, as Lucille Mair, the secretary general of the 1980 Mid-Decade conference, put it, discusses that “women are a missing link in development”[1] and documents the effects of development on the lives of women. The latter, though closely related to and sometimes undistinguishable from WID, has a deeper analysis based on gender and “puts women and development in the context of gender power relations”.[2]
Therefore, the role of men in the fulfillment of gender equality policies and practices is more vibrant in GAD approach. Today there is an international recognition for the necessity of participation of men in supporting gender equality. Paragraph 25 of the Beijing Declaration holds the participating government responsible to “encourage men to participate fully in all actions towards gender equality”.[3] Also in a UN session five years after the Beijing conference, held to examine the achievements and weaknesses of the conference and its platform, the participants made it clear again that “men must involve themselves and take joint responsibility with women for the promotion of gender equality.” [4] Roles of men in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, decreasing domestic violence against women, socializing children, passing laws for gender equality in the parliament and providing child care are some of the many contributions men can make.[5]
The lack of engagement with men and boys may intensify gender inequality.[6] Also Given the depth and strength of patriarchy, even some feminist women have argued that women alone cannot overcome the patriarchal system.[7] Besides, men have good reasons to promote gender equality: a) since men are living with women in one society, the “quality” of their lives depends on the quality of their relationships with women b) the high rates of drug addicts and alcoholism among men are the “toxic effects” of gender inequality c) gender equality is directly related to the “well-being” of the society and d) it’s an “ethical principle” for men to change the current gender order.[8]
the emergence of organizations and campaigns such as the White Ribbon Campaign in Canada which trains men and boys not to use violence against women, Men Overcoming Violence (MOVE) in US which works to end domestic violence, Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN) in Kenya which tries to end the spread of HIV/AIDS[2], and many more men-focused organizations in Japan[9], Germany[10], New Zealand[11], India[12], Sweden and Denmark is a response to such a need.
Yet, role of men in achieving gender equality is ambivalent. On the one hand, men generally possess most of the seats of top professionals, corporate executives and parliamentary positions, receive better salaries and have higher incomes than women, and they still benefit from legal and social establishments in many parts of the world, so they might not be that interested in making gender equality come true; but, on the other hand, as it will be illustrated in this paper, men will also benefit from women’s movements and gender equality goals.
In this paper, I will discuss the role of men in an Iranian Campaign called One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws against Women (commonly referred to as the Campaign for Equality or the Campaign in this paper). To do so, it’s necessary to give information about the Campaign itself which is needed for my analysis of men’s contribution. Giving a brief background of the Campaign, I will discuss its unique structure in the first part of this paper.
In the second part, drawing on six interviews that I did with six active members of the Men’s Committee of the Campaign, and also referring to my own experiences as an active Campaign activist, I will discuss the role of men in the Campaign. I will examine men’s motivation to join the Campaign, the effects of the presence of men on the Campaign and the effects of the Campaign on men’s lives. I will argue that men’s contribution in the Campaign is not only inevitable, but also productive for both the Campaign and the participating men. I will also show how men’s participation has extended the practical interest of changing discriminatory laws to a strategic interest of achieving gender equality.
There is a lack of data available on the participation of men in the Campaign. So far, apart from the thousands of articles written and published by Campaign activists on Campaign websites, three major books and final thesis have also been written on the Campaign (Khorasani 2009, Javaheri 2007, Sediqi 2009), none of which has addressed the issue of the presence of men in the Campaign broadly.
At the time of writing this paper, the number of active men members of the Campaign in
One Million Signatures Campaign: Inauguration, Goal, Structure
“Nobody can stop the Campaign anymore.”[3]
Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Noble Peace Prize Winner
More than three years have passed since August 27th 2006, the day in which One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws against Women was launched in
Women’s rights activists provided three main documents to start the Campaign: the petition of the Campaign on which Iranian citizens can put their signatures to support the Campaign, a pamphlet called the Effects of Laws on the Lives of Women which is distributed to any Iranian whom Campaign activists encounter, and the project outline in which the plans, goals, and strategies of the Campaign are described. For instance, it’s written in the project outline that Campaign doesn’t receive money from any foreign institution, and the first phase of the Campaign ends when one million signatures to change discriminatory laws are collected.
the ten general laws (and more than sixty articles) of the civil and penal law, which are passed by the Iranian parliament about 80 years ago and remained unchanged, are requested in the petition of the Campaign to be changed. Laws on: 1) marriage 2) divorce 3) polygamy 4) the age of the criminal responsibility of boys and girls 5) rights for passing on nationality 6) the amount of Dieh or compensation for bodily injury for women and men 7) inheritance rights 8) punishment for honor killings 9) testimony rights and 10) child custody rights, are the ones demanded to be transformed.
Those Iranians in all parts of the world who want to support can do so by signing the Campaign petition. Those who want to become more active can participate in the workshops held for volunteers in activists’ houses and garages. Participants in these workshops learn about the laws, face-to-face approaches, how to connect with the public and safety issues. After attending the four-hour workshop, each individual can start collecting signatures from the public.
Khorasani argues that three specific features of the Campaign are: first; it doesn’t have a leader, or in other words everybody who is working for the Campaign is a leader. Each person can use her/his creativities and abilities to draw people’s attention to the Campaign’s demands and promote awareness among public. Second; Campaign is not ideologically or politically but rather is methodologically centered and has a specific goal. That is to say any Iranian, from liberals to Marxists to Muslims to nationalists to atheists, can join the Campaign and collect signatures by the means of face-to-face talk with people in order to Change Discriminatory Laws. The goal of the Campaign (changing discriminatory laws) and how it moves towards its goal (collecting signatures) is the common ground for the participants.
Third; Campaign has a horizontal (non-pyramid, non-vertical, non-hierarchical) structure. Within this horizontal network of activists or “horizontal division of labor”[13] no group or person supervises the other.[14] Activists can form committees and groups within the Campaign to help it reach its goals. For instance, those members of the Campaign who were painters, actresses and actors, and documentary and film makers, form the art committee of the Campaign within which they use art to spread the message the Campaign widely.
The unique structure of the Campaign has three obvious positive consequences.[15] First; it has given participants the opportunity to be engaged in the Campaign to any extent that their time, energy and tendency allow; one can just collect signatures, or/and become an active facilitator in Campaign workshops, or even form a specific committee. The amount of members’ activities and the time they devote is not mandatory, but rather voluntary.
Second; the horizontal structure of the Campaign has accelerated the movement. Several projects within the Campaign can be implemented simultaneously and in parallel.[16] While one group is making a documentary for the cyber space, one is looking for a place for the upcoming workshop, one is calling the last week participants of the workshop to see how many signatures they have collected, one is writing their first experiences of going to a bus station in the South of Tehran to collect signatures, one is translating the documents of the Campaign to English, and many more. Nobody is necessarily required to do such activities; everybody decides what to do by oneself, independently.
Third; the horizontal structure of the Campaign makes it impossible for Islamic Republic authorities to shut it down. Since Campaign is challenging many of the assumptions embedded in the traditional interpretations of Islam, and since the Islamic Republic views such activism as a threat to the whole system (regime), Campaign activists have always been arrested, summoned or interrogated through the last three years. Yet, as Shirin Ebadi has put it, “nobody can stop the Campaign anymore”. In fact the well-known activists are not the only members or the leaders of the Campaign. Campaign finds its way face-to-face, home-to-home, street-to-street and city-to-city by the help of ordinary men and women who support equality.
But what are the roles of men in this Campaign? Why have they joined? How can they help? Why men’s Committee was formed and what have been its achievements so far? In the next part I will answer to the raised questions.
Men’s Committee of the Campaign
Although Campaign aims to change discriminatory laws against women, men also joined the Campaign for various reasons which I will discuss later. Two of the first 54 members of the Campaign who founded it three years ago were men. Three months after its inauguration, the number of men increased to 18 which led to the formation of the men’s committee. Now, the men’s committee of the Campaign has ten active members. Through the last three years more than 150 men have become active members (out of 2500 active members nationwide).
A year after the beginning of the Campaign, members of the men’s committee launched a website called men for equality[6] in order to: a) document their experiences as men who are working for the Campaign b) discuss the possible roles that men can play in women’s movement and especially the Campaign and c) provide an opportunity for men members to communicate and publish their ideas and articles.[7] Nevertheless, this website had some other functions as well, such as publishing the news of the imprisoned feminist men.
Six of the members of the men’s committee have been arrested at least once. Amir Yaqubali, one of the members of the men’s committee, is perhaps the first man in Iran who was imprisoned for one month just because of collecting signatures for the legal equality between men and women, or in other words he was the first man in the history of this country who was sent to jail for being a feminist. Later, five other men members of the Campaign were also arrested due to the same reasons. They were all charged with “violating national security”, “making propaganda against the state” and “membership in the One Million Signatures Campaign.”[17]
In the first two and a half years, the workshops held for women were separated from those held for men, for four main reasons[8]: first; given the traditional culture of many local cities, it was a respect for the Islamic culture no to host both men and women in one room. Second; Campaign activists were trying not to give justification to the Islamic Republic authorities to stigmatize the Campaign as an anti-Islamic movement. Third; women were more relaxed to talk about their own experiences and daily pains caused by discriminatory laws, in the absence of men. And fourth; the points highlighted in men and women’s workshops were not necessarily the same.
In fact, the standpoint of the fourth reason is the one from which I want to open my discussion on the presence of men in the Campaign. Although the Iranian civil and penal laws are discriminatory against women and give more power to men, men are also suffering from such laws. In the workshops held by members of the men’s committee for new men volunteers, the negative impacts of such laws on the lives of men, and not only and necessarily women, were more discussed and highlighted. Through this, participating men were more convinced to work for the Campaign.
But what was the first motivation for men to join the Campaign? How did they change the discourses concerning the Campaign goals? How did men affect the efficiency of the Campaign? How were men activists affected by the Campaign?
In the next part I will briefly summarize the important points indicated by the six active members of the men’s committee and their answers to some of the questions which were raised.
Men’s Motivation to Join the Campaign
- My dad and mom were discriminating against my sister, although she was smarter and more eligible than me in many fields. That was the most important reason that I joined the Campaign … I was always telling myself that this situation must change.[9]
Mohammad, Campaign Activist
When interviewees were asked about their first motivation to join the Campaign, five main reasons were mentioned: a) showing solidarity with Iranian women and women’s rights activists b) Having understood the depth of the legal and cultural discrimination against their own sisters, mothers and girlfriends c) participating in a practical Campaign to change discriminatory laws against women d) opening doors towards bigger social changes; towards democracy e) the horizontal structure of the Campaign was unique and attractive. These reasons, especially the last one, had positive effects on the lives of these men as well, which I will discuss later.
As it was illustrated in Mohammad and other interviewees’ responses, none of them joined the Campaign primarily because of considering laws or the culture to be discriminatory against men. But when I asked Arash, one of the only two married members of the men’s committee, whether his motivation to continue his collaboration with the Campaign changed during his continuous participation, he said:
- When I started collecting signatures for the Campaign I was confronted with people who were asking me “why you do this? Why you betray men?” It was not enough to say because I am an ethical man! Or because I want to help women! Men were not necessarily convinced to sign the petition by that answer. So it pushed me to think more.
Khorasani argues that men’s participation in the Campaign has made men, for the first time, “identify” and “explain” themselves to others.[18] Since a man’s role is pre-assumed as the “main” role in the work place and the society, he does not need to explain his presence in the public space. But participation in women’s movement is one of the only conditions for which men must always explain their role and the necessity of their presence, both to non-activist people in the streets and to women activists within the Campaign.
As Arash said, his motivation changed little by little. Except one, all of the interviewees’ motivations to stay in the Campaign changed through time. Although they entered the Campaign from a human rights point of view, they now have a deeper analysis of discrimination based on gender. Their new reasons to keep on working for the Campaign were[10] as the following:
a) While collecting signatures, members of the men’s committee discussed with people that law is discriminatory against men as well. According to the law, men are the breadwinners and head of the households. They are the ones who must pay specific amounts of money to their wife (Nafaqe) and even after divorce (Mehrieh). Men, who are unable to provide food, clothes and shelter for their family, or unable to pay Nafaqe or Mehrieh, are put in jail. Also, according to the law, a two-year military service is obligatory for men. If law discriminates against women in terms of addressing them like dependant and weak human beings who are men’s properties, it also discriminates against men in terms of ascribing them compulsory responsibilities. All articles of the civil and penal law are interrelated like a series of chains.
b) Men members looked for negative effects of discrimination against women on the lives of men. For instance a man does suffer psychologically if his son-in-law (husband of his daughter) beats his daughter and the law doesn’t support her. Or if a man’s property is stolen and the only witness is a woman, then according to the law the woman cannot make a testimony in the court in favor of the man.[11]
c) The cultural stereotypes, which are reinforced by the law, describe a man as powerful, independent, active, and responsible. Many men end with depression for not fulfilling the ideal role of a true man. The life expectancy of Iranian men is less than that of women for the same reason. The Iranian civil and penal law increases the cultural pressure on men, putting them in the category of breadwinners, bringing them more social and economical stress.
d) Gender Equality is beneficial for men as well. Shahab, the second oldest member of the men’s committee, aged 34, put it this way:
- Suppose you have one million dollars and you want to work with this money. If you put half of this money at home and just work with the other half, you have not actually used the full potential of your capital. Why women’s abilities remain potential then? They constitute half of the human beings.
In other words, if women do not have the freedom to empower themselves, the whole society will suffer. For instance, if a man doesn’t let his wife to continue her education to be a good dentist, other members of that society, including men, are harmed because of missing a good dentist. Equality between men and women in the law does not necessarily guarantee the realization of the full potential of women, but it’s a prerequisite.
In the next part I will discuss the effects of men’s participation in the Campaign on their own lives. Also I will show how men managed to make the Campaign more efficient and effective.
“Campaign was a University!” … “Men listen to men better!”
- I already believed that women and men must be equal in law, and I entered the Campaign from this human rights point of view. I had a humanitarian approach. But when I entered the Campaign, after some months I became a feminist.
- A feminist?
- Yes! I realized even if the law changes, the status of women doesn’t necessarily change. Men must change themselves. The current culture which degrades women must also change.
- When you say men must change, what do you mean?
- Well! Their practices, their speech; for example men must become sensitive in using words in every conversation. Many of the words men use are oppressive against women.
Interview with Kaveh, a Campaign activist
As Kaveh said, his participation in the Campaign made him change his way of choosing words in daily conversations. The other interviewees insisted on such changes. they were changed through their continuous participation in the Campaign in terms of: a) replacing their egocentric behavior with a collaborative morale b) learning not to be a leader all the time c) distinguishing their own patriarchal practices and ideas d) learning how to use their previously known feminist theories in practice e) becoming capable of analyzing the discriminatory laws in the context of gender power relations and f) becoming more committed to change the oppressive laws.
As Mohammad, a student activist and a member of the men’s committee, said:
- Campaign was like a school … thinking to equality is now like breathing for me … many of my ideas changed … the non-hierarchical network of the Campaign caused me to act differently in daily life … in one sentence I can say that Campaign was a university for me. (emphasis added)
Other members also pointed to the non-hierarchical, horizontal structure of the Campaign which made them change their habitual behaviors and ideas. Other factors which had lessons for them were: a) their conversations with people in public places about discriminatory laws, which taught them what people think about the laws, how to discuss the issues with people, and how to convince people (from different classes and religious backgrounds) that laws are discriminatory b) their relationships with feminist women in the Campaign, which broke many of the gender stereotypes of women’s roles and behaviors for them c) their shared experiences with other men members of the Campaign, which taught them how discriminatory laws against women can have negative effects on the lives of men and d) their discussions with family members and close friends about the laws, which taught them how to live feminism:
- My wife and I are now sharing the house work. I am learning how to cook, trying to confront gender clichés. I am living feminism now.
Arash, Campaign Activist
Members of the men’s committee do change themselves because they realize that it is for their own benefit. As Larry May argues, “For moral motivation to result in action without additional sanctions or rewards, men must come to feel that changing themselves is a desirable thing.[19]” I discussed in the previous section that men have adequate reasons to do so.
Men members believed that they also had positive effects on promoting the efficiency of the Campaign. When I asked them whether men’s presence in the Campaign was necessary at all, they all admitted that it was. the reasons they drew on to support their claims were: a) men’s participation showed that the Campaign is not just for the rights of women; it is also for the rights of men b) it showed that the Campaign is not a movement against men; men’s interests are also included in gender equality c) it showed that men are not a monolithic group called “the oppressors”; there are many men who struggle for and want to end up discriminations based on gender and d) the message of the Campaign was heard by more people, because, as Amir, who is now a member of a reformist party in Tehran, said:
- If a woman asks a man to sign the petition of the Campaign, I know many men who refuse to sign.
- Why?
- I don’t know why; but my experience tells me that some men do not believe in women at all. They listen to men better.
Although it’s “regrettable” that men are more likely to listen to other men than to women[20], men may be better placed to affect changes in adult men. Consequently, in a country like Iran, with its religious and patriarchal culture, men stand in a better position to discuss gender issues with certain men. It doesn’t mean that men should hold the steering of women’s movement; it just means that men can be good allies for women’s movements in accomplishing specific projects towards achieving gender equality.
Conclusion
Maxine Molyneaux has differentiated between women's activism in terms of pursuing three kinds of interests: women’s interests, practical gender interests and strategic gender interests.[21] Since women do not form a monolithic group and they are varied in terms of race, class, culture, etc. it’s difficult to talk about women’s interests. However, certain women may have common interests which then can be called gender interests and are categorized into practical and strategic. While the former is a “response to an immediate perceived need”, the latter involves a more strategic goal such as gender equality.
I have argued through my paper that men’s participation in the Campaign has extended the practical interest of the Campaign, that is to say changing discriminatory laws against women, into a strategic interest, i.e. transforming the larger system of gender dichotomies. Although gender equality is not indicated as one of the goals of the Campaign, and although men are primarily struggling to change discriminatory laws, their presence in the Campaign has given a loud voice to the strategic interest of gender equality; because:
First; as I have highlighted through the paper, men discuss gender issues, and not necessarily women’s issues, while collecting signatures from Iranian people. Second; the presence of men has led to a more critical analysis of the laws based on gender relations. And third; members of the men’s committee have changed many of their previous gendered ideas, behaviors, practices and patriarchal relationships with women, as a result of their participation in the Campaign.
Besides, I have argued that men’s presence in the Campaign is inevitable in terms of increasing its efficiency. Men members of the Campaign are in better positions to discuss the laws with certain men, and convince them that the fulfillment of the demands of the Campaign is not just advantageous for women, but for men as well.
The questions that is raised is that what are the long-term effects of the engagement of Iranian men to promote gender equality on the Islamic, patriarchal culture of contemporary Iran? Despite the obvious benefits of engaging men in efforts towards gender equality or towards a society without discrimination based on gender, why this is not still a standard characteristic of development programs worldwide? What are the negative effects of men’s participation which impede such programs? These questions and many more are the ones which need further analysis.
[1] http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11942.doc.htm
[2] http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/Men_for_Gender_Equality_Now_(MEGEN)_Kenya
[3] Shirin Ebadi’s speech in the first annual ceremony of June 12th, the Iranian women’s solidarity day:
http://www.change4equality.net/spip.php?article700
[4] The eight goals of The Campaign are 1- Changing discriminatory laws by the means of collecting one million signatures and giving them to the parliament 2- Promotion of Collaboration and Cooperation for Social Change 3- Identification of Women’s Needs and Priorities 4- Amplifying Women’s Voices 5- Increasing Knowledge, Promoting Democratic Action 6- Paying our Dues 7- Proving that the demand for changes in the discriminatory laws is not limited to a few thousand women 8- Proving that the demand for changes in the discriminatory laws is not limited to a specific groups of women (not just educated middle-class or upper middle-class women)
[5] http://www.campaignforequality.info/english
[6] http://menforequality.wordpress.com/
[7] The reasons were written as the main goals of lunching the men for equality website.
[8] As one of the first members of The Campaign, I referred to my own knowledge.
[9] All of the interviews are done in Farsi. So I have translated them to English myself. I have tried to stay a reliable translator.
[10] I used the word “were” and not “are” because nowadays almost all of the social activists are engaged in the Green democratic movement of Iranian people. So the women’s campaigns, including the One Million Signatures Campaign, are passing an era of suspension. It doesn’t mean that the Campaign has stopped, but rather it means that the committees and active members within the Campaign are not working for the Campaign in-large anymore. Probably there are many Iranians who are still collecting signatures across the country.
[11] According to the Iranian civil law, testimonies of women are not heard unless at least one man confirms it.
[1] Jane. S. Jaquette and Kathleen Staudt. 2007. Women, Gender, and Development. In: J S. Jaquette and Gale Summerfield, eds. Women and Gender Equality in Development Theory and Practice. Institutions, Resources, and Mobilization. DUP: 23.
[2] Ibid., p18
[3] United Nations. 2001.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Cynthia B. Lloyd. 1997. Men in Families; Report of a Consultation on the role of Males and Fathers in Achieving
Gender Equality in Population and Development Review, Vol. 23, No. 2, p. 438
[6] Esplen, Emily. 2006. Engaging men in gender equality: positive strategies and approaches: overview and annotated bibliography. Brighton:
[7] Bartky, Sandra, and Tom Digby. 1998. Men doing feminism.
[8] Connell, R. W. 2005. "Change among the Gatekeepers: Men, Masculinities, and Gender Equality in the Global Arena." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society 30, no. 3: 1801-1825
[9] Menzu Senta (Men’s Center
[10] Brandes, Holger, and Hermann Bullinger, eds. 1996. Handbuch Ma¨nnerarbeit.
[11] Law, Robin, Hugh Campbell, and John Dolan, eds. 1999. Masculinities in Aotearoa/New
[12] Abhijit Das, Center for Health and Social Justice in
[13] Maddah, Homa. 2008. Organizing a Movement without Changing it to an Organization. Available in English on Campaign website: http://www.change4equality.net/english/spip.php?article240
[14] Khorasani, Noushin. 2009. Iranian Women's One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality: The Inside Story.New York: WLP Translation. pp120-146.
[15] Maddah, Homa. 2008. http://www.change4equality.net/english/spip.php?article240
[16] Ibid.
[17] 2008. "IRANIAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST (AMIR YAGHOUB-ALI) SENTENCED." Gender, Technology & Development 12, no. 3: 533-534.
[18] Khorasani, p113.
[19] Kahane, David J., and Tom Digby. 1998. "A Progressive Male Standpoint” in Men doing feminism. New York: Routledge, p346.
[20] Ibid., p347
[21] Molyneux, Maxine, José Luis Coraggio, Carmen Diana Deere, Richard R Fagen, Richard S Fagen, Carmen Diana Deere, and Jose Luis Coraggio. 1986. "Mobilization without emancipation? Women's interests, state, and revolution." in Transition & development: problems of Third World socialism. New York: Monthly Review Press, pp232-233.
