I would like to support Edith Pringle's suggestion that we have a good discussion on issues related to men and 'masculinity' and domestic violence. The discourse on 'masculinity' and strategies around this is fast emerging particularly in the development arena and with very little input or engagement with and by the feminist movement. I remember the first round of the End-Violence discussion in the lead up to Beijing + 5 had touched on this topic but I observed, too, that there was a subtle reluctance and/or defensiveness from both parties of the debate to pursue it any further. In the meantime, I've heard and read some positions in defence of 'masculinity' in the 'gender discourse' irresponsibly blaming the alleged feminists' universalist position on patriarchy as the culprit for the appropriation of the gender discourse to mean "only women' . Bilateral and multilateral development programs are increasingly invoking "a full gender framework" (to mean involving men and women) as a criterion or conditionality for funding "gender and development" programmes abroad without necessarily taking responsibility that this could mean taking away resources from fragile women-focussed initiatives especially at the local level. This trend could, undoubtedly, feed into the growing backlash against the global women's movement's achievements and which, I think, can only be countered effectively if the women's movement address the issue head-on through a rigorous and constructive engagement first of all with well-meaning articulators of the 'masculinity' question. We could also look at the prospect of engaging with the question with a view to, perhaps, enriching our own feminist insights and understanding of the gender discourse.
Edna O. Aquino Campaign Coordinator, Women's Rights International Secretariat Amnesty International (visit AI's website : http://www.amnesty.org) ***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from ICAP*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
