“The Last Frontier of Women’s Liberation May Well Be Men’s Liberation”?
We’ve written on the fact that women are still not equal in the modern workplace, and we’ve written on why women of our cohort may be better off rejecting marriage (because, in part, we’re doing so well at work). We even wanted to write on why men are the new women (until the Atlantic beat us to it). But explaining why these arguments don’t contradict each other is a toughie.
Well, thank you, New York Times, you just did it for us. In her op-ed, “Feminism of the Future Relies on Men,” Katrin Bennhold writes:
In the early 21st century, women in the developed world find themselves in a peculiar place. With boys failing in school and working-class men losing their jobs to the economic crisis, pundits predict not just The Death of Macho (Foreign Policy, September 2009) but The End of Men (The Atlantic, July/August 2010).
Reality is more nuanced. Women earn more doctorates, but less money. They are overtaking men in the work force, but still do most housework. They make the consumer decisions but run only 3 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
“In theory, we now have equal rights,” sighed one senior female executive at a French multinational, who tellingly requested anonymity for fear of riling the men at her company. “In practice, we still have babies.”
Bennhold, in what we think might be the most insightful, nuanced take on this moment in gender politics that we’ve ever read, argues that for these reasons, the homefront is the last battleground in achieving true equity, and that winning there means working just as hard for men’s “liberation” as we have for women’s.
She points to Europe, where male political leaders have made greater strides towards equality than anyone: the male prime minister of Iceland (not incidentally, the country that comes closest to reaching gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum) pushed through legislation giving men three months paternity leave; a male prime minister of Spain appointed a fifty-percent female cabinet; and a male Norwegian championed a quota making companies fill at least 40 percent of their boardroom seats with women.
As one woman explained:
“When you want to change a culture, it’s easier for a representative of that culture to sell the change.”
Based on our own experience, we’ve long argued that men need to be included in these conversations just as much as women. Most of the time, unfair behavior or treatment is entirely unintentional. But if they aren’t aware of it, why would they stop?
Beyond that, given today’s so-called “boy crisis,” coming together to redefine masculinity, equality, and responsibility—both at home and at work—is gonna be good for everyone.
-Jesse
