Role of gender equality and men

1. GENDER INEQUALITY AND
THE ROLE OF MEN
INEQUALITY (FALL 2024)
OC T OB E R 3 R D, 20 2 4

2. GENDER STEREOTYPES
Gender stereotypes
➢ Are preconceived ideas regarding females and males
➢ Through which we assign characteristics to men and women that are
determined only by their gender
➢ They limit the educational and professional experiences and life
opportunities of men and women
Stereotypes result from and are cause of attitudes, values and norms
against minorities (e.g., women, homosexuals, etc.).

3. GENDER STEREOTYPES ARE DEFINED
BETWEEN AGE OF 5 AND 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Aweo-74kY

5. GENDER ROLES
▪ Are different behaviors and behavioral-norms
▪ That are learned by women and men because of their gender
▪ Which are proper of a given society, community, or other social
group
▪ They condition activities, tasks and responsibilities of women
and men

6. GENDER ROLE ATTITUDES
• Refer to views held by individuals regarding the roles men and
women should play in society
• Imply expectations and judgments about the roles played by
women and men
• Usually refer to the division of labor btw women and men in
work and family spheres
• They might be independent from individual’s behaviors = not
necessarily consistent with actions

7. E.G., EUROPEAN SOCIAL SURVEY (ESS)
“Women should be prepared to cut down on paid work for sake of family”
Traditional vs Egalitarian
This question measures the degree of adherence to norms and stereotypes about
the gender division of labor in the family and the labor market context
Individuals agreeing with this sentence are more traditional in their attitudes.
Individuals completely disagreeing with this sentence are more gender egalitarian
in their attitudes.

8. % men and women having
an egalitarian attitude,
according to the answer on
the question:
When jobs are scarce, men
should have more right to a
job than women
(% disagreeing shown)
(Arpino, Esping Andersen and Pessin 2015)

9. MEN’S ROLES
▪ While research shows that most men acknowledge the existence
of gender inequalities and even advocate for more women in
leadership positions, they are not necessarily taking all steps
they could
▪ Ensuring that men and women share the same responsibilities
and opportunities requires real, sustainable change
▪ Change should be in attitudes and social norms among men, but
also in actual behavior

11. International Women’s Day 2019 | February 2019 | Version 1 | Confidential
72%
64%
63%
62%
61%
60%
59%
58%
58%
57%
56%
56%
55%
52%
52%
50%
49%
49%
48%
45%
45%
45%
44%
42%
38%
36%
33%
12%
24%
25%
20%
13%
28%
27%
30%
26%
27%
21%
26%
22%
24%
21%
26%
27%
27%
24%
27%
29%
32%
28%
24%
29%
42%
34%
11%
9%
5%
11%
13%
10%
6%
9%
12%
9%
9%
9%
16%
13%
7%
13%
10%
11%
14%
14%
8%
10%
12%
22%
24%
17%
14%
Country
More advantagesin
being a man (52%)
More advantagesin
being a woman (12%)
% women
advantage
being a man
(60%)
% men
advantage
being a man
(44%)
Indicates differences
of 10%+
No difference (26%)
Chile
Colombia
Hungary
Argentina
Spain
Peru
Netherlands
Serbia
Mexico
Turkey
Belgium
Russia
South Africa
Canada
France
United States
Italy
Great Britain
Sweden
Australia
Japan
Brazil
Germany
South Korea
India
Malaysia
Poland
84% 60%
72% 56%
76% 49%
73% 51%
70% 52%
66% 54%
69% 48%
68% 48%
71% 43%
63% 51%
64% 48%
65% 46%
63% 46%
61% 42%
53% 50%
56% 45%
54% 45%
56% 41%
58% 38%
58% 32%
50% 41%
48% 41%
51% 37%
51% 33%
38% 37%
35% 37%
39% 27%
Q. All things considered, in our
society today do you think that
there are more advantagesin
being a man, or more
advantagesin being a woman,
or is there no difference?
People in Chile, Colombia and
Hungary most likely to believe
there are more advantagesto
being a man today. On average
only one in ten believe there are
more advantagesto being a
woman
Base: 18,800 online adults aged 16-64 across 27 countries, 21 Dec 2018 - 4 Jan 2019

12. 76%
39%
26%
22%
22%
22%
21%
21%
20%
18%
16%
15%
14%
14%
13%
13%
13%
13%
13%
13%
12%
12%
11%
11%
10%
7%
6%
19%
55%
66%
74%
74%
71%
76%
71%
75%
71%
73%
66%
80%
78%
81%
84%
80%
80%
81%
83%
82%
73%
82%
85%
87%
90%
92%
Agree (18%) Disagree (75%)
% women
agree
(16%)
% men
agree
(20%)
Indicates differences
of 10%+
South Korea
India
Brazil
South Africa
Malaysia
Russia
Turkey
Italy
Mexico
Germany
Poland
Japan
Sweden
United States
Australia
Chile
Hungary
Belgium
Great Britain
Spain
Argentina
France
Canada
Peru
Colombia
Netherlands
Serbia
84% 69%
39% 39%
25% 27%
21% 24%
19% 25%
19% 24%
20% 22%
18% 23%
16% 25%
15% 22%
11% 21%
11% 18%
11% 17%
10% 17%
8% 19%
7% 20%
11% 16%
8% 18%
12% 14%
13% 13%
12% 12%
10% 14%
10% 12%
9% 14%
10% 10%
5% 9%
7% 6%
Q. Please indicate whether you
strongly disagree, somewhat
disagree, somewhat agree, or
strongly agree that..
A man who stayshome to look
after his children is less of a man
Country
The majority globally disagree
that looking after children is
emasculating for men –
although less the case in South
Korea
Base: 18,800 online adults aged 16-64 across 27 countries, 21 Dec 2018- -4 Jan 2019

14. SOME W
AYS IN WHICH MEN COULD HELP
1. Actively listen to women’s perspectives
2. Reflect on your own power and privilege as man
3. Credit/value your female co-worker/peer’s ideas fairly
4. Advocate for gender-equitable policies in the workplace
5. Challenge sexism and speak up when hearing sexist language
6. Step up at home with housework and childcare
7. Support female leaders

15. ENABLE CHANGE
• To enable real change (and a shift in
norms, attitudes and stereotypes),
though, men should have access to
similar type of “work flexibility” as
women
• E.g., part-time work
• E.g., parental leave
• E.g., remote work
• This would ultimately benefit women too

16. THE CASE OF QUÉBEC
• Introduction of reserved (instead of “shared”) paternity leave in Québec in Canada in 2006
• Led to direct increase in fathers’ responsibility: 2.2 additional hours of solo parenting per week
• Suggests paternity leave may increase benefits of the whole household, including family well-
being and gender equality

17. “DOUBLE MARGINALIZATION”
▪ Specific historical circumstances (e.g., Russian transition)
▪ Marginalization of men from both work and household
▪ Loss of status of breadwinner of men in the labor market
▪ Hard to save men from “demoralization”
▪ Sometimes women contributed to this by feeling “threatened”
▪ Relegating men to the role of “assistants” within the household
▪ Lack of alternative means of “self definition” for men, which affects their
masculine identities

18. ▪ More boys survive at birth,
on average
▪ https://ourworldindata.org
/grapher/sex-ratio-at-birth

19. COUNTRIES WITH MOST SKEWED SRB
▪ Albania: 108.3 males per 100 females
▪ Armenia: 111.7
▪ Azerbaijan: 113.4
▪ China: 114.3
▪ Georgia: 106.5
▪ Hong Kong: 107.8
▪ India: 109.8
▪ Montenegro: 107.2
▪ South Korea: 105.6
▪ Taiwan: 107.6
▪ Tunisia: 105.4
▪ Vietnam: 112.2

20. SEX DISCRIMINATION
▪ Prenatally: Sex-selective abortions and/or conscious “stopping” behavior
➢ Coincides with the availability of prenatal sex determination (SD)
technologies
▪ Postnatally: Infanticide
➢ Deliberate killing
➢ Result of child maltreatment and/or daughter neglect
▪ Over time, prenatal discrimination has increased as both abortions and sex
determination technologies have become more readily available
▪ Nonetheless, postnatal discrimination still occurs and has a long history

21. ▪ For countries without clear
son preference, the sex
ratio closes a bit in
childhood (because more
boys die than girls)
▪ For countries with son
preference, a skewed sex
ratio persists in childhood

22. • “Missing women” – Amartya Sen (1990)
• Shortfall of women from the number we
would expect in the absence of sex
discrimination
• It’s the sum of women missing at birth
(sex-selective abortion) and excess
female mortality later in life (infanticide
and/or neglect)

23. SON PREFERENCE
▪ In countries with strong imbalance in sex ratio, there’s clear preference for a boy
▪ Most common in East and South Asia, but also in some MENA countries
▪ Strong logic of “patrilineality:” productive assets move through the male line and
lineage is passed from father to son
▪ Economic and social benefits tied to having a son
▪ India: “dowry” (transfer of resources from bride’s family to groom) is the most
common reason for not wanting a girl → financial “burden”
▪ Labor force opportunities
▪ Religion

24. SON PREFERENCE
▪ Is son preference restricted to those at lower incomes? Does it decline if poverty
disappears?
▪ NO – research suggests that development of its own is not the solution
▪ For instance, in North India higher castes have more skewed sex ratios than lower
castes
▪ Evidence from South Korea suggests that it is richer families who show greater
discrimination
▪ One mechanism could be declining fertility: higher development, lower fertility →
falling fertility may exacerbate gender preference (called ”fertility squeeze”)
▪ In smaller families, you’re less likely to have a son just by chance

25. IMPLICATIONS OF SKEWED SEX RATIOS
▪ “Missing women” and “excess of males” → implications for everyone, not just men
▪ Men: Large number of “unmarriageable” men due to lack of women of “marriageable” age
▪ Some men will have to delay marriage
▪ Some men will have to forego marriage altogether
▪ Poorest men most likely impacted as usually women “marry up”
▪ Women
▪ May feel pressures to marry early and forego career opportunities
▪ May be at increased risk of violence or trafficking
▪ Society
▪ More crime, violence and disorder
▪ More marginalization, especially among poorest men
▪ More psychological issues