"All Our Work is Political": Men's Experience in Pro-feminist Organizing

• Main Author: Bojin, Kate
• Other Authors: Miles, Angela
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: pro-feminist organizing; masculinity; feminism; 0453
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33633

This research project examines the personal and political experiences of five men engaged in pro-feminist organizing. Their experiences are explored in the context of the emergence of anti- feminist groups, and an increasingly volatile funding environment whereby women’s rights organizations are seeing their financial resources threatened. Using a critical and sociological approach to masculinities, significant challenges at the personal level for these pro-feminist men are examined and are shown to compound engagement with women feminists, and the potential of cross gender partnerships. A people-oriented qualitative approach is employed to capture men’s personal journeys and how they self- identify with the feminist movement. This research adds to the prevalent “Man Question”, contesting men’s engagement in the feminist movement. Ultimately, however, the thesis concludes that men’s engagement in the feminist movement needs to be clearly positioned as a political project with an explicit commitment to building alliances with women’s rights networks.