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Examining Masculinities in Youth Activism against Gender Based Violence in Cairo
Abstract
This project builds on the theoretical and methodological approaches of Marcia Inhorn and Farha Ghannam’s in their recent work examining men and masculinities in the Middle East. Their ethnographies humanize, contextualize, and historicize men and masculinities to particular times and places in the region and demonstrate the importance of studying men as gendered subjects whether as husbands, fathers, brothers, community members or workers. This paper is part of a larger project examining how and if various groups working to end gender based violence (GBV) in Egypt, particularly public space sexual harassment, deal with masculinities and engage men based on field work (30 in depth interviews with staff and volunteers, content analysis of reports and other written materials and observations) with independent initiatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national and international organizations based in Cairo. Given that activism on GBV in Egypt has attracted men as volunteers and/or staff members of these groups, this paper argues there are multiple masculinities at play in this activism in terms of the male activists themselves and how the groups engage masculinities. In addition to using R. W. Connell’s typology of masculinities in my analysis (hegemonic, complicitous, marginalized, and subordinated), I will also incorporate Marcia Inhorn’s emergent masculinities, which she used in her work on infertile couples in Egypt, Lebanon, UAE and the US. In particular, the concept of emergent masculinities recognizes that masculinity is not static but in a state of flux, new masculinities are constantly emerging and Middle Eastern men themselves are questioning traditional stereotypes and how their lives are different from their fathers. This is particularly relevant to my study given that most of the activists I interviewed in my fieldwork are under the age of 40. The findings suggest that some of the youth activists joined these groups because they are survivors of sexual violence or familial abuse or because of being bullied at school or on the street for appearing “weak” or “not manly”. In other words, not meeting some norm of dominant or hegemonic masculinity. These men were also more open to developing a feminist consciousness. This project hopes to bring new insights into the changing masculinities of young male activists through incorporating their experiences of violence and abuse as well as how the newer, post 2011 uprising anti gender based violence groups are trying to reconceptualize masculinities in their activism.
Discipline
Sociology
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries