Men's involvement in gender and development policy and practice: beyond rhetoric

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Presents the papers of contributors at a seminar entitled "Beyond Rhetoric: Male Involvement in Gender and Development Policy and Pracitce," which was held at Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, UK, from 9 to 10 June 2000. These papers explore ways in which development organisations have addressed gender and development in the past, the problems that they have faced, and possible ways of working which will take account of the concerns related to gender and development. The papers address issues of men promoting gender equality, gender training and men, challenging cultural practices and assumptions, masculinity and sexuality, male exclusion in post-industrialized settings, the feminisation of employment, and men's role in the family. The seminar reconfirmed the need for a more mature understanding of how conventional assumptions about gender differ from individuals' lived reality, and how they are used by the powerful to exploit women and men who live in poverty. It recommends that global economic and social policies be developed to meet the basic needs of women, men, and children for sufficient money and time to support and nurture themselves. The seminar confirmed that the debates about men and masculinity need to stimulate development agencies to put gender and development theory into practice, which means working with, and for, men as well as women.