Why masculinity lens in community-led work?

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Working as a facilitator in community-led programmes, i had gender and equity lens but could not engage men in a meaningful way. They would show up, sometimes. I heard people blaming that men are not interested in community-led change. 

In 2023, I met Havovi Wadia when I was in London & she suggested,  "You are strong in gender but did you think about using masculinity lens in community-led work?" Around the same time, my colleague Rodri at Global Fund for Children was doing remarkable work on masculinities in Americas that helped organizations understand men's behaviour as something shaped by the world around them.

I began to see that I needed to bring that same thinking into the ARC (addressing root cause) initiative at GFC community-led work but in Asian context. I soon discovered it was not as easy to get trained as I identified as a woman. However soon I found someone who offered to train me, First I started with Bangladesh teams in Dec'24  and later with India NGOs so male staff from 14 NGOs decided to experiment with this.

This had a spillover effect some in their organizations, some in their families and some in the communities they work with.

I have learned so much and have a lot to learn around masculinity.  The way a man thinks about himself is shaped by his family, his neighbourhood, his peers and the social norms. Working with all the actors which shape these norms for transformative change. In South Asia, being a man is tied to the ability to provide, to find work, repay debt and support parents. We cannot talk to men about gender equality without acknowledging the pressures they face. Being a man also brings advantages authority, opportunities and and they are also part of a patriarchal system.

As time went, I also learned that context and intersectionality lens in this work is important to consider- caste, age, class, religion, ethnicity & location affect how boys grow into men in very different ways. I have seen more work with younger men around masculinity but realized that masculinity lens is equally important in older men.So combining the SALT approach as the basis and bringing masculinity lens we have seen some results but we have far to go.

To conclude, community-led approach creates opportunities for boys, families, community leaders, and other stakeholders to collectively examine the pressures and expectations that influence how masculinity is shaped. Rather than positioning boys as the sole agents of change, community-led processes can recognise that communities themselves play a central role in defining, reinforcing and  transforming gender norms.

Thank you Havovi and  Rodri who inspired me.

And those from whom I learned Abir, Bayazid, Parvez, Prokash, Rakib, Shahrukh, Vikrant, Sayan, Ratikanta da, Dhiraj, Nityam, Pancham, Ashish, Bappa, Lebu, Sukanta, Sandip, Scott, Rana Da, Soumen, Amit, Junas and Saurav and my GFC team mates Nawaz and Sam !

Photo courtesy Nishat

[Shahrukh Atpade]

Combining Masculinity Lens with the SALT process has given me the opportunity to understand the pressures, responsibilities, and social expectations of men’s lives. As part of this journey, I have also experienced a major shift in the way I learn and work. This journey has taught me how important it is to work with children, men, families, and the entire community to create change in the community. The conversations that occur when Masculinity is combined with the SALT process are heartwarming. Thank you Ritu for sharing this experience with us...!