What role can men play in the fight to end violence against women? Whether or not men can or should be involved has always been a controversial debate within the feminist movement. Can they be trusted? Does their socialization and male privilege make allyship impossible? Do we even need men in a woman-led movement?
It’s a question the feminists have struggled with and continue to struggle with. Often men who claim to be allies turn out to be abusers or simply aim to dominate, unwilling or incapable of seeing the space they take up in the movement. At the same time, there are men who wish to join the fight against patriarchy and men who do work to end male violence against women.
In this episode I speak with Kris Macomber, PhD, a sociologist at Meredith College and the author of the paper, Men as Allies: Mobilizing Men to End Violence Against Women about these debates, how men can fight violence against women, and what real accountability looks like.
