CARE Gender Toolkit

• What are the current social constructs, attitudes and experiences for young men, especially with regard to hegemonic masculinity?
• How do social institutions such as media, school, reli- gion, family and peers influence social constructs of masculinity?
• What are the ranges of young men’s attitudes and behavior toward women and their relationship with women?
• How are social constructs of masculinity related to men’s violent use of power?
• For men who are not violent, what are the influencing factors and consequences?
  

The study also served as a means to build capacity within partner organizations working with youth. To prepare teams to engage in learning, reflection and action related to gender-based violence, masculinities and youth, the research team underwent three sets of trainings, which included:

Workshop deconstructing gender, sex and sexuality: This workshop facilitated discussions on the difference between sex and gender, and sexuality. Further, this workshop discussed how the social construction of gender has had implications on what men and women should/could do, pursue or aspire toward.

• Basic Concepts of sex and gender and discrimination
• Day in the Life : To look critically at gendered division of labor and how the surrounding environment (peers, family, educational / religious institutions, media) influenced gender norms.
• Fishbowl Exercise: Looking at life experiences and awareness of gender differences across their experiences from childhood to adulthood.
• Body Mapping: To discuss in which parts men and women felt pleasure, pain, power and shame.
• Power Walk: To observe and discuss how the group naturally disaggregated across gender, education, ethnicity, etc. Who leads the pack? And who trails behind?

Gender, Masculinities and Sexuality Workshop Series: A set of workshop to deconstruct the concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, deepen understanding of concepts/practices related to male sexuality and on sexual/reproductive rights of women and men.

Phase I:

• Reflection and discussion on the socialization of masculinity – thinking about the attitudes, values and behaviors reflected by male family members, along with how media and other structural institutions (religion, education, media, family) reinforce a certain definition of masculinities from childhood to adulthood.
• Later, this was also reinforced through the exploration of children’s games and how they reinforce gender roles, identities and relations.
• The Power of the Stars
• Rebuilding the World: Scenario to explore notions of power, status and sexuality
• Power Map: mapping social relationships
• Fishbowl Exercise: on our experiences facing discrimination from others

Phase II:

• Expressions of Sexuality Collages: gender-segregated groups construct murals on what they like and dislike about how the other sex expresses sexuality.
• Discussion-Debates:
• Sexual and Reproductive Health / Rights
• Homophobia and hegemonic masculinity
• The role that media, family, peers, religion and education assign sexual identities, roles  and relationships
• Popular education models for working with youth on gender and masculinities

Film discussions: Both the 2nd and 3rd workshops engaged film as a means to raise issues related to masculinities, sexuality and violence, and serve as a basis for discussion. Films shown included:

• Once Were Warriors: a story of a family battling discrimination as indigenous minorities in New Zealand, living in an urban slum and facing exclusion from educational and economic rights, insecurity in a neighborhood marked by gangs and public violence, alcoholism and domestic violence.
• Billy Elliot: about a boy in a British mining town who aspires to become a professional ballet dancer.
• Boys Don’t Cry: The story of a transgender man, who faces discrimination and violence for his sexual identity, and explores themes of freedom, empowerment and courage.

As part of planning, teams also discussed at length research ethics, developing consent forms and guidelines for working respectfully with participants. It also outlined in its set of guidelines, procedures for documentation and debriefing for the workshops.

• To understand what attitudes and behavior are expected of men and women in their society as perceived by the participants, and explore young men’s attitudes toward gender equity and violence.
• Ideal Man or Woman: 3-D Image of Masculinity
• Gender Equitable Men: Agree-Disagree Continuum (or “Voting with Your Feet”) 
• To explore with male youth what it is to be a young man, and then to understand the role of social spaces in shaping male youth attitudes and behavior around masculinity in key markers across the life cycle.
• Day in the Life: for male and female youth
• Social Spaces Mapping: to identify what spaces male youth frequency, using a venn  diagram to illustrate their importance in shaping attitudes and behaviors around masculinity, as well as the relationship of spaces with one another.
• Socialization of Masculinity:  to understand how behaviors are expected, awarded or punished in relation to ideas of masculinities.
• Life Histories : Exploring the peaks and valleys in a man’s life, by age 
• To gain an understanding of how power is constructed and exercised; how participants feel and react when they “have” it and when they don’t.
• Power Map Diagram
• To identify the range of forms of violence affecting young men and young women.
• Violence Mapping: identify forms of violence affecting young men and women, listing and ranking these forms.
• Causal flow analysis on the causes of consequences of violence
• To summarize learning and insights into gender, masculinity and gender-based violence to engage participants in creating a future vision for youth culture.
• Cartooning: Envisioning the future on how institutions support young men around masculinity and violence
• Force Field Analysis: on what factors influence “Changes in social institutions supporting young men around masculinity and violence five years from now.”

• Confronting issues of gender equity and diversity: in workshops with partners, it is important to cultivate a safe space for learning to take place. To do so, requires sensitivity in power dynamics across gender, age, ethnicity and seniority among participants. Further, participation should be voluntary and only involve those who are sincerely committed to making themselves a bit vulnerable and reflecting on personal and sometimes sensitive issues related to gender, sexuality and violence.
• Set ground rules within workshops: To ensure a safe space for learning, and be sensitive to people’s prior experiences of discrimination and violence, it is important to establish clear ground rules to set parameters on discussions.
• Review questions for sensitivity: In the context of post conflict, partner and staff facilitators also decided it was still too sensitive to discuss issues related to the war, ethnicity and religion with the group. It is important to reflect on each area of inquiry with the research team to adapt or cut topics that may be inappropriate within a given context.
• Engage participants as co-facilitators: It was helpful and engaging to give space for participants to lead exercises.
• Dedicate time and training to foster skills in critical reflective conversations: With a new team of researchers, the exercise also identified the need to continue to support partners and staff to engage in critical learning and reflection, to develop skills in facilitation and probing.
• Comfort in exploring sensitive topics: In regard to sexuality, partners and staff were not comfortable asking or probing around certain questions. For engaging in social analysis and action around sexuality and gender norms, the research team must themselves reflect on their own experiences, perceptions and values around sex and sexuality. The team should also develop awareness, sensitivity and confidence in learning to discuss these topics,
• The importance of engaging men and boys for gender equality: The workshop and analysis reinvigorated the commitment of partner staff to engage men and masculinities in gender equality work. In engaging young men, the team found that participants were interested to stay involved in discussions that critically analyze masculinities, and develop plans for social action. 
• The value of popular education / participatory learning and action approaches: The team felt that participants engaged in the PLA activities with enthusiasm, and these methods provided a valuable means to guide self-reflection with groups.

• CARE and ICRW (2007). PLA Field Guide: Western Balkans Gender-Based Violence Initiative. Exploring Dimensions of Masculinity and Violence with Young Men: Skills Building Workshop at Investing in Young People’s Health and Development: Research that Improves Policies and Programs.
• A Eckman, A Jain, SD Kambou, D Bartel and J Crownover (2007). Exploring Dimensions of Masculinity and Violence. Washington, DC: CARE and the International Center for Research on Women. Available at: http://www.icrw.org/publications/exploring-dimensions-masculinity-and-violence
• P Welsh (July 2007). Final Report: Workshop on “Gender, Masculinities and Sexuality.” Western Balkan Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative. Kotor, Montenegro: 23-26 June, 2007.
• P Welsh (February 2007). Gender, Masculinities and Violence Workshop: Programme and Handouts. Western Balkan Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative. Belgrade, Serbia: 27 February-2 March.
• V Magar (2006). Gender and Sexuality Training Report. CARE NW Balkans