Bridging The Missed Gap in Women Empowerment - Bring Men Onboard

In celebration of the International Women’s Day, as we celebrate the iconic and transformative role played by women in all aspects of life, I invite all of us to reflect on this key gap that has been missed for long in our efforts towards women empowerment ~ Bringing men on the boat.

Allow me to start with an experience I had last year. I was invited to attend a graduation ceremony of young women leaders in the NGO space. These were young ambitious women who were being mentored to be CEOs and founders of humanitarian organizations and whose dreams of creating lasting impact ware truly inspiring. But something odd caught my eyes; we were just two men in that event ~ Myself and a brother to one of the graduates.

As the event proceeded, I just hoped that more men would join but the moment when the founder of this organization came closer and asked me how I had gotten an invitation to the event, it just clicked in my mind that this space was not for men and it was odd how I was there. I was sure that no other men would appear and yes, for the whole event, we were only two of us.

The conversations and the talks were enriching; the young graduates were encouraged to break the barriers and rise beyond the societal limitations. But all this time, my mind was carried away, as I looked deeper into the space that these ambitious young women leaders were about to venture into. The space they were expected to thrive in. It is not a space where women live in isolation but where both men and women co-exist. A space where culture and toxic masculinity has put women under men and defined them as inferior beings. And the big question that came into my mind was, are we really missing a point?

These young women leaders will be founders and CEOs of organizations that will have both men and women. They will oversee and be in charge of both men and women. And the question was, have we prepared those men to work under these young women CEOs and founders? Have we challenged these retrogressive mindsets that men cannot be led by women? Have we challenged the retrogressive cultures that do not allow women to talk in the presence of men or challenge men’s perspectives? Have we...? These and many other questions made me realize the gap we had missed for the longest in our efforts on women empowerment.

Let us analyze the above scenario and reflect on our commitment to a world that is fair, equitable, just and better for all. In this 21st century, with all the efforts we have put and the billion dollars we have invested in women empowerment, we continue to experience inequities and injustices towards women. Significant part of them perpetrated by men. What that tells us is that, unless we bridge this gap, we may never achieve it fully.

We must start engaging men in these conversations, we must start bringing them in the equation and together work towards achieving the goal. We need to have conversations that challenges the cultures, traditions, misconceptions and mindsets that facilitate or encourage men to see women as inferior beings. We must teach our young men how to live with an empowered or career woman. We must train both genders to work and co-exist in a space of equity, justice, fairness and appreciation of each other’s contributions.

This is a gap we must bridge in advancing women empowerment. We can never leave men out of the equation. A thriving society is one where men and women collaborate to achieve the better today and tomorrow in a just, equitable and fair manner.

Happy International Women’s Day to all Women!