1. INTRODUCTION:

As an inter-disciplinary concept, gender refers to women and men, the relations between them and the institutions that govern these relations. However, most of the literature on gender focuses on women and the factors that affect their socio-economic outcomes. Gender equality is not a women’s issue, but should engage men as well as women. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Equality between women and men is a pre-condition for sustainable development. Achieving gender equality necessitates that the interests and needs of both women and men are taken into consideration, while recognizing the diversity of women and men. Ignoring men in the design and implementation of gender-oriented policies may limit the effectiveness of these policies.

Empowerment is the action and interaction of various factors like, physical, mental, psychological, political, socio-economic and so on. “Empowerment of women” means developing them as more aware individuals, who are politically active, economically productive and independent and are able to make intelligent discussion in matters that affect them.¹ It is not only to make them aware of their capacities, but also to provide them with the opportunities, facilities and environment both external and internal to utilize their inherent qualities and to develop in them self-confidence, self–dignity and the ability to raise a voice and fight against injustice, exploitation and violence done to her.

Thus we find that the issues of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment are closely inter-related and act and interact on one another. Gender equality and women’s empowerment can be regarded as two sides of the same coin—progress towards gender equality requires women’s empowerment and women’s empowerment requires increase in gender equality.² Women are liable to achieve empowerment when there is gender justice and equality and women’s rights are recognised as human rights and these are not violated. On the other hand, gender equality and justice can be achieved in reality and in day to day life only when women are really empowered. Again, gender equality implies a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights, obligations and outcomes in all spheres of life. Male and female as gender is born together, continue to exist together and the end of one will bring the end of the other. For a society of social cohesiveness, respect and equal treatment by every member are necessary irrespective of caste, class, gender, religion and other distinctions. Understanding between genders thus is essential, so that both can support each other for their growth and development.

2. ROLE OF MEN IN GENDER EQUALITY:

Gender is a concept that refers to socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate and ascribes to men and women. These distinct roles and the relations between them may give rise to gender inequalities where one group is systematically favoured and holds advantages over another. Inequality in the position of men and women can and has worked against societies’ progress as a whole. Gender equality policies have been regarded as ‘‘women’s issues’’ for a long time. Gender was seen as a woman’s concern, while men were seen as normal and neutral. However, over the past decades, there has been a growing recognition that men are important for gender equality development.

The role of men regarding gender equality has become increasingly relevant in terms of research and policies in all over the world. Engagement of men as well as women is needed to create gender-equal society. By the mid-1990s it was clear that gender equality and the protection and promotion of women’s rights required a political strategy that mobilized men in changing gender relations. Garnering sufficient support for the profound social changes required by the gender equality agenda could not be achieved by women alone but also required the active involvement of men.³ The new perspective on the contribution of men to gender equality was introduced on the global level by the 1995 UN Beijing fourth World Conference on Women. Since then, the role of men as part of the gender equality agenda has been increasingly taken up by various international agencies.

As said earlier, that the gender system is relational and inter-dependent, therefore these developments may affect men and as usual men’s roles change in relation to these developments. Men become relevant social actors in this situations who can give assistance to or make opposition to the process towards gender equality. The quality of a man’s life depends to the quality of those relationships. It is in men’s best interest to change himself towards this development. By advancing towards gender equality, men will see improvements in their own lives, relationships and communities as well.

3. ROLE OF MEN IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT:

Despite the work of Governments, the United Nations and other international and regional organizations, as well as the many years of struggle by women’s movements for equal rights, inequalities between women and men persist around the world. By the mid-1990s, some 20 years after the first World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975, it was clear that gender equality and the protection and promotion of women’s rights required a political strategy that mobilized men in changing gender relations. Garnering sufficient support for the profound social changes required by the gender equality agenda is quite impossible to be achieved by women alone but also requires the active involvement of men.

Two United Nations global Conferences—the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 and the fourth World Conference on Women in 1995—signalled a political shift with relation to male engagement and responsibility.⁴ The outcomes of these processes highlighted the important roles of men in the sharing of family and household responsibilities. The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) was the first United Nations inter-governmental body to address the engagement and responsibility of men in a comprehensive manner. In 2001, the Commission considered the issue of the role of men in achieving gender equality as one of the priority themes at its forty eighth session in March 2004. The adoption of the agreed conclusions on the role of men in achieving gender equality by the Commission on the Status of Women at its forty eighth session in 2004 was a major step in the development of a global policy framework to facilitate an enhanced role for men in the achievement of gender equality. The important role of men in efforts to mainstream gender perspectives into national and international policies and programmes was also recognized. A large number of the recommendations in the agreed conclusions were directed at enabling men’s involvement in gender equality efforts including by building capacity and raising awareness about gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The outcomes of these processes highlighted the important roles of men in the sharing of family and household responsibilities. A large number of the recommendations in the agreed conclusions were directed at enabling men’s involvement in gender equality efforts, including by raising awareness about gender equality and the empowerment of women. The agreed conclusions adopted by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at its forty eighth session in 2004 and reviewed in 2007, are important resources and should be used as a framework for action in strengthening men’s involvement in the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Member States, United Nations entities, other international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and all other stakeholders should use the policy recommendations provided by the Commission effectively in all areas of their work.

4. POSITION AND ROLE OF MEN IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA:

India has a long back women’s rights movement and women are in an advance situation at almost all levels in the society. The Constitution of India enunciated the goals of securing social, economic and political justice for the people and equality of status and opportunity. It guaranteed equality before the law and the equal protection of the laws, non-discrimination and equality of opportunity as fundamental rights. Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws, policies and plans have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres. From the fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards there has been a marked shift in the approach to women’s issues from welfare to development and then from eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97) emphasis was shifted from development to empowerment.⁵ India has also ratified various International Conventions and Human Rights Instruments committing to secure equal rights of women.

But unfortunately, despite the presence of these international instruments, Constitutional and legislative provisions, women in India are far behind men in most indicators of human development. There still exists a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution, legislations, policies, plans, and the reality of the status of women in India. Women’s subordination status and inequalities are reflected in almost every sphere in the Indian society. To overcome the crisis, the essence of “empowerment of women” implies a relationship between the two genders. To achieve gender equality in India without engaging men in the women empowerment programmes is quite difficult.

Promoting gender equality and improvement in the status of women in patriarchal India is impossible without the consent, mind-set and involvement of male population of the society. It is through the family structure in India, the male child develops a particular mind-set and accordingly, his attitude, behaviour, conduct and way of thinking are being regulated. Without their acceptance and approval, the female population of the society faces difﬁculties in every sphere of their life. Hence, in order to improve the status of women in the society, we need to get the support, assistance and involvement from the “male” of our society. Thus, we need to empower the men in terms of their understanding, knowledge and information regarding equal opportunity for people of both the sex, so that the general welfare and development of the society can be achieved.

The feminist slogan “all issues are women’s issues” has an equally important corollary – “women’s issues are everyone’s issues.”⁶ Without gender equality, no country can develop and advance. As it is rightly stated by Menon Sen and Shiv Kumar that “gender equality is not just a woman’s issue…it is a people’s issue.” Both men and women have to work together to ensure rights and opportunities for all citizens that the agenda for women’s empowerment must become a people’s empowerment. Menon Sen and Shiv Kumar are of the view that there should be “growth with work, growth with opportunities and growth with equality.” According to them, the movement for gender equality must move from being an exclusive concern of women, to being a people’s issue. Thus, people must change the ways in which they think and behave. Relationships based on inequality and exploitation must be transformed into relationships of equality and mutuality.

5. CONCLUSION:

Whatever may be the legal and policy initiative, male cooperation and understanding would be pivotal in understanding women’s equality and empowerment. Thus, engaging the male population can make this hard task a simpler one. It employs the family as the main unit of analysis because the family is the institution in which gender interactions are likely to be most intense, ranging from marriage and child-rearing decisions to consumption, time allocation for work and human capital investments.

In their families and communities, men live in social relationships with women and girls: as wives, partners, mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters, nieces, friends, classmates, colleagues and neighbours. The quality of these relationships in large part determines the quality of men’s lives. Men can see that their lives are also damaged by a system of gender inequality that has a negative impact on the women and girls with whom they live, work and interact in different ways. To save family, unless there is proper understanding between all the family members regarding every sphere of family life, there is every chance of family being broken down to pieces. For coherence of family members within the system is a necessary condition for women’s empowerment. Only an empowered family structure in a balanced state between male and female will hold the structure of family intact and consequently the survival of the family. Unless family is being saved through the efforts of every member of the family, there will be a breakdown in the societal structure as well as the national and the policy structure of governance.

If men are given equal opportunity along with the women, the work can be done in a better way with much digniﬁed manner without any ill feelings against women. Moreover, men will not have the feeling of rejection, while working for the women. Rather, they will feel engaged to work along with women for various developmental works for the society. Without psychological empowerment on the part of the boys and men to realize the importance of women and their contribution in various spheres of life, true empowerment for women is not possible in our society. Thus, men should be made instrumental for achievement of women’s empowerment, instead of thrusting upon so many welfare measures, by way of policy decision to improve the condition of women which in effect is not satisfactorily contributing for their remarkable development.

6. REFERENCES:

1. Elli Scambor, Nadja Bergmann, KatarzynaWojnicka, Sophia Belghiti-Mahut, Jeff Hearn, ØysteinGullvågHolter, Marc Gärtner, MajdaHrženjak, Christian Scambor, Alan White (2014): ―Men and Gender Equality‖,Men and Masculinities, Vol. 17, No.5,pp. 552-577.

2. Kishor, Sunita and Kamla Gupta (2009):―Gender equality and women‘s empowerment in India.‖ National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), India, 2005–2006.

3. Koko, U (1992): ―Empowering People for Health and Family Planning‖, IASSI Quarterly, Vol. 11, p. 2.

4. Mokta, Mamta (2014): ―Empowerment of Women in India: A Critical Analysis‖, India Journal of Public Administration, Vol. LX, No. 3, pp. 473-488.

5. Sen, KalyaniMenon and Shivakumar, A. K. (2001): ―Women in India: How free? How equal?‖, Report commissioned by the Office of the Resident Coordinator in India, 2001 (Available at www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/women-in-india---how- free--how-equal.pdf. Accessed on 15.05.2017)

6. Available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/w2000.html. (Accessed on 20.05.2017)

Received on 28.04.2018 Modified on 11.05.2018

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(3): 689-692.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00114.6