Social Institutions and Gender Index Man Enough? Measuring Masculine Norms to Promote Women’s Empowerment

Masculinities can either support or hinder women's empowerment and greater gender equality. However, a lack of consistent and comparable data hinders efforts to understand and assess harmful, restrictive masculinities. This report identifies and describes ten norms of restrictive masculinities to be urgently addressed within the political, economic and private spheres. Alongside these norms the report highlights gender-equitable alternatives, which support women's empowerment in practice. By mapping available and ideal indicators, the report provides a roadmap for efforts to measure changing norms of masculinities. In doing so, this report aims to support policies to transform masculinities by facilitating the creation of more and better data on masculine norms Preface Foreword Acknowledgements Abbreviations and acronyms Executive summary Ten norms of restrictive masculinities that are directly obstructing women’s empowerment To facilitate social transformations towards gender-equitable masculinities, more data is key 1 What are masculinities? References Notes 2 Masculinities and women’s empowerment in the economic and political spheres Introduction 1. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should be the breadwinner 2. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should be financially dominant 3. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should work in “manly” jobs 4. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should be the “ideal worker” 5. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should be a “manly” leader References Notes 3 Masculinities and women’s empowerment in the private sphere Introduction 1. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should not do unpaid care and domestic work 2. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should have the final say in household decisions 3. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should control household assets 4. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should protect and exercise guardianship over women in the household 5. Norms of restrictive masculinities dictate that a “real” man should dominate sexual and reproductive choices References Notes 4 Measuring progress towards gender-equitable masculinities In order to address restrictive masculinities, policy makers need the right data Conclusion Annex A. Data sources and country/territory coverage Annex A. Data sources and country/territory coverage