Press release
Minister O’Gorman publishes gender norms report to inform gender equality policy
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, T.D., has today published a report on gender norms in Ireland. The report compiles data from a number of sources to track Ireland’s progress on the indicators used to measure the 10 norms of restrictive masculinities, as outlined by the OECD Report Man Enough? Measuring Masculine Norms to Promote Women’s Empowerment.
The report includes indicators from the economic sphere; where restrictive masculinities undervalue women’s economic contribution and support the view that men’s labour is more important and valuable than women’s work. Some of the findings from the report show that:
In the political sphere, these norms uphold the view that leadership is a masculine characteristic and that men inherently make better leaders than women. Some of the findings from the report show that:
In the private sphere, which has traditionally been treated as the domain of women, restrictive masculinities promote male dominance in the home. Some of the findings from the report show that:
The OECD Development Centre defines restrictive masculinities as perceived notions or norms, shared by both men and women that promote inflexible expectations of how men are expected to behave in order to be considered a “real” man. The OECD highlights how these norms can be directly associated with negative consequences for women and girls. Ireland is the first country to apply the OECD model to national data to measure norms of masculinities in society. Today’s report will inform policy making in Ireland in the area of women’s empowerment and well-being and gender equality and is to be used as the basis for a webinar to be hosted by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in early 2022.
Speaking about the report, Minister O’Gorman said:
“Ireland is the first country in the world to apply the OECD model to national data to measure norms of masculinities in society. The data shows that even in a country like Ireland where we have implemented significant legislative and policy measures to promote gender equality in recent years, more work can be done to tackle some of the hidden and attitudinal drivers of inequality. The report highlights that moving from restrictive masculinities to gender-equitable masculinities has positive consequences for women’s wellbeing and allows men to take on diverse role and behaviours, which in turn is positive for their wellbeing. The data can inform our approach on a number of issues, such as paternity leave, boosting female participation in politics and leadership roles and health care policy.”
ENDS
Although norms of restrictive masculinities are also associated with negative consequences for men and boys, as well as people from sexual and gender minorities*, the data in the OECD Report focuses on the consequences for women.
Within the public sphere, especially economic and political, the report singles out five norms that characterise restrictive masculinities and are widely accepted across cultures. A “real” man should:
While the domestic sphere has traditionally been treated as the domain of women, restrictive masculinities promote male dominance in the home too. A “real” man should:
The Statistical Spotlight report collates data from a number of sources to provide an overall picture of how Ireland is progressing on the 10 norms.
* The term sexual minority is an umbrella term for those individuals whose sexual orientation is not heterosexual. Gender minority is an umbrella term that encompasses transgender and gender-nonconforming people – individuals whose current gender identity or gender expression do not conform to social expectations based on their sex assigned at birth. For more information, see here.