Event
FEMINISM AND ANGRY MEN
The fight for equality has never been an easy one, but after years of progress, why are we witnessing a worldwide backlash against and rollback of women’s rights?
On January 21st we hosted a powerful panel conversation under the heading“Feminism and Angry Men”. We spoke about the commonalities behind the reactionary tendances to gender equality and what or who is driving them. We were joined by Deeyah Khan – BAFTA and Emmy winning Norwegian filmmaker and activist, Kamzy Gunaratnam – Norwegian parliamentarian who has been vocal and active about the need to protect women against violent men, and Adam Njå – psychology student and social commentator who has contributed to the national debate about gender equality in Norway. The conversation was led by philosopher and social scientist Henrik Syse.
Deeyah Khan opens a pathway for dialogue by trying to understand the issue from the male perspective. She draws from the experience from her latest film “Behind the Rage: America’s Domestic Violence”. Without excusing their actions, she recognizes that many men are often trapped within a harmful cycle of trauma and toxic masculinity, having few outlets for emotion or ways to break through the outdated ideas of what a man “should be.” Instead, they take it out on the women in their lives. “It falls on women in every culture” she explains, “and that has to stop and that has to be examined, because there is something going on here that is consistent and universal.”
When women achieve more autonomy and power, many men do not know where that leaves them. Khan suggests that in response to women having new opportunities, some men experience a sense of feeling overlooked, left behind, and dislocated. This uncertainty of “if you have this position now, then where does that put me?”, she continues, creates fear and anger, and is at the root of the rise of online toxic masculinity and the worldwide backlash to women’s rights. The panel discussed this fear and suggested that one part of the solution is to address it and the anger it causes – to make the resistant and threatened men understand that equality does not come at the expense of another, it creates new opportunities for everyone.
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2023 was awarded to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and for human rights and freedom for all. While women’s rights have improved across many democracies, there has been an increasing backlash against and rollback of women’s rights globally too. UN Secretary General António Guterres recently expressed his sorrow that “progress won over decades is vanishing before our eyes.” According to the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals report, at our current rate of progress, it could take up to 286 years before we reach equality.
But there is still hope. That is what Narges Mohammadi has shown us, and she exemplifies one of many women worldwide who are fighting back against oppression and the regression of rights for all. Inspired by Narges’ work and the crucial point in history we have reached for women’s rights, we invited this competent panel to discuss the current situation, the persistent challenges facing women’s rights, and how we can steer the trajectory back towards progress.
Watch the full conversation below
A PART OF NOBEL PEACE TALKS
The event is a part of the Nobel Peace Center’s event series Nobel Peace Talks, with topics related to the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 to Narges Mohammadi.
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