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Dealing with Resistance

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Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention

Part of the book series: Global Masculinities ((GLMAS))

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Abstract

A persistent challenge in anti-violence work with men and boys is resistance. Men and boys often respond in hostile or defensive ways to violence prevention efforts, and Chapter 10 explores the ways in which to minimise these. It begins by outlining a range of strategies aimed at lessening men’s and boys’ ideological hostility to gender justice and violence prevention advocacy. These include strategies to do with content, on the one hand, such as personalising women’s disadvantage, making analogies to other inequalities, and addressing men’s own experiences of shifts in gender. Other strategies are focused on process: involving men and boys in acknowledging their privilege, documenting inequalities, figuratively walking in women’s shoes, and listening to women. Flood argues that we should tailor our efforts to the fact that men and boys are at different stages of readiness for change. Finally, the chapter explores how to respond to overt anti-feminist backlash.

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Flood, M. (2019). Dealing with Resistance. In: Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention. Global Masculinities. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-44208-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-44208-6_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-44210-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-44208-6

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