wfn.org | NGO FORUM WORKSHOP OFFERS MEN WAYS TO BE

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

14-Sep-95

95319       NGO FORUM WORKSHOP OFFERS MEN WAYS TO BE 
                  SUPPORTIVE OF WOMEN'S MOVEMENT 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
BEIJING--Although clearly the minority among conference participants, men 
attending the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Forum discovered ways to 
be supportive of the international women's movement in a Sept. 3 workshop 
titled "Men Supporting Women's Rights: Political and Social Equality." 
 
     Representing a U.S. organization called the No Limits for Women 
Project, Chris Fosgill said men can best support the feminist movement by 
becoming "allies to women." 
 
     According to Fosgill, men should: 
 
       educate themselves to the realties of women's lives 
 
       listen to women's life stories 
 
       support women's leadership and learn to follow female leaders. 
 
     "Men should not play leading but support roles in the women's 
movement," Fosgill said. "But we need to build communities of [male] 
support around ourselves." 
 
     Representing another American organization called National 
Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS), Ben Zeman said that a way for 
men to advocate for women's equality is to share the work of programs 
stemming out of the Platform for Action of the U.N. Fourth World Conference 
on Women. 
 
     Zeman also suggested men take a grassroots approach by asking wives, 
girlfriends, female colleagues, etc., how they can be more sensitive to 
women's concerns. 
 
     Zeman said he came to the NGO Forum to learn firsthand about the 
global plight of women and recruit what he described as a "few good men" 
willing to support the feminist movement. 
 
     "I need to learn from you all," Zeman said. "And I need to take what 
I've learned back to the men I work with." 
 
 

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