The ‘New Father’: Male Allies in Digital Feminism and the Reshaping of Patriarchal Behavior
Keywords:
Abstract
The study examines the involvement of men in the women's movement in Pakistan, which is a patriarchal society. The interviews with progressive men and women, who are actively engaged in the feminist movement in Pakistan reveal the changing dynamics of family structure in Pakistan, and discussed the emerging role of the liberal father as male allyship in women's emancipation and eliminating gender inequalities. The study discusses the effects of digital feminism in Pakistan in involving men in the women's movement as bridging social capital, producing responsible behavior among men, and challenging patriarchy through new fathers. In a patriarchal society, where the dominancy of the father is blindly followed, digital feminism is now altering the father's rule into male allies, producing a concept of new a father, which is challenging the patriarchal notions of masculinity and hegemony. The new father is a symbol of a new dominant figure, who is responsible and transforming the domestic patriarchy, to maintain equality at home and would bring change to the social structure at large.
Downloads
References
Addis, E., & Joxhe, M. (2017). Gender gaps in social capital: a theoretical interpretation of evidence from Italy. Feminist Economics, 23(2), 146-171.
Google Scholar CrossrefAksar, I. A., Firdaus, A. S. B., Danaee, M., & Maqsood, H. (2020). Virtual Manifestations of Patriarchy: Digital Experience of Pakistani Women. Asian Women, 36(1), 61-89.
Google Scholar CrossrefAndreasson, J., & Johansson, T. (2016). Global narratives of fatherhood. Fathering and masculinity on the Internet. International Review of Sociology, 26(3), 482-496.
Google Scholar CrossrefBaer, H. (2016). Redoing feminism: Digital activism, body politics, and neoliberalism. Feminist media studies, 16(1), 17-34.
Google Scholar CrossrefBailey, J., Steeves, V., Burkell, J., & Regan, P. (2013). Negotiating with gender stereotypes on social networking sites: From "bicycle face" to Facebook. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 37(2), 91-112.
Google Scholar CrossrefBennett, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2012). The logic of connective action: Digital media and the personalization of contentious politics. Information, communication & society, 15(5), 739-768.
Google Scholar CrossrefBlackburn, S. (2010). Feminism and the women's movement in the world's largest Islamic nation'. Women's movements in Asia: Feminisms and transnational activism, 21-33.
Google Scholar CrossrefBrimacombe, T., Kant, R., Finau, G., Tarai, J., & Titifanue, J. (2018). A new frontier in digital activism: An exploration of digital feminism in Fiji. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 5(3), 508-521.
Google Scholar CrossrefCasey, E., Carlson, J., Two Bulls, S., & Yager, A. (2018). Gender transformative approaches to engaging men in gender-based violence prevention: A review and conceptual model. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 19(2), 231-246.
Google Scholar CrossrefCheng, S., Ng, L., Trump-Steele, R. C., Corrington, A., & Hebl, M. (2018). Calling on male allies to promote gender equity in IO psychology. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 11(3), 389-398.
Google Scholar CrossrefDuckworth, J. D., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2009). Constructing work-life balance and fatherhood: Men's framing of the meanings of both work and family. Communication Studies, 60(5), 558-573.
Google Scholar CrossrefDuriesmith, D. (2017). Engaging men and boys in the Women, Peace and Security agenda: beyond the" good men" industry.
Google Scholar CrossrefFlood, M. (2011). Involving men in efforts to end violence against women. Men and masculinities, 14(3), 358-377.
Google Scholar CrossrefFotopoulou, A., & O'Riordan, K. (2014). Feminist Digital Media Praxis: An Introduction. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, 5.
Google Scholar CrossrefGenner, S., & Süss, D. (2017). Socialization as media effect. The international encyclopedia of media effects, 1.
Google Scholar CrossrefGhazal, R. T. (2020). # ANAKAMAN—MeToo in the Arab world: A journalist's account. In The Routledge Handbook of the Politics of the# MeToo Movement (pp. 372-385). Routledge.
Google Scholar CrossrefGroeneveld, E. (2009). 'Be a feminist or just dress like one': BUST, fashion and feminism as lifestyle. Journal of Gender Studies, 18(2), 179-190.
Google Scholar CrossrefHali, S. M. (2010). Liaquat Ali Khan-An Unheralded Founding Father of Pakistan. Criterion, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 5(1), 132-169.
Google Scholar CrossrefHardacre, S. L., & Subašić, E. (2018). Whose issue is it anyway? The effects of leader gender and equality message framing on men's and women's mobilization toward workplace gender equality. Frontiers in psychology, 2497.
Google Scholar CrossrefHassan, B., Unwin, T., & Gardezi, A. (2018). Gender, Mobile, and Mobile Internet| Understanding the Darker Side of ICTs: Gender, Sexual Harassment, and Mobile Devices in Pakistan. Information Technologies & International Development, 14, 17.
Google Scholar CrossrefHe, Z., Cheng, Z., Bishwajit, G., & Zou, D. (2018). Wealth inequality as a predictor of subjective health, happiness and life satisfaction among Nepalese women. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(12), 2836.
Google Scholar CrossrefHolmgren, L. E., & Hearn, J. (2009). Framing 'men in feminism': theoretical locations, local contexts and practical passings in men's gender-conscious positionings on gender equality and feminism. Journal of Gender Studies, 18(4), 403-418.
Google Scholar CrossrefHosterman, A. R., Johnson, N. R., Stouffer, R., & Herring, S. (2018). Twitter, social support messages, and the# MeToo movement. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(2), 69-91.
Google Scholar CrossrefHunter, S. C., Riggs, D. W., & Augoustinos, M. (2017). Hegemonic masculinity versus a caring masculinity: Implications for understanding primary caregiving fathers. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11(3), e12307.
Google Scholar CrossrefJackson, S. (2018). Young feminists, feminism and digital media. Feminism & Psychology, 28(1), 32-49.
Google Scholar CrossrefJeong, J., Siyal, S., Fink, G., McCoy, D. C., & Yousafzai, A. K. (2018). "His mind will work better with both of us": a qualitative study on fathers' roles and coparenting of young children in rural Pakistan. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1-16.
Google Scholar CrossrefJouet, J. (2018). Digital feminism: Questioning the renewal of activism. Journal of Research in Gender Studies, 8(1), 133-157.
Google Scholar CrossrefKabeer, N. (2016). Gender equality, economic growth, and women's agency: the "endless variety" and "monotonous similarity" of patriarchal constraints. Feminist Economics, 22(1), 295-321.
Google Scholar CrossrefKandiyoti, D. (1988). Bargaining with patriarchy. Gender & society, 2(3), 274-290.
Google Scholar CrossrefKelly, D. M., Pomerantz, S., & Currie, D. H. (2006). "No boundaries"? Girls' interactive, online learning about femininities. Youth & Society, 38(1), 3-28.
Google Scholar CrossrefKhan, S. (1998). Muslim women: Negotiations in the third space. Signs: Journal of women in culture and society, 23(2), 463-494.
Google Scholar CrossrefMajid, H., & Siegmann, K. A. (2017). Has growth been good for women's employment in Pakistan?. ISS Working Paper Series/General Series, 630(630), 1-33.
Google Scholar CrossrefMiladi, N. (2016). Social media and social change. Digest of Middle East Studies, 25(1), 36-51.
Google Scholar CrossrefMowat, H., Dobson, A. S., McDonald, K., Fisher, J., & Kirkman, M. (2020). "For myself and others like me": women's contributions to vulva-positive social media. Feminist Media Studies, 20(1), 35-52.
Google Scholar CrossrefNaz, A., & Ahmad, W. (2012). Sociocultural impediments to women political empowerment in Pakhtun society. Academic Research International, 3(1), 163.
Google Scholar CrossrefNaz, B., Shahid, Z., & Irshad, S. (2022). DYNAMICS OF FEMINISM, THIRD WORLD WOMEN, CULTURE AND ISLAM: A POSTCOLONIAL READING OF AURAT MARCH. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 19(1), 7-22.
Google Scholar CrossrefNicolla, S. K. (2020). Digital Feminist Activism & the Need for Male Allies: Assessing Barriers to Male Participation in the Modern-Day Women's Movement (Doctoral dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
Google Scholar CrossrefOberst, U., Renau, V., Chamarro, A., & Carbonell, X. (2016). Gender stereotypes in Facebook profiles: Are women more female online?. Computers in Human Behavior, 60, 559-564.
Google Scholar CrossrefPapacharissi, Z. (2009). The virtual geographies of social networks: a comparative analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and ASmallWorld. New media & society, 11(1-2), 199-220.
Google Scholar CrossrefPeacock, D., & Barker, G. (2014). Working with men and boys to prevent gender-based violence: Principles, lessons learned, and ways forward. Men and masculinities, 17(5), 578-599.
Google Scholar CrossrefPetroski, D. J., & Edley, P. P. (2006). Stay-at-home fathers: Masculinity, family, work, and gender stereotypes. Electronic Journal of Communication, 16(3/4).
Google Scholar CrossrefPrime, J., & Moss-Racusin, C. A. (2009). Engaging men in gender initiatives: What change agents need to know. Catalyst.
Google Scholar CrossrefPutnam, R. (2001). Social capital: Measurement and consequences. Canadian journal of policy research, 2(1), 41-51.
Google Scholar CrossrefRadke, H. R., Hornsey, M. J., & Barlow, F. K. (2018). Changing versus protecting the status quo: Why men and women engage in different types of action on behalf of women. Sex Roles, 79(9), 505-518.
Google Scholar CrossrefSabat, I. E., Martinez, L. R., & Wessel, J. L. (2013). Neo-activism: Engaging allies in modern workplace discrimination reduction. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6(4), 480-485.
Google Scholar CrossrefSchulte, S. R. (2011). Surfing feminism's online wave: The Internet and the future of feminism. Feminist Studies, 37(3), 727-744.
Google Scholar CrossrefSherf, E. N., Tangirala, S., & Weber, K. C. (2017). It is not my place! Psychological standing and men's voice and participation in gender-parity initiatives. Organization Science, 28(2), 193-210.
Google Scholar CrossrefSyed, J., Özbilgin, M., Torunoglu, D., & Ali, F. (2009, March). Rescuing gender equality from the false dichotomies of secularism versus shariah in Muslim majority countries. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 67-79). Pergamon.
Google Scholar CrossrefTarar, M., Arif, R. H., Rahman, K. A., Husnain, K., Suleman, M., Zahid, A., ... & Shafiq, A. (2020). Feminism in Pakistan and Emerging Perspectives. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Studies, 2(6), 252-259.
Google Scholar CrossrefThomas, E. F., McGarty, C., & Mavor, K. I. (2009). Transforming "apathy into movement": The role of prosocial emotions in motivating action for social change. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13(4), 310-333.
Google Scholar CrossrefToffoletti, K., Francombe-Webb, J., & Thorpe, H. (2018). Femininities, sport and physical culture in postfeminist, neoliberal times. In New sporting femininities (pp. 1-19). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Google Scholar CrossrefWarren, M. A., & Bordoloi, S. D. (2021). Institutional betrayal and the role of male allies in supporting women in higher education.
Google Scholar CrossrefZia, A. S. (2009). The reinvention of feminism in Pakistan. Feminist review, 91(1), 29-46.
Google Scholar CrossrefZimmerman, T. (2017). # Intersectionality: The fourth wave feminist Twitter community. Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice, 38(1), 54-70.
Google Scholar CrossrefZoonen, L. V. (2001). Feminist internet studies. Feminist Media Studies, 1(1), 67-72.
Google Scholar CrossrefPublished
Almetric
Dimensions
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Amira Firdaus; Iffat Aksar; Jiakun Gong; Nasrullah Dharejo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles are published under Creative Commons copyright (CC BY). Authors hold the copyright and retain publishing rights without restrictions, but authors allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles as the original source is cited.
