Why feminism needs men - and men need feminism | Nikki van der Gaag | TEDxLSHTM

Why would a feminist want to talk about men? Because although feminism has changed the world, men still hold most of the power in the economy, in government, in religions, in the media and often in the family. While increasing numbers of men are questioning traditional views about what it means to be a man, feminist Nikki van der Gaag asks if there is a place for men in the feminist story and illustrates how men can become part of the solution.

Nikki has been working on women’s rights and gender in many countries in the world for the past 20 years. Since 2006 she has been the main author of most of Plan International’s State of the World’s Girls reports. She became increasingly interested in why so many programs only worked with girls rather than men, when the boys in the countries she visited for her research were often jumping up and down asking: why not me? Nikki was already aware of organisations like Sonke Gender Justice and Instituto Promundo and she wanted to write an engaging book that examined the issues around feminism and men and asked some key questions about why, when women and girls have changed so much, men and boys have not.
In 2014, Nikki wrote Feminism and men and has been speaking about the book's ideas at many event all over the world. She has also been working with both Sonke and Promundo to co-author State of the World’s Fathers (an idea she had in the swimming pool!) which they launched in 7 countries.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx