Men, masculinities, and development

Introduction Men and masculinities only moved on to the development agenda in the 1990s. Initial efforts to enhance economic development in colonial and postcolonial nations and territories paid little attention either to women or inequality between the sexes. Development was regarded as an economic issue that, when done properly, would benefit all citizens. This orthodoxy only began to be challenged in the 1970s, when a few key studies discovered that women had very different experiences of development projects than men. Women gradually became a development issue, women in development (WID) programs emerged, and projects addressing women’s issues slowly expanded. Men were generally ignored or regarded as impediments to these efforts.