Research project
Why is sexual violence still not a man’s problem? Comparing post #MeToo policy and awareness training in the Dutch and French cultural sectors
Why do sexual violence policies still fail to systematically address men and masculinities, when the need for cultural change among men has been central in public debates since #MeToo?
- Duration
- 2024 - 2028
- Contact
- Mischa Dekker
- Funding
- NWO-Veni
- Partners
Project Description
Why do sexual violence policies still fail to systematically address men and masculinities, when the need for cultural change among men has been central in public debates since #MeToo? The cultural sector particularly illustrates this paradox: despite its progressive image, it has been at the centre of #MeToo scandals and is particularly criticised as facilitating male dominance and sexual violence.
A growing body of work studies sexual violence in cultural professions. Nevertheless, the ways in which policies (fail to) address men and masculinities remain understudied and undertheorised. This project develops and tests an empirically-grounded and theoretically innovative framework: it analyses how collective emotions—e.g., apprehension about angering and moralising men, fostering political correctness—inform and obstruct policymaking. This framework will contribute to scholarship on masculinity, gender equality, politics, and cultural sociology.
Through triangulation of document analysis, interviews, and ethnography, this project analyses how policies on sexual violence in the cultural sector address men and masculinities. It rests on a dual comparison. It analyses the impact of the institutionalisation of feminism on policies (1) by comparing the Netherlands, which recently saw a decline of its feminist movement and gender equality policy departments, and France, where feminism recently gained ground among activists and reformers. Moreover, it analyses the impact of occupational cultures (2) on policies by comparing two domains often described as diametrically opposed in terms of target audience, profitability, and cultural capital: television and theatre.