This week's HeForShe Scoop is featuring some awesome men: one whose longing to connect with other dads sparked a change in his company and another who’s encouraging women to shine on screen. And check out the pics of the proud boys who are showing us that #boyscantoo. Please pass the Scoop on to your friends - they can sign up here – and send us your article suggestions here. Enjoy the week.
A 97% IMPROVEMENT. Growing anything by 97% sounds a like great success. But how about increasing the number of women experts on television by 97% in six months? That’s what happened over at Bloomberg TV in Singapore, where the team identified over 120 female clients to become potential news sources. The man largely responsible, Grant Coombe, is head of Bloomberg's global and Asia-Pacific key accounts. He is not only credited with getting women more screen time, but he also contributed to the growth of the Bloomberg Financial Services Gender Equality Index (BFGEI) in South-east Asia. The financial index, which launched last May, tracks corporate practices that advocate gender-equal workplaces. For his work on gender equality, Coombe was awarded a HeForShe Leader award by the Singapore Committee for UN Women. The awards, which were co-organized with HeForShe IMPACT Champion @Accorhotels, recognized four regional pioneers in gender equality. The Strait Times /HRM Asia
THE WAY WE SPEAK. At the HeForShe second anniversary this past September, actor Edgar Ramirez (@edgarramirez25)talked about why it is so important to let men feel. Feeling is part of being human, he reminded us. But it turns out, many of us encourage boys to “man up” as soon as they’re out of the womb.This piece explores how we talk to toddlers, and even infant boys. One study found that “fathers sing and smile more to their daughters.” Other research noted that while 4 and 5 year old boys are as “astute as girls at reading other people’s emotions and at cultivating close, meaningful friendships,” by first grade or sometimes earlier, they had “traded their innate empathy for a learned stoicism and greater emotional distance from friends.” And ironically, even though women say they want emotionally transparent men, women are often likely to rate them as less attractive than those who don’t share. Sounds like it’s time to rethink what we expect of men and boys and start asking them, “how are you feeling today?” New York Times.
INDIAN ADS PUT MEN IN THE KITCHEN. At the Scoop, we’ve been talking a lot about the power of advertising to shape social norms. This article shows us how that’s happening in India. It features three ads that take on traditional concepts: women’s role in the home, arranged marriage and the illegal practice of paying a dowry. In each ad, a HeForShe man stands up for a woman in his life, either his daughter or wife. In the first spot, a woman runs around manically taking care of the household, with her father’s voiceover in the background. “Sorry on behalf of every dad who set the wrong example,” he says. Only at the end do we find out it’s selling laundry detergent, when the question pops up, “Why is laundry only a mother’s job?” The other two ads come from the Indian company Biba, an ethnic fashion company, which espouses the tagline “Change is beautiful.” In one ad, a father tries to equalize an arranged marriage and in the other, a husband contests the practice of paying a dowry. The ads attempt to push outdated social norms along, but they also remind us that sometimes old habits die hard. Quartz
FASHION FOR ALL. You probably heard about RompHim breaking the internet? You may have even heard it from the Scoop. Could be because RompHim is part of a larger cultural zeitgeist. Seems many fashion houses are promoting more gender-fluid wear for men these days. With a license to experiment, designers are filling their men’s catwalks with silk, lace and florals.This piece notes that the London menswear shows were “less about traditional binary notions – and more about anything goes.” At the same time, while designers are making waves, some people note that the new fashion trends won’t translate into everyday wear. In this piece, the editor-in-chief of "Style Zeitgeist" Eugene Rabkin says “By and large, catwalk fashion speaks to fashion people - the press and the buyers - and they operate in a bit of a bubble that allows for a more risqué approach to dressing." Maybe so, but if the RompHim demand taught us anything, it’s that people are open to something new. The Guardian / DW
YES, BOYS, YOU CAN TOO. In the big buffet of life’s options, who decides what’s for boys and what’s for girls? One photographer wants to help us dissolve that artificial line. Kirsten McGoey captures boys ages 4 to 16 enjoying all the many activities that have been deemed for girls. In her imaginative and adorablephoto shoot, boys are adorning their hair, tapping their toes, ice-skating, cooking, dressing up, practicing ballet, and doing all sorts of fun things. “#aboycantoo started as a love story of sorts for my middle son who has inspired us with a love of rainbows, his constant twirls and whirls evolving into a love of dancing, singing and the stage,” McGoey says. Her photography project, which has been picked up by numerous media, “sheds light on these amazing boys who in the face of strong societal gender norms are embracing a strong sense of self worth, self confidence and providing inspiration for other #aboycantoo boys all over the world.” Check out her 2017 photos here.
CAN MEN HAVE IT ALL. It’s not a question we hear all that often. But maybe we should. In this candid post on Linkedin, Andy Katz-Mayfield, the founder and CEO of men’s grooming brand Harry’s, talks about the challenges of wanting to balance his professional ambitions with spending time with his newborn daughter. Katz-Mayfield says what surprised him is that “the men I know don’t talk about what it’s like to be a working dad.” And while pregnancy and childbirth are clearly a little more involved for women, he’s struggled to find “a space to talk about balancing work with parenthood.” Katz-Mayfield laments that such a community for men to open up about their struggles is lacking and he says, “the world still doesn’t expect us to be equal co-parents.” Katz-Mayfield confesses that he rushed back to work after his daughter was born because of his “own insecurities.” But this CEO decided to do something about it – he offered all his staff 16 weeks of equitable paid parental leave, which can be taken any time within the first year. Thanks for changing the world@harrys!