Valencia's 'Men for Equality' movement. An assessment of some of its protagonists

In: Debats. Revista de cultura, poder i societat, Band 4, S. 171-188

Abstract

The Men for Equality movement [El movimiento de hombres por la igualdad - HPLI], although a fairly recent phenomenon, already has a forty year track record in Valencia. The movement has had its high and low points. After the trail blazed by protagonists in Valencian society, a period of consolidation followed in which those who came after them kept the movement going. A qualitative study carried out by the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology records the impressions of those men who kept the movement alive between 1975 and 2018 despite the odds at the outset. These voices are analysed within frameworks for interpreting movements. As a social movement, Men for Equality developed new codes of behaviour and meaning. The resultsreveal the need – now greater than ever – of a paradigm shift in masculinity in Spain and Valencia.