9th Women Congress in Brussels

Man, male courage, male bravery, and finally, masculinity – these words have been with us for centuries. Traditionally, they have been associated with strength and power. But what more is hidden behind those concepts?

Masculinities and other bonds – this is the revolutionary title of the 9th Congress of Women in Brussels. Trump’s march on the White House, Putin, and in Poland – the Confederation: growing right-wing parties show that male identity can be manipulated for political purposes. Masculinity functions as a norm for assessing the world, thinking, politics, as the “eternal order”. Today, the category of “masculinity” has become the basic interpretation of populisms (Trumpism, Putinism, the incel movement and male supremacy).

At the Congress, however, we want to look at a different masculinity: open to change, to relationships, peripheral masculinity, sensitive, being recreated, leading to a rethinking of the social pact of gender difference and patterns of coexistence. Let’s talk about what is male domination, what does it mean to believe that being a man is a privilege? Let’s reverse our thinking: let the right to weakness and fragility be a privilege! What are new ways of seeing and creating masculinities?

We will also focus on boys: how to raise them? In the discourse of emancipation and empowerment of women and marginalized groups, boys and men are forgotten. What’s more, in the narrative about patriarchy, they, as men, are often blamed for it. And the reality is more and more complicated: some become radicalized or feel excluded. How can we remain sensitive to the system’s discrimination and not reproduce it again?

In times of political fundamentalisms and war rhetoric, also referring to the cult of strong masculinity, let us speak loudly about the fact that boys and men have the right to be sensitive, affectionate, to live a full existence without the eternal race of alpha males. Therefore, with arms open for change, we are waiting for you to talk together about sadness, joy, pleasure, burnout, family roles, lack of willingness to enter the rat race, soft skills and professions, caring.

Join us on 9th of December from 9h30 a.m. in K-1 KANAL-Centre Pompidou, 1. Avenue du Port, 1000 Bruxelles

Panels, Cafe Forum, talks, confessions, bookstore, fair and at the end, theater performance “Men’s talk” directed by Katarzyna Warnke who will also be present.

Full programme can be consulted here.

The list of speakers can be found here.