Barbershop

Progress towards gender equality is held back by unequal power relations between women and men. Overcoming this barrier requires not only laws and policies but also a change in attitudes and behaviors. Men need to engage other men in finding solutions.

The Barbershop concept looks at innovative ways for men to mobilize and motivate other men to address discriminatory stereotypes of masculinity. It identifies ways for men to talk about gender equality in comfortable and safe environment, and addresses how male leaders can drive this dialogue forward.

The Barbershop is about rallying men and boys to commit to upholding gender equality and change the discourse among their peers to build a momentum for gender equality. It enlists its attendees to move away from a discourse loaded with negative gender stereotypes and expectations. Through their own behavior, men can work toward the positive transformation of social norms, examine the role of men as change agents on gender equality who take responsibility for their actions and encourage other men to join in. This will help stimulate a grassroots dialogue between/among men and build on the progress made by recent movements such as the HeForShe campaign.

Iceland has developed a Barbershop Toolbox to enable others to mobilize the men around them for gender equality. The Toolbox is part of Iceland's commitments to the HeForShe movement and can be accessed on their website.

Barbershop logos and style guides can be found further below on the page

The first Barbershop toolbox was developed in Iceland in 2016 and has been widely used around the world with the aim to mobilise men for gender equality. In 2018, Malawi was chosen as the first country in Africa to launch the Barbershop toolbox. Barbershop events took place in Lilongwe and Mangochi District.

Below is a Malawian adaptation of the Barbershop toolbox. It was translated and localised by Dr Zindaba Wa Chisiza and Brother2Brother (B2B) in 2021. The toolbox is used to actively engage men and boys to tackle social norms that may fuel gender-based violence and mobilize men to become agents of change in their society and work towards gender equality.