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Men’s Perspective on Gender Equality Issues in the 1960s

Abstract

Finnish public debate on gender equality has typically focused on issues related to women’s status. In this article I argue that in the 1960s issues regarding men's gender roles were widely debated in the Finnish print media and that men themselves were active in this debate too. Among the periodicals analysed for this article, the women’s magazine Me Naiset actively promoted the aims of Yhdistys 9 and advocated for the liberation of men from their traditional gender roles. Uusi Maailma criticised the contemporary sex role debate for neglecting men's problems and positioned itself as a critic of Yhdistys 9.However, Uusi Maailma also featured a number of articles advocating for the reform of men’s gender roles, particularly their role as parents.