Intersectionality and the Substantive Representation of Marginalised Men

This paper explores representation at the intersection of gender and other identities, with a particular focus on men. Traditionally, the literature has focused on how women’s gender intersects with other marginalised identities. This focus is understandable; women are under-represented in almost all positions of power, and their disempowerment is strongly affected by intersectionality. A central tenet of intersectionality scholarship is that, within both dominant and marginalised groups, men have more power. For example, Crenshaw highlights how civil rights movements in the USA were focused on the needs of black men, to the exclusion of women of colour. Similarly, men often dominate within LGBT+ movements, trade unions, religious organisations etc. While male dominance within most marginalised groups means that the needs of men are often presented as the needs of all, there is limited consideration of how intersectionality affects men’s gendered interests. Scholarship on masculinities recognises the multi-faceted nature of male gender, and how men’s needs and interests vary intersectionally, but this scholarship is seldom incorporated into discussions of substantive representation. It is too often assumed that (all) men’s gendered representational needs are met due to men’s numerical over-representation within politics. Yet the vast majority of male politicians come from privileged groups whose performance, experience and understanding of male gender differs from minority men. Hence, men from marginalised social groups have gendered interests that go overlooked, because dominant men don’t share those interests, minority groups don’t consider the gendered dimension of those interests, and scholars of substantive representation don’t consider men to be an under-represented group. Complacency about the substantive representation of men actually compounds the under-representation of minority men’s gendered interests. Drawing on masculinities scholarship, this paper makes an important contribution to deepening our understanding of substantive representation and the heterogeneity of men’s interests.