Why Gender Equality Is Good for Everyone — Men Included | Michael Kimmel | TED Talks

Summary

Michael Kimmel argues that achieving gender equality requires recruiting men—not because gender equality is “about men,” but because men’s privileges, identities, and expectations shape whether equality policies and norms take hold. He frames gender equality as a win-win: it benefits women, children, workplaces, and countries, including men.

Kimmel explains how he developed this perspective as a graduate student. While studying feminist theory with a group that was mostly women, he observed a conversation between a white woman and a Black woman about oppression and “sisterhood.” The Black woman challenged the white woman’s assumptions by pointing out that race is invisible to those who have privilege—captured in the idea that “privilege is invisible to those who have it.” Kimmel says this helped him see how people in dominant positions may experience themselves as “generic,” seeing issues as “about others” rather than connected to their own embedded advantages.

He then offers a classroom example to show how “objectivity” can be gendered. When he (a man) presents sociology of gender, students treat his claims as “objective” or “unbiased.” When his female colleague presents the same ideas, students interpret them as inherently biased (“You’re a woman. You’re biased”). For Kimmel, this illustrates how gender inequality can be maintained through assumptions about who counts as neutral and credible.

Barriers to engaging men

Kimmel outlines several obstacles to men’s engagement with gender equality:

• Premature self-congratulation: Some men respond with immediate moral justification or performative support—claiming credit, offering “mansplaining,” or otherwise not listening to women’s lived experiences.
• Active resistance through grievance narratives: Others resist equality by portraying it as harmful to men, often through stories of reverse discrimination and entitlement (for example, his experience with “angry white men” arguing that “a Black woman stole my job”). A key issue, he argues, is the grievance depends on the word “my”—i.e., an assumption that the job should have belonged to them.

Kimmel also argues that resistance often comes from seeing equality efforts as a tilt away from a supposedly level playing field. In response, he claims that white men in Europe and the U.S. have historically benefited from a privileged advantage—joking that the “single greatest affirmative action program” is “the history of the world.”

Why gender equality is in men’s interests

To make the case that gender equality aligns with men’s interests, Kimmel cites outcomes associated with higher gender equality:

• Countries: More gender-equal societies score higher on happiness.
• Companies/workplaces: More gender-equal firms tend to have better outcomes, including higher productivity, retention, satisfaction, recruiting success, and lower turnover/attrition. He also counters the “expense” argument by emphasizing that inequality is already costly.
• Men and families: Young men increasingly want relationships that support parenting and dual-career partnership expectations, and Kimmel argues gender equality aligns with those desires.

Evidence from egalitarian relationships

Kimmel discusses research indicating that more egalitarian relationships benefit everyone. He proposes shifting from “pitch in and help out” to “share” household labor and childcare. When men share responsibilities, research finds:

• Children do better academically and behaviorally (e.g., attendance and achievement improve; ADHD-related diagnoses/medication usage are lower).
• Wives are happier and healthier, including lower depression diagnosis/treatment rates and higher relationship satisfaction.
• Men are healthier, with less smoking/drinking/drug use, fewer emergency visits, and more routine healthcare.
• And—famously as a humorous punchline—there may be more sexual intimacy.

Conclusion

Overall, Kimmel concludes that society cannot fully empower women and girls without engaging boys and men. He ends with a historical quotation:

“Feminism will make it possible… for men to be free.”

His central message is that gender equality is not zero-sum; it is a win-win for everyone.

Presenters or Contributors

• Michael Kimmel (speaker; TED Talk presenter)