Fear and loathing: Women need men to get ‘casual sexism’ – but they’ve been scared off: How Australia’s agencies, media and brands are trying to re-engage disengaged blokes (if we can call them that)

Men are scared and lost in the push for gender equality – they don’t even know if it’s okay to hold the door open any more. As a result, men are disengaging from the gender quality debate, progress is stuttering and women are worried. Hence a month ahead of International Women’s Day, an alliance of Australian publishers, agencies and brands are calling on men to “be the change-makers”. Otherwise women are “just talking to themselves” as their would-be allies – men - muzzle themselves for fear of saying the wrong thing. 10 ViacomCBS sales boss Rod Prosser is on board; Impact.com CEO Adam Furness openly admits to getting things wrong in the past – costing him his job at Southern Cross Austereo – and says forty-something white men like him “are the problem” and need to become part of the solution. Now industry gender initiative, Fck The Cupcakes, wants more men – and brands – to do the right thing, and are holding the door open for blokes to enter the room.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.