“You are Married by the Woman”: Divergent Understandings of Men’s Support for Women’s Empowerment in Northwestern Tanzania

Engaging men in women’s empowerment is a global priority, yet there is still limited understanding of how men’s support for women’s empowerment is conceptualized across diverse demographic groups, particularly within communities undergoing change. This gap is especially critical in rural-urbanizing contexts, representative of many contemporary Global South settings, where individuals navigate tensions between respecting tradition while responding to novel social transformations. Using focus groups and interviews, this study examines how men’s support for women’s empowerment is conceptualized among young men, women, and elders in a fast-urbanizing Tanzanian community. Participants frequently noted supporting women’s employment and opposing intimate partner violence as markers of support, yet broader understandings diverged significantly by age and gender. Younger participants voiced transformative notions of empowerment, challenging traditional norms, and advocating for women’s empowerment in ways that disrupt age hierarchies, including educating elders. In contrast, elders framed support within boundaries that preserved male authority, while women prioritized practical forms of support over men’s more abstract, rights-based rhetoric. A particularly striking finding was the disconnect between young men’s vocal support for women’s empowerment and their limited actions to enact such support in daily life. These generational and gendered differences reflect participants’ varied priorities, exposures, and experiences, and offer insights into how gender roles are renegotiated in urbanizing communities.