The various facets of masculinity in India
3 years, 9 months ago

The various facets of masculinity in India

Live Mint  

As a child, Dr Deepa Narayan remembers her father’s looming presence at home. “We empower women by working around men as we feel the men don’t want to change or cannot change,” says Narayan, former senior advisor in the Poverty Reduction Group of the World Bank, in her new podcast ‘What’s A Man?, Masculinity in India’. Spread across 10 episodes, the US-based psychologist and anthropologist tries to understand what men are dealing in terms of their perception and society’s expectations of being a man. Some of the guests include banker turned author Amish Tripathi, drag queen and actor Sushant Digvikar, comedians Neville Shah and Abish Mathew, psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, Godrej Culture Lab founder Parmesh Shahni, retired army general HS Panag, Universal Music Group’s Devraj Sanyal. “Look at the men’s image portrayed in media and popular culture; the man’s tall, handsome, and muscular.

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History of this topic

Transforming ‘men’-talities, redefining masculinity
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Transforming ‘men’-talities, redefining masculinity

The Hindu  

As another International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women passes by, we face a stark truth: despite decades of advocacy, nearly one in three women worldwide has endured violence at the hands of men. An India report UNESCO’s Transforming MENtalities initiative has aimed to shift the way men engage with gender issues — not just as allies but …

Review: Making the ‘Woman’ by Sutapa Dutta and Shivangini Tandon
8 months, 1 week ago

Review: Making the ‘Woman’ by Sutapa Dutta and Shivangini Tandon

Hindustan Times  

Discussions on gender often trigger an intense debate about whether it is tied to biology or is a social construct. {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} 240pp, ₹1295; Routledge It assumes even greater importance as gender has been central to India’s experience of alien rule and cultural subjugation. {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^usCountry}} {{/usCountry}} All this is skillfully articulated in Making the …

Review: Making the ‘Woman’ by Sutapa Dutta and Shivangini Tandon
8 months, 1 week ago

Review: Making the ‘Woman’ by Sutapa Dutta and Shivangini Tandon

Hindustan Times  

Discussions on gender often trigger an intense debate about whether it is tied to biology or is a social construct. At the outset, the editors state: “This collection critically examines and questions the notions and formations of women and gender binaries which have been historically shaped by multiple and competing actors, practices, institutions and discourses in 18th and 19th century …

The delicate balance of gender roles
1 year ago

The delicate balance of gender roles

New Indian Express  

I smile and, when the occasion permits, share that it is indeed the oldest tradition of India you are keeping alive. I assume the tradition of changing the name happened in the last 100 years or so, when we adopted the western style of addressing married women. If you check your family records with traditional pundits, you will find that …

A note on the issue: The anxiety of the Indian male
1 year ago

A note on the issue: The anxiety of the Indian male

Live Mint  

A couple of weeks ago, I read Neha J. Hiranandani’s iParent: Embracing Parenting In The Digital Age in which she makes the very pertinent, and somewhat frightening, observation that for a whole generation, the first experience of love, romance, sex and heartbreak is entirely online. We recently did stories about dating app burnout fuelled by the anxiety to find a …

Toxic masculinity could be making Indian men feel lonely
2 years, 5 months ago

Toxic masculinity could be making Indian men feel lonely

Live Mint  

For decades, the ‘angry young man’ trope has been glorified to describe the sort of hulking masculinity that ‘real men’ had to aspire to. In Anubhuti Kashyap’s recent film Doctor G, the character of Dr Uday Gupta played by Ayushmann Khurrana says, “humare mohalle me ladke cricket khelte hain aur ladkiyan badminton”. She adds that men are “not taught to …

Redefining masculinity: The dark side of Darlings
2 years, 7 months ago

Redefining masculinity: The dark side of Darlings

Hindustan Times  

In its opening weekend, it had the highest global opening for a non-English Indian film, with audiences spending more than 10 million hours watching it, according to a statement released by Netflix to the BBC. The film has been appreciated, as viewership suggests, but some working in violence against women and domestic violence have been critical of it, suggesting that …

A new book on how Indian men do relationships post #MeToo
3 years, 4 months ago

A new book on how Indian men do relationships post #MeToo

Live Mint  

Dear Men: Masculinity and Modern Love in #MeToo India, shows how Indian men across ages navigate romantic relationships in a country that is still teetering on the cusp of modern and traditional. "In post-#MeToo India, where the magnifying lens is on men's behaviour towards women, I hope this book will shed some light on how men navigate this new landscape, …

Gender equality: Why we must involve men
3 years, 5 months ago

Gender equality: Why we must involve men

Hindustan Times  

The National Commission for Women recorded 19,953 complaints of abuse from women from January to August 2021, as opposed to 13,618 for the same period last year. Some of these are under the umbrella of Forum to Engage Men, and include Men’s Action for Stopping Violence against Women, Bapanchi Shala, Men’s Action for Equity, and FEM-Jharkhand. Ravi Verma, director of …

Is rethinking masculinity the key to gender equality in India?
4 years ago

Is rethinking masculinity the key to gender equality in India?

Al Jazeera  

On Monday, March 8 at 19:30GMT: A new Indian series, What’s a Man? Host Deepa Narayan says behavioural change among men is key to achieving a gender-equal world, but believes they are rarely engaged in strategic and compassionate conversations that help reshape the world around them. Narayan says that by focusing on gender traits in the binary, men are forced …

A project to bring feminism to Indian men
4 years, 1 month ago

A project to bring feminism to Indian men

Live Mint  

It’s not every day that an engineer decides to take a break from a successful career in San Francisco; but Rajat Mittal is on a unique path. I’ve seen things like that in my grandfather’s house with extended relatives.” After getting a Master’s degree in Arts, Media and Engineering from Arizona State University in 2009, Mittal worked as an web …

India’s long history with genderless clothing
4 years, 3 months ago

India’s long history with genderless clothing

Live Mint  

When Harry Styles graced the cover of US Vogue’s December edition in a gown and a tuxedo jacket, it reflected a shift in conversation around masculinity and depicted gender non-conformism. Jaywalking features patchwork trousers, multi-pocket jackets, flared pants and co-ord sets for “the people who aren’t scared to cross the line and prove a point.” HOS’ “street ghetto” sensibility includes …

India’s long history with genderless clothing
4 years, 3 months ago

India’s long history with genderless clothing

Live Mint  

When Harry Styles graced the cover of US Vogue’s December edition in a gown and a tuxedo jacket, it reflected a shift in conversation around masculinity and depicted gender non-conformism. Jaywalking features patchwork trousers, multi-pocket jackets, flared pants and co-ord sets for “the people who aren’t scared to cross the line and prove a point.” HOS’ “street ghetto” sensibility includes …

Support BLM Movement, But What About Patriarchy & Colourism Here?
4 years, 8 months ago

Support BLM Movement, But What About Patriarchy & Colourism Here?

The Quint  

Women’s bodies and the idea of beauty have always been a site of contention due to the East’s rendering of “culturally pure” image and the West’s colonialism and capitalism. While many shall put the blame on colonisers for breeding this racial superiority complex in Indians – including the British, Dutch, Portugese, Mughals, Afghans, and so on – there is enough …

India’s culture of toxic masculinity
5 years, 7 months ago

India’s culture of toxic masculinity

The Hindu  

Three images of social violence have haunted me recently. I am reminded of a Latin American friend who told me that he loved the drama and action in Hindi films but, confronted with the hero’s androgynous features, was perplexed: “Why do they cry so easily?” Relatedly, it is uncharacteristic of men to adopt the point of view of others, show …

The making of toxic Hindu masculinity
6 years ago

The making of toxic Hindu masculinity

Firstpost  

The threat to an imagined ancient Hindu manhood is sought to be countered through a variety of modern symbols: Hanuman is now a brawny, scowling figure and a six-pack Shiva marshals his trishul like a laser gun The villages and towns of western Uttar Pradesh are unique contexts for erratic playing out of north Indian masculine culture. While it is …

The terror of masculinity: Abuse of power to show manliness
6 years, 7 months ago

The terror of masculinity: Abuse of power to show manliness

Deccan Chronicle  

The Indian perspective of ‘ideological masculinity’ is shaped and influenced by descriptions written as “what a man should be” or “what is perceived as manliness” in the scripts of Manu centuries ago. Perpetrators of violence against women in India, whether happening within the four walls of homes or at public places, at workplaces or in social media circles, are strong …

Autohead director Rohit Mittal: The human race's definition of masculinity is scary
8 years, 2 months ago

Autohead director Rohit Mittal: The human race's definition of masculinity is scary

Firstpost  

Rohit Mittal, the director of the film Autohead, which was released on Netflix on new year’s eve and has been gathering good reviews, talks about his inspiration, class and poverty ridden conflicts in India, and why he felt he needed to mock the camera itself. Rohit Mittal, the director of the film Autohead, which was released on Netflix on New …

For the women of India, Parliament must speak
12 years ago

For the women of India, Parliament must speak

The Hindu  

A brave young woman died a brutal death in the heart of the nation’s capital. But even as the Standing Committee was considering its response, it was overtaken by events — the brutal gang-rape of the young woman on December 16, 2012, the constitution of the JVC on December 23, 2012, the quick submission of its report on January 23, …

Taking the aggression out of masculinity
12 years, 2 months ago

Taking the aggression out of masculinity

The Hindu  

Sexual crimes derive from social attitudes and no serious effort at lessening their occurrence can ever depend upon cosmetic measures such as greater policing and calls for the death penalty. So, for example, the idea of “men’s work” and “women’s work” relates to social structure whereas the ways in which men speak, behave, gesture, and interact with other men reflect …

Rape and the crisis of Indian masculinity
12 years, 3 months ago

Rape and the crisis of Indian masculinity

The Hindu  

Even as the world remains shocked and horrified by the gunning down of 20 little children in Newtown, Connecticut, we need to turn some of that shock and horror toward our own selves. Sense of displacement We need to inquire why young Indian men are routinely committing gang rapes in metropolitan cities against women who are just going about their …

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