redefining masculinity
It’s time to scrape off the thick dark crusts of carelessly slapped-on murky hues of toxic masculinities and to bring out the brushes and the paints to paint masculinities in their true and glorious colours of life, freedom and love.
…we must also address men’s relationships with their spouses, other men, women and children in the community, and importantly, their own emotional selves to transform fatherhood. Therefore, engaging with men as fathers must involve a holistic understanding of their socialisation, emotional world, and position within patriarchal structures.
He didn’t wear his identity on his sleeve, and therefore he seemed more real than most people who did.
किशोरावस्था के दौरान जब हम अपनी यौनिकता से रूबरू हो रहे होते हैं, तब सामाजिक तौर पर हमे बताया गया जेंडर ही निर्धारित करता है कि हम अपनी पहचान कैसे बना रहे हैं जो ज़्यादातर मामलों में हमारी पूरी ज़िन्दगी को प्रभावित करती है।
Men perform an identity that they don’t fully understand. The pressure to appear strong while feeling the full range of emotions that they cannot express creates a hollow inside, creates a quiet dissonance, a loneliness that is rarely spoken of but deeply felt.
Masculinity is like a script given to boys early in their lives. There is a constant pressure to fit into the box of toughness, and be silent and dominating. But what if we all rewrite this script?
Being a man isn’t about domination, and it definitely isn’t about subjugation of feminine people. We need to find a way to re-frame masculinity so that it isn’t diametrically opposed to respectful and equal gender relations.