A report on the crisis of masculinity that has gripped the world today.

1. Aritrika Das | Culture & Communication Assignment | March 9, 2014
Crisis of Masculinity
A VIEW OF THE CONTEMPORARY DISCOURSE

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Introduction
The conversation about gender politics in the past 20 years has mainly been centered on the changes that have been sought and gained for the social status of women. Through all the the debates and discussions, we might have thrust the male population into a crisis. The changes problematize their understanding of the society as well as their standing in relation to the other gender.
Gender as a social construct
The crisis that we see today has been in making for a very long time. To completely understand where the problem stems from, we have to understand that gender, in essence, is a social construct. The biological differences of sexes has no bearing on the inequalities and differences between the genders. If we survey the different cultures of the world, we see that there exists variability of the roles of men and women across cultures and this variability of roles and relations across societies is evidence of gender being a crude biologically deterministic view. The idea that gender is a social construct is further solidified by the fact that the expression of gender is marked more by institutions than individuals.
Patriarchy and masculinity
Most of the societies in the world have been patriarchal in nature. Engles provided a systematic explanation of how male privilege is perpetrated, in his work on family. Patriarchy, which suggests ‘rule by the father’, has been demonstrated as a structure where men perpetuate dominance over women by adorning the role of the father and exercising power over the women in economic as well as social terms.
According to Raewyn Connell, men’s understanding of masculinity is not only aligned in relation to women but also in relation to men of other caste, race, religion or disability. With the theory of hegemonic masculinity , she states that some men guarantee and safeguard their positions of power by adhering to certain constructions of gender.
In the economic scenario, women no longer face direct legislative barriers to succeed. However, there still exists informal barriers through how men behave at workplaces. Inequalities in societies continue because of the way our culture seems to legitimize men’s everyday behavior and the fact that we unconsciously oblige with a lot of things that should be contested.
The movement of women empowerment
The naturalization of gender in society has universally led to the subjugation of women. Years of torment and being treated as inferior led women to rally for their rights. Years of struggle that started in the late 19th century in the western

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world, we have traversed many roadblocks and have reached the third wave of feminism where we are campaigning for increased power of women in politics.
Social constructs of being a man
Ages of popular culture have reinforced in us the understanding of being a man. A man is supposed to be strong, undaunted in the face of fear, not good at expressing their feelings, among other things. The idea of masculinity is emphasized by emotional detachment and stoicism and is unfair to those who do not fit into these boundaries. It seems that the concept of patriarchy and what it means to be a man is as unfair to a male as it is to a female. It depends on the institutions, rather than on individuals. Women have had a lot of time to think and talk about where they want to be in society, but that platform does not seem to exist for men.
However, it is not fair to only paint a picture of men being victimized by patriarchy and masculinity. The apparent insecurity of some men also stems from their privileged positions that they feel are essential to their existence.
The crisis of masculinity
According to the theory of crisis of masculinity, men are becoming increasingly apprehensive and insecure about the strides made by women into what they consider their territory. The contradictions between the old ideals of masculinity and the actual social position of men in relation to women is said to result in a “potent patriarchal hangover”. (Lemon, 1995) The crisis of masculinity, however does not take into consideration that all men have not resorted to violence as a response to the equality agenda of recent times. Conforming to certain ideas about the natural behavior of people on the basis that men and women are mutually exclusive categories affects not only women but also leads to a feeling of alienation amongst many men.
“There is a time in a boy’s life when the sweetness is pounded out of him; and tenderness, and the ability to show what he feels, is gone” – Norah Vincent
Men are denied the right to be open about their emotions. The emotional skills of boys are not developed but subdued and this leads the boy to struggle if he is faced with mental health problems or emotional trauma. Not all men are born into the confines of what masculinity dictates. The ones that can not conform to the set rules are deemed unworthy of being men. Masculinity has long been forced on men. It is not true that men are all emotionally detached and stoic in their disposition. The ones that are have it easy, but the ones that are not, face dire emotional stress throughout their lives trying to keep their masks on.

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Moreover, on another end of the spectrum, men have started to think that they have been handed the short end of the stick as women are gradually gaining economic and political power and influence. Men have still not been able to comprehend and internalize the concept of a woman as an equal. Ironically, even those who champion women’s rights continue to refer to women as vulnerable and feel a need to be protectionist in their tone.
The Indian Context
India has been witness to a horrifying list of crimes against women in the recent past. It is important to question the reasons for such heinous crimes to surface and at such alarming regularity. What is it that makes men turn into monsters who and we need to address how we as a society are responsible for producing such tremendous levels of violence against women, which is happening so much that it is increasingly being tolerated and even normalized.
It seems that as women enter the realms of the workforce and the public sphere, their confidence is leading to insecurities in men who are used to being in charge. Atrocious crimes are being committed by men on women who are just going about in their normal lives. It is time people started questioning.
When we are exposed to something for a considerable perios, we start rationalizing and normalizing the situation. Growing up, I have been subject to innumerable cases of street molestation, eve teasing and have been the targets of many a street Romeo. With time, I normalized it in my head and made peace with it. Mine is no isolated story. This I am sure has happened to thousands of women like me and at the end of the day we consider ourselves lucky to not have been subject to rape or severe molestation. It took a Nirbhaya case to make us sit up and take notice, and take notice we did.
I will be interning in Gurgaon this summer and the only thought that is in my head is to avoid getting raped. How is this representation of a progressive society? How is this a society where women have rights? It is pertinent that we question what is going wrong with our men rather than tailor our habits to try and be safe.
What I think is required for our society, is not protection of our women, but education of our men. The feeling of entitlement that young men are being bred with by their parents and popular culture has to change. It is important for parents to raise sons without a sense of superiority and privilege over women which lead them to feel a sense of entitlement over them.
Not all men are like this. There are decent men who empathize and are equally disgusted with what is happening. But then, there are also those who while outwardly are politically correct and respect women, cling to the ideals of patriarchy. These are the people who need to be educated and sensitized.

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Stricter laws will not work unless they are implemented. Law reforms have been taking place but they donot seem to have slowed down the levels of violence. I believe it is up to the parents to instill in their children in a way so that they can handle women’s equality in a way that does not threaten them. We need to have more discussions about how to move forward as a society.
We cannot just look at punishing the men who do it, because it is not only women who are suffering because of the crisis of masculinity. We need to safeguard our men too, and progress as a society. If the changing scopes of men and women in society mean the end of gender composition as we know it, so be it.
Works Cited
Lemon, J. (1995). Masculinity in Crisis? 61-71.