BEING A MAN!

-
"Toughen up"!

"Why don't you grow a pair?"

We have million different ways of telling men that to actually "Be Men". 

But where does this idea come from?

By the '70s as people became dillusioned with the corruption of the Indian government, this tough guy trope was reinforced as the angry young man who was fighting an unfair system in movies.


While romantic heroes did represent more sensitive masculinity in the 90s and early 2000s. 



Box office numbers have shown that the biggest hits throughout the years have still been the dishoom-dishoom action flicks.


In our everyday lives the pressure on men to be tough starts as early as school and college, when boys are encouraged to become physically tough with sports and other outdoor activities, and society reinforces what it means to behave "Manly".

For instance, studies have shown that men are perceived to be of a lower status or less competent if they express emotions such as sadness, display vulnerability, or ask for help. 

Psychologists link this social conditioning to vent out anger, displays of violence, depression, and even higher rates of suicide among them. 

so if this notion of being a mard causes so munch dard, why do we hold on to it so tightly?
It's time we stop viewing "Tough Men" as superior and rethink what toughness itself means!

     "Going through childbirth is tough"

      "Standing up to a family that rejects your  sexuality is tough"
    "It's tough to do paid work for the sake of supporting family" 

    "But it's equally tough to do unpaid work that goes unacknowledged"

So let's not assume there's only one way to be tough or strong or the pillar of the support for a community. Instead, it might be healthier to admit that strength appears in various ways. And the strongest among us are those who accept that diversity and don't define strength as per gender stereotypes.

-sravani

            "Break the gender stereotypes"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Childhood Trauma

-
Childhood. A beautiful word that draws up images of innocence, tons of happiness, and lots of curiosity. Childhood is a phase of security. It's a feeling of being protected and loved by your family that gives solid and safe relationships later in life. However, the reality of many children experiences and the effect on the rest of their lives is in stark contrast to this idealized expectation. According to the national institute of mental health, childhood trauma is defined as the "Experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, which often results in lasting mental health and physical effects."  Learning how to understand, process, and get along with difficulties, even tragedies is a natural part of a child's development process. But sometimes children get stuck. An experience or repeated experiences may leave a child with an overwhelming sense of fear and loss, making them feel that they have no safety and control over their lives. For ...
Read more

NO PERFECT BODY!

-
Image
In ancient times, women's large bodies were idealized for their childbearing propensity. In the mid-18 century, as food ceased to be a scarce commodity, this association of fat with prosperity waned. At the same time, a growing fascination with classical antiquity made slimmer Greek and roman bodies the ideal European society. In post-world war Europe and America, psychologists perpetuated ideas of overweight women emotionally being disturbed and maladjusted, and thinness became synonymous with women's attractiveness and emotional health. In the Indian subcontinent, the notion of linking bodyweight with prosperity remained strong. Even in the 1960s when the scientific emphasis on obesity accelerated fatphobia in the west, Indian pop culture was idealized well into the 70s and 80s. But in the 90s something changed. As the global fashion industry standards made their mark on India, so did an emphasis on thinness. This only increased in the 2000s, as entire...
Read more