The goal of Boyish is to highlight how gender norms can negatively impact boys and to open a discourse about masculinity in India.
This page includes a collection of my favorite articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on this topic. I’ve spent considerable time collecting this material and now, I’m excited to share it with you. I hope this page will help you spend more time learning and less time searching.
Thought provoking articles
- Talking to Boys the Way We Talk to Girls The manning up of boys begins way early than we imagine and this article shows how. The article also touches upon many other adjacent and very important points on our practices around raising boys.
- Boys can’t be boys. Here’s how to fix India’s toxic masculinity problem In this essay, Rohini Nilekani, an Indian writer and founder-chair of Akshara Foundation, asks that in all our work to empower young girls and women in India, have we missed an opportunity to include a key group (boys) who are reeling under there own crisis and whose fates are intertwined with women? This is one of the articles that motivated me to make Boyish.
- Is social pressure making men leave typically ‘female’ jobs? | World Economic Forum The factors leading to continuous exit of females from male dominated professions are well studied. They are even instructive to understand the reasons why men leave female-dominated occupations. However, they are not the same. Men often leave ‘feminine’ professions not because they face harassment from their female co-workers, but because of gender norms and expectations around stereotypically male attributes such as ambitiousness and economic leadership.
- Must monsters always be male? Huge gender bias revealed in children’s books | The Guardian A villain character in children’s books is eight times more likely to be a male than female. While this article is statistically for the US, it is indicative of similar issues in the context of India. Most of our movies in Bollywood show men in villain roles. I was shocked once again by how early these misconceptions around gender and masculinity start in the media that we consume.
- (Re)Making The Man: Masculinity In Hindi Cinema Of The 2010s A well researched article on how the portrayal of masculinity has changed in Hindi cinema over the first decade of this century. It provided me perspective on the changing definition of the hero or the leading man and gave me hope that we can change it yet again for the better.
Videos
- Why I'm done trying to be "man enough" | Justin Baldoni This is a popular talk, elevated by the platform TED. Justin speaks clearly and his personal story is what kept me hooked for the whole 18 minutes.
- Man Enough – Shaving Stereotypes | Gillette India ‘I did not want my dad to see my wounds because I was being a man.’ A short story beautifully shown in this advertisement by Gilette India.
- Toxic Masculinity In Boys Is Fueling An Epidemic Of Loneliness We are on the cusp of a mental epidemic in boys and as long as we keep defining masculinity as being emotionally sterile, we will not be able to avert this disaster.
- What Society Says To Men- Helly Shah | Spoken Word Poetry What a beautiful, striking poem by Helly Shah on men and how women can think about men in this new world. I am emboldened by her courage and creativity.
- Let's Talk About Toxic Masculinity Again | Breakthrough India A quick primer on the topic. Its straight talk and allowed me to pick up keywords to do my own research.
Interesting projects/initiatives
- How young Indian men are challenging toxic masculinity Interview of Harish Sadani, founder of MAVA – a non-profit organisation that works with men in India to challenge cultural assumptions about gender, and encourage them to stand up for women.
- How Learning Emotional Skills Can Help Boys Become Men - MindShift Ashanti Branch started the Ever Forward Club in Oakland, California when he realized that hurt feelings dont vanish on their own, they pile up like debt that eventually comes due. His club provides Boys a safe safe to express their emotions, which is something that their culture tells them that boys can’t do.
Join The Discourse
Boyish is a monthly essay series discussing how gender norms and stereotypes affect men in India 🇮🇳.