Go all out to combat toxic masculinity
IT’s been over a month since a trainee doctor was raped and murdered in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. An incident of this kind — and that too inside a government medical college — shocked the city or, for that matter, the entire West Bengal. Not surprisingly, a spontaneous social movement initiated by a spectrum of people — ranging from young doctors, students and ordinary men and women to the cultural elite — has shaken an otherwise ‘popular’ Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The tales of massive corruption and political networking in government medical colleges; the danger to the safety and dignity of trainee doctors; and the lack of trust in the state government as far as an impartial inquiry is concerned — yes, it is not easy for the Chief Minister to overcome this ‘legitimation crisis’.
I notice positive things in this movement: the determination of trainee doctors to fight for their case and the carnival of protest — the way ordinary citizens are coming to the street, occupying the public space even late at night and singing the songs of ‘justice’. Moreover, an attempt to rescue this people’s movement from the direct influence of mainstream political parties possibly indicates how ‘politics’ — particularly, the kind of politics professional politicians engage in — has acquired a bad connotation in our times.
However, the fact is that a movement of this kind will not last forever. The CBI will reveal its findings; the Supreme Court will give its judgment; the state government will try to negotiate with the doctors; the guilty will be punished; and some — including the CM — will continue to plea for capital punishment. And then, everything will be ‘normal’! Possibly, some of these young doctors who are protesting now will begin to prioritise more ‘earthly’ things, and eventually join corporate private hospitals, and sell ‘good health’ to their upper class clients as a commodity. And the cultural elite singing the songs of emancipation in the streets of Kolkata will come back to their own exclusivist spheres of work. And meanwhile, we will hear about yet another story of rape... Don’t forget that we have almost normalised sexual violence in our society. As per the annual National Crime Records Bureau report, between 2017 and 2022, a total of 1.89 lakh rape cases were reported in India. And in a class-divided, caste-centric society, who bothers about the victim if she is a Dalit woman, a domestic help, or even a schoolgirl in an unknown village? No social movement will take place; nobody will sing the songs of gender justice in the streets of Kolkata and Delhi.
In fact, if we wish to resist this rot, and try to move towards a sane society reasonably free from the virus of sexual violence, we need to take part in yet another movement — psychic, educational and cultural — to combat the pathology called toxic masculinity. Well, in our families, boys grow up with a belief that they have to be bold, hard and courageous. However, toxic masculinity has got nothing to do with life-affirming courage, confidence and inner strength. Instead, it is a form of sadistic pleasure in causing harm to others. It is devoid of empathy and care. It glorifies violence and promotes sexual aggression. As social psychologists would argue, it is “the constellation of socially regressive (masculine) traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia and wanton violence”. It is difficult to imagine rape — the ultimate form of objectification of a woman, or her reduction into a soulless toy of sexual pleasure — without the poison of toxic masculinity. It is important to realise that the psychology of toxic masculinity is often promoted and encouraged through the celebration of war, militarism, hyper-nationalism, vulgarly competitive ‘masculine’ sports and divisive communalism. Yes, it is a fact that sexual violence has often been used as a weapon in conflicts to humiliate, subjugate and terrorise people throughout history. To take an illustration, as many research findings indicate, between 200,000 and 400,000 women were sexually assaulted by Pakistani soldiers during the Bangladesh Liberation Movement. And a penetrating look at the Partition and the resultant communal hatred would reveal that women were sexually assaulted on both sides of the border.
Likewise, the prevalent culture industry is not altogether free from misogynic traits. The widespread dissemination of porn literature, the objectification of women, and the celebration of brute masculinity intoxicated with the desire for instantaneous sexual pleasure — yes, there are multiple reasons for the continuous degradation and humiliation of women. It is, therefore, not surprising that a film like Animal was one of the highest-grossing Hindi movies of 2023, even though it was heavily criticised for its misogyny and portrayal of toxic masculinity and extreme violence. Or, for that matter, it is not impossible to see noisy youngsters — even in our colleges and universities — dancing to the repulsive song Main hoon balatkari.
Indeed, combating the perversion of toxic masculinity is not an easy task. It requires a sustained movement — possibly, a silent movement in our schools and families. For promoting this movement, we need a radical practice of socialisation and education. We must give up the idea that ‘boys will be boys’. Instead, boys ought to learn and internalise what an aggressive/patriarchal society tends to devalue as ‘feminine’ or even ‘effeminate’ qualities — empathy and the ethic of care, or sensitivity and kindness. Likewise, from early childhood, let girls begin to learn that they are not passive ‘dolls’; instead, they are physically strong, courageous and capable of shaping their life trajectories. Only then is it possible to think of gender equity and real justice.
Are we ready?
