Masculinity and Challenges for Women in Indian Culture

Construction of masculinity in India has been approached and studied from a variety of feminist perspectives. The feminist perspective focused on the discourse and gained much greater momentum during the pre-colonial and colonial periods. During the pre-independence era, the status of women in the areas of productive, reproductive, sexual health, mobility, and economic resources deteriorated to great extent owing to intense patriarchal oppression. Now in the post-colonial period sex-determination tests leading to the massacre of female fetuses, declining sex-ratio are unfavourable to women. Rapidly changing sex-ratios and increasing evidence of violence against women are the strong pointers that have justified the scrutiny of gender framework that defines how masculinities are constructed and manifested. Women behave in self-limiting ways not because they are socialized as females but because they are locked into a lack of decision-making power, invisibility, multiple roles in the gender injustice society. This article stresses the need for sustained efforts to increase the involvement of both men and women to remove socio-cultural barriers, stereotypical attitudes, and violence against women for creating a gender-balanced society