Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Gender non-specific
|
Are we becoming less of what our gender stereotypes demand?
|
Amelie Mauresmo's performance reflects male aggressiveness
Masculine women, feminine men, which is the rooster, which is the hen? It's hard to tell 'em apart today!
Sister is busy learning to shave, brother just got a permanent wave, girls were girls and boys were boys when I was a tot, Now we don't know who's who, even what's what!
Knickers and trousers, baggy and wide, nobody knows who's walking inside, those masculine women and feminine men!
THESE lyrics are not part of a crazy dream. It's part of a nightmare, actually, where all the women turned into men and all the men turned into women but here's the really scary part - they didn't turn completely into the opposite sex, only partially. It was like a melding of both sexes. Like a screwy experiment gone wrong conducted by a mad scientist - think Frankenstein.
Now here's the scariest part, you wake up and realise that it is really happening. Little by little the traditional traits we have come to associate with one sex or the other are disappearing. Men are becoming more feminised and women are becoming more masculine. Says Dr. Sudhakar Krishnamurthy, andrologist and WHO impotence expert. "Alteration in mindsets and prototypes are responsible for this change. Self-confidence has made women mentally aggressive something that was the prerogative of the male. And the predictable anti-thesis is the mentally emasculated male. He is no longer the macho cave man earning the bread. In an attitudinal reversal of social ergonomics, only maternity is a fact while paternity is merely a conception." "Our language reflects society's desire to do away with the male/female distinctions. It is politically incorrect to use nouns like chairman or steward. Gender neutral labels such as chairperson and flight attendants have taken their place," says Sarita a teacher and a mother of teenagers. "The feminist movement has attempted to make women more masculine, not more feminine. Women are dressing, talking and walking like men. They've been wearing sneakers and pants for so long that they have forgotten how to walk in high heels or sit like a lady."
Call of the androgynous
Our gender roles affect almost every aspect of our lives. If a man cries is he less masculine? If a woman tries to assert herself, is she less feminine? In India there is a consensus on the stereotyped roles for the average man or woman. Men are seen as having the competence traits, while women are seen as more expressive.
"The androgynous person has both masculine and feminine traits. They can be aggressive or yielding, as the particular situation requires. For example, when subjected to group pressure, androgynous women are more assertive and independent than feminine women. Likewise, androgynous men are more nurturing than masculine men. Stereotyped masculine men are typically unresponsive in situations that require sympathy. They believe that expressing feminine traits will make them seem like sissies or negate their macho image," says Teresa, a counsellor.
Men wearing ponytails and earrings are so commonplace as to be almost unnoticeable. Men are spending more time on their cosmetic appearance than ever before. Male body hair once acknowledged, as a desirable masculine trait is now considered ugly and unwanted. What used to be acceptable male pastimes; smoking, drinking, hunting, and going to war, are clearly out of favour in today's world. Now a guy jogs down to the local Coffee Day for a cafe latte. Adds Dr. Krishnamurthy, "Media casts these men with borderline syndromes as metrosexual males. It's one way to make money by making this condition a fashion fad."
Girls are encouraged to get into competitive sports much more than in the past. The ideal female body has changed from the soft curvaceous Marilyn Monroe archetype to a hard-bodied sinewy model with muscles aka the younger Ms. Williams. Prof. S. Bakhtiar Choudary senior consultant in sports medicine says, "Strength training for women initiates testosterone. Fall in levels in male teenagers coupled with obesity leads to gynaecomastia. Most women athletes end with up with facial hair and it's sad that some have to even resort to shaving."
Everyday clothing is pretty much the same for both sexes - jeans, T-shirts and tank tops. Men haven't yet started wearing lipstick and eye shadow in any great numbers (rock musicians don't count). Women haven't yet started wearing moustaches and beards. These things, too, shall come to pass.
DEEPA ALEXANDER
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
