MEN EMPOWERMENT: time for revolution?

“International Men’s Day” A stunner which leaves most of us with thinking whether such a day exists! True to its words incidentally it exists and where some are elated others are astound and many bewildered. “Men-hood”, they deserve a thanksgiving day who exist for the existence of society and establish peace and harmony. Relentless services men offers in their lifetime, recognize the die hard efforts of selfless contributions made by them. It’s a reminisce of men’s rights which is inconspicuous. This is also to highlight society of its responsibilities towards men being abdicated. We say men exist because of Women but women exist because she is nourished by men in essence both are correlated and cannot be separated; that’s what Gender equality taught us but it refrains me seeing gender equality is usually associated only with women! Isn’t it?

Today’s whole article is not only humanity centred but also Male oriented. Here, some of the dear readers would think that why am I too much into this topic so let me introduce what makes me write this. Recent case of Sushant Singh Rajput Sir’s case, a girl committed acid attack on a teenage boy, guys suffering mental trauma, young boys and adults with lots of ambitions ahead enacting suicide. A popular canard “men cannot be violated” and even if it’s assumed to be true it rarely happens. This theory is strongly imbibed in the society that voice of male victim is largely ignored. Indian Society has undergone serious metamorphosis. The male role is often maligned in the garb of patriarchy has left male issues subject to denial. The sensitization on female issues has government backing in edifying the society. Discomfiture of men is left unheard.

A serious question arises is “Do men need empowerment? Any failure of a relationship or professional life mortifies men. They are dumbfounded to be credited of this ignominy. India with a population of 65 crore men rescinds that men cannot face “cruelty. The exodus of male suicide is obstreperous leaving suicide note every 6 min in the nation. Married men’s progression to suicide has been exponential in past decade and has grossed to a whopping rate of a suicide every 8 min. The essence of bias in lawmakers takes a preposterous assumption that man alone is responsible for the fragmenting family values. “Cruelty by husband on wife” defines highly misused law of IPC. Under similar circumstances it doesn’t seem to be the case the other way round if the same repertoire is performed by opposite sex. More than 2 lakh innocent men are thrown behind bars each year. The denial of domestic violence on men is another feather in the cap. Where a a felony for men appears to a be a misdemeanour. The canard falls flat in the weighing scale of judiciary however innocent are victimized.

According to a survey all have tagged men as they’re already empowered, Well, let me peep deeper into them are all of them really strong enough to go through all the hurdles, suppress their thoughts and sustain whatever comes their way? Not necessarily. Men are termed to be stronger than women but not strongest among all! Very often we state that we need everyone on board in order to be able to achieve gender equality. However, I was questioning myself why do men hesitate to talk about this issue and join the cause? Is that because we think they’re empowered, and in fact they’re not, or it is just misconception of mine? We somehow claim that men have it all, thus they are powerful. But than, if they are powerful and empowered why don’t they solve the century-long problem of gender equality? What are they afraid of? Might you all agree but some men would pretend that they don’t because they have to maintain their profile of so called “powerful and strong”

To be very transparent about ethics that no human can reach the peak of perfection, I would elaborate further as every coin as two sides but at a time only 1 is visible although there are two possibilities illustrating with same example when a woman is violated by a man, than the man’s practise is illegal and vice versa and in this infringement often men are ignored when they’re the suspect but highlighted when they’re victim. Here where we make mistake is this that vandalize men’s assumptions about certain things. Like if you know certain thing won’t change so you would never tend to change your behaviour towards it, same way the society has created when men’s mentality that though they behave good or bad; society would still eradicate their feelings.

This is not an easy thing. Men are critically judged and assessed – by themselves, by their peers, by their elders and by most women themselves – based on the dominant ideals of manhood. And across many societies, this still means exercising control over women, being tough, being strong. It also means achieving something, as terms such as “man-up” suggest, and many men, including low-income men struggle with this societal expectation. If men can’t achieve and don’t conform to these societal expectations, they are often socially sanctioned, belittled or ridiculed. Challenging norms and behaviours is thus a collective challenge for men. It is also a challenge for women, who consciously or unconsciously often perpetuate these same social norms in the way they raise their sons or interact with men. This is logical even though it has not been the prevailing approach. Gender is a “system” and both women and men are integral parts of this system. If we want to see meaningful change, both men and women are implicated. It is not enough to enlighten and empower women and expect men to follow.

Small steps today would lead to better success tomorrow from where can we start? So dear big fellas! By taking into consideration the consequences lets practise these norms:

Men who are victims of violence: need to break their silence and seek help

Men who use violence: need to understand and try to have a word with someone who could help

Men who are silence spectators: need to speak out

Men who speak out: need to become agents of change

Men who are agents of change: need to continue to speak out and mobilize others for betterment.

We must continue to empower women. Women continue to face disadvantages in almost all spheres. But if we want a gender equitable society, empowering women is not enough. Furthermore, as mentioned prior women and men are co-related than why not say “Empower Women by Empowering Men” As we just celebrated International Women’s Day, let us continue to recognize women for all the advances and contributions they have made. But let us also ’empower women by empowering men’ and recognize that we need new approaches and huge efforts to achieve this objective.

The positive role of men as a family builder a pillar of society a protector and provider and his relentless services is subdued. India breeds 17.5% of the population worldwide one of the safest nation for women, although misrepresented otherwise. However, the bias in society as a whole has left Indian men to think it’s high time to empower the male fraternity to address the growing imbalance will obfuscate the position of men as a whole.

“Men’s right are human rights” and marginalization of men can be addressed with equal sensitivity if not less as women issues. A government initiative of men’s ministry is a decade old demand, however, apathy towards male issues has not benefited the cause. This International “Men’s day” let’s raise a pledge,

“Why not empower Men?”

Presented by Anushka Sharad