'People-work'

  The Examined Life of Masculinities  (First published https://www.tarshi.net/inplainspeak/the-examined-life-of-masculinities/)   The Man-Woman binary is now, thankfully, nearly dead. The 2019 guidance [1] from the American Psychological Association gives us the good news that minus stereotypes and expectations, there isn ’t much difference in the basic behaviours of men and women. Some studies [2] , have established that, for example, men enjoy caring for their children as much as women do. And a 2013 meta-analysis [3] has found that adolescent boys, for example, contrary to expectation, displayed fewer externalizing emotions such as anger than did adolescent girls.   Almost unwittingly, the man-woman binary has left behind a progeny that we are still getting to know – the dualism of the masculine and the feminine, characteristics of which, we now know, reside in each of us.   The masculine and the feminine have been in bed with each other’s powers...

The ‘A’ Certificate For ‘Phullu’ Is Yet Another ‘F’ For The Government’s Judgment I n its wisdom, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Government of India, has deemed the Hindi film Phullu , fit only for ‘adult’ viewing because its story revolves around menstruation. The CBFC Chief, Pahlaj Nihalani, has defended this decision saying that young people in India aren’t ready yet to talk openly about ‘that time of the month’ leave alone watch a film about it.    Funny, tragic, outrageous, anachronistic. Add worse descriptors if you like, and they will fit. Even a couple of years ago, these responses would have sufficed, because underlying the outrage would be the hope that those in charge will learn the ropes and stop fooling around.   However, after three years in government, high officials should not expect any longer to be spoon-fed the basics of well-established feminist and freedom of expression arguments.   We must recognise a pattern when it is starin...