Updated: January 3, 2020 3:48:00 pm
Even among our friends, there are times when we tease one of the guys for his love for shopping or if one of them sheds a tear or two at the movies.
While debates and discussions trashing the gender roles attached to females are often raised on social media, often the highly patriarchal society’s expectations of men are overlooked. Men too, clearly, face flak and criticism, for not being ‘manly enough’. Even among our friends, there are times when we tease one of the guys for his love for shopping or if one of them sheds a tear or two at the movies. So what are these traits that deem the men ‘unmanly’? Saheli, an Indian woman, on Twitter recently held an open discussion inviting men to speak about the things that they do that are criticised to be ‘less manly’. And the thread went viral, with men writing about the times they cry, they do ‘comparison shopping’, they sit under the fairy lights and draw — basically all that they do which in the past, earned them the ridicule of ‘being a sissy’ from others.
ALSO READ | This woman’s story of being raped when she was 15 will shatter you to pieces
Sample some of the reactions her post garnered, here.
Good men of Twitter, what is that one thing YOU do, which is not considered manly by our social standards? RT for karma, and more happiness.
— Saheli (@wistyloony) March 20, 2017
@wistyloony I love getting pedicures. Just a great stress buster and maintains hygiene. Plus I’ve got some weird reactions to moisturizers.
— Bradley D’souza (@BradleyDsouza) March 20, 2017
@wistyloony I moisturize my face and hands after a wash. When I did mention it to some acquaintances, got a reaction that ‘oh make up?’ ?
— Bradley D’souza (@BradleyDsouza) March 20, 2017
.@wistyloony I often cry while watching films. Each time during that brother milap scene of K3G.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) March 20, 2017
@wistyloony Lighting scented candles, sitting under fairy lights and colouring.
— Sahil Shah (@SahilBulla) March 20, 2017
@wistyloony been ridiculed because I can’t get into physical altercations to protect anyone, because I’m not muscular.
— Aatreya (@AatreyaBhat) March 20, 2017
@wistyloony
1. Cooking (LOVE IT)
2. Cleaning my place
3. Buying groceries
4. Comparison shopping (been ridiculed for this one the most)— Ankur Singh (@TheSinghAnkur) March 20, 2017
@wistyloony changing diapers, cooking, dropping kid off to school and picking him up, feeding him, crying …
— Irshad Daftari (@daftari) March 20, 2017
@wistyloony off the top of my head: lack of facial hair, being a dancer, actually loving cooking, and I love shopping, so that too.
— Rameez (@Battameez) March 20, 2017
The Twitter user thought of the idea to initiate this discussion after she read a similar thread on Reddit. Her discussion led to many men opening up about the evident restrictions imposed by the society that comes armed with set gender roles for different genders to fit in.
Start your day the best way with the Express Morning Briefing
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
