Interrogating masculinity a study of githa hariharan s novels

Abstract

Studying men and masculinity as a proper discipline has been a recent phenomenon. Courtesy vigorous feminist movement and its success in 20th century, men and masculinity remained at the receiving end of a lot of fair and unfair criticism. Gender studies remained focused on taking up womenand#8223;s issues. Feminist enthusiasts ensured a greater amount of gender justice and gender equality in all walks of life. Men and masculinity got sidelined in this process. Only recently, theorists and academics (men as well as women) world over have felt the need to recognize, accept and raise, issues concerning men and masculinity to ensure gender justice for women in the long run. The present study takes up novels of Githa Hariharan with the objective of studying the male characters in the light of a theoretical framework consisting of insights provided by the prominent gender and masculinity theorists. It includes critical concepts and insights offered by Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Mathilde Vaerting, Robert Bales, Robert-Brannon, Nancy Chodorow, Ronald Greenson, Gerda Learner, Sylvia Walby, Reweyn Connell, Judith Butler, and Eric Anderson. Despite different historical, social, and cultural factors deciding different attributes of manliness in different parts of the world, certain features like independence, sexual assertiveness, and athleticism are universally accepted markers of masculinity. As per the plural nature of masculinity, the outcome of interrogating masculinity varies for different novels as per the different atmosphere and thematic thrust of respective novels. In The Thousand Faces of Night majority of men are traditional and patriarchal in their attitudes towards women. They are responsible for thwarting the progressive dreams and ambitions of women. In Ghosts of Vasu Master, Vasu lives his manliness in... newline