Article Title: For gender parity, reach out to young boys

Article Summary

In this article, the author talks about the other side of the gender equation, the boys. She says that the origins of toxic masculinity are often found in adolescence since young boys and adolescents are completely left out of the gender discourse while there are so many policies and programmes for young women. Although the scales are tilted very heavily against women in the field of gender relations but this cannot change substantially if men are to go along without even realising that their behaviour is unacceptable, offensive, even dangerous. The boy’s passage into adolescence in India is a lonely process. There is no one to explain what changes he is going through, be they physical and emotional. His role models are men who grew up in the same, largely ignorant milieu. Studies also show that boys, especially in urban schools, are more prone to violence and mental problems than girls. The author is of the opinion that the government should have a programme specifically aimed at young boys and men. The boy should be told that it is all right to be weak at times, that it is not unmanly to confess to emotions. She says, that if an attempt were made for the other sex, many problems which afflict the gender relations would be less and will lead to a safer environment.