Globalisation and Imported Misogyny: A Focus on India

'The word on the street is that you have been with everybody in all the villages

I’ve grown hard (erect) in anticipation

I’m definitely going to sleep with you today
If I don’t then I’m not worthy of being called a jaat'

- Artist: Honey Singh, Song: Choot (an explicit word for vagina)

If it wasn't for the last word from the quote above above, you might never realise that the lyrics are translated from Punjabi and sung by popular Punjabi rap artist, Honey Singh. Globalisation facilitates the transportation of trends: music types, dress, food, cinema and so on. These trends are not neutral; globalised subcultures become localised, facilitating the transportation of attitudes within those subcultures. The video shared in my first ‘Why Masculinity is Destructive’ post referred to the way in which rap culture essentialises females into roles of submission, as tools of sexual gratification and objectification. The Honey Singh song cited above is one example of the way in which globalisation can penetrate into the local level and become infused with local gender identities.

The reality is, women are disadvantaged in much of the world, and India is no stranger to this. Cultural attitudes such as son preference persist today, meaning a skewed sex ratio and dowry violence, the notion of pardah restricts women’s movement and behaviour, constructs such as izzat (honour) seek to place women in a position where the reputation of a family relies upon a woman’s chastity, movement and spaces she occupies – particularly in north India.

This too, means that men are required to play certain roles. As indicated by the quote above, masculinity may also pressure men into certain roles, be this in the family (as the breadwinner, controller of women) or in wider society (undertaking certain jobs, avoidance of ‘feminine’ activities such as cooking). The message from Honey Singh’s song is clear: hegemonic jaat (a caste group) masculinity means to be a womaniser, and you’re not a real jaat man if you don’t sexualise women. This is particularly dangerous for women; the importation of sexualisation as an expectation upon young women growing up in India positions them between two essentialist expectations and misogynies. Adherence to one means they risk dishonouring their family, adherence to the other means emasculation of young (jaat) men, creating a volatile mix that spells danger for youth growing up in India.

The video below, 'muh me le' ('take it in your mouth') is pretty self explanatory and illustrates the above points well:

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zPjWtvq3Ns