Sexism has infested our society. Toxic masculinity, encouraged through popular culture and social media, is taking its toll on the social and moral fabric of the country. Sexist attitudes are manifesting themselves in dangerous ways.
The gang-rape of a seventeen-year-old girl in Hyderabad, for instance, is just one of the many symptoms of toxic masculinity. Almost a decade ago, in 2012, a medical student was gang-raped and murdered. A few years back, a veterinary doctor was gang-raped and murdered. Most of these cases, when reported, elicit public outrage. They are condemned by the media, civil society and the public. Most often, we take comfort by telling ourselves that such acts are an anomaly–and carry on.
But is it an anomaly? Isn’t sexism all-pervasive? Isn’t toxic masculinity infecting our society–through films, advertisements, political campaigns, social media (as harmless, humorous messages and memes) and academic discourse?
I argue it is. Our social, cultural and academic spaces are infested with male chauvinism, which, in turn, is manifesting itself in ugly, heinous crimes.
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