(de) constructing masculinities is a research study that seeks to critically review development sector approaches to programming around masculinities that often reduces the scope of inquiry to merely ‘engaging boys and men’ in reducing violence against women. We have argued that there is a need to broaden the inquiry around masculinities and in particular, pay attention to the way in which it shapes/is shaped by class, caste, religion, geography and so on.
We invited 12 individuals from different parts of the country to produce ethnographic accounts of masculinity from their everyday lives. As the individuals were located in diverse geographical/social locations, the ethnographies reveal the complex, contradictory nature of masculinities and the ways in which individual behavior and social norms interact. Our intention is to understand the mechanisms and practices that produce ‘dominant’ masculinity and find creative ways to resist the same.
