'Changing notion of masculinity changes perception of

The changing notion of masculinity changes the way we perceive nationalism and our national heroes, JNU Professor Sanjay Srivastava said here today.
Srivastava's lecture on "Gender and Nation" was part of the "nationalism teaching" series in JNU which is caught in a row over the February 9 event. The classes are being held at the varsity's administration block which has been venue of the protest ever since students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in a sedition case.
"Consumer is the national hero (at present) but it also causes certain kinds of muscular anxiety. How do you call for being global but also promise to not allow the globalism to affect our deep-rooted ideals. Masculinity offers the prospect of best of both the worlds. Modi offered that," said Srivastava.

Throughout his talk, Srivastava pondered over the idea of a possible relationship between the changing perception of masculinity throughout history and consequently, the fluctuating notion of nationalism.
He attributed the "colonial" Section 377 that criminalises same-sex relationships to the possible notion of Britishers that "the same sex relationship reduces one of the partners to a more dormant and thus 'effeminate' role, an idea in stark contrast to their notion of masculinity".
Srivastava said the landslide victory of PM Narendra Modi during 2014 Loksabha polls might be the result of people perceiving him as a "national hero".

Brinda Bose, English Literature Professor at the varsity asserted that the scope of international working women's day should be expanded to include the marginalised section of the society.

Bose cited the recent India Exclusion Report to drive home her point of a large scale of women who are excluded from the workforce and its benefits.
According to the report "up to 43 pc of women in the working age (about 153 million) in India only do domestic work. This sector has no productive pay or perks".
Other exploited workers like construction workers, farm and factory workers, sex workers, ad-hoc teachers also fall under this category.
"So we should see women's day in connection with all these marginalised workers who may or may not have days assigned to themselves," said Bose.

"This women's day is not for flowers and gifts for women we love and adore but for women who are unknown, marginalised and exploited," she added.