HUMOUR AS A DECOY TO MASK SEXISM

 Humour is meant to uplift people’s spirit and bring people together. Humour also gives us an insight about a person’s beliefs, ideologies and thoughts. So when humour is used as a decoy to target women, to spread violence or make sexist comments it does not make it less offensive.

We being students are often subjected to such kinds of humour. As much as we want to voice out our grievances we are unable to do so because it will make us stand out. Phrases like “Be a Man”, ”Stop you sound like a girl”, “Boys will be Boys” might sound harmless because they are so frequently used and normalised but it deeply reflects on our thoughts on gender equality and gender role.

The root cause of this can be blamed on the social construct. The stereotypical male dominated society normalises toxic masculinity, which, if not corrected at a young age might cause serious repercussions in the society.

Teaching children critical thinking, the importance of gender equality, having open conversations, importance of using modest language and encouraging them to voice their thoughts will help them with a better understanding and create a respectful environment.

Children are the pillars to our society. They will be the future educationists and leaders running the society. So it is crucial to teach them these values when they are young which will in due course of time help in eradicating the underlying sexism and violence towards women seen in our day to day life.

-Rajita Pandit, XI

-Painting by Trinnita, XI