First, Mitali Saran's take in The Business Standard on the mantastic masculinity projected by the BJP leader and his band of macho men: Mr. Modi's Men:
If you've been listening to the BJP's campaign ads - and it's hard to miss them - you know that they say two things: First, that the pride of the Hindu nation and culture is paramount, and second, that Mr Modi will restore and nurture that pride. Mr Modi will never let the nation's head be bowed; Mr Modi will never allow this soil to be desecrated; Mr Modi will protect women; Mr Modi will be the alpha male leader we all fantasise about.
This language - pride, honour and protection - expresses fragility and fear, and spreads fragility and fear. It is used by people with brittle egos, who prefer sabre-rattling to rational discussion [snip, snip] It's the language of the kind of masculinity that thrives on domination, not cooperation, on homogeneity rather than heterogeneity, and on majoritarianism rather than individual rights. It values hierarchy, not equality, and sentiment over rationality. It presumes obedience and acquiescence, not irreverence and challenge. It is, in fact, the masculinity of an 8-year-old boy.
Second, a very cheeky Mumbai Mirror column by Shobhaa De on Why most women would never marry Narendra Modi ...
... So, here's the first cut on this sizzling topic: Narendra Modi - Stud or Dud? Namo is definitely not the sort of guy you want to take home to mother. He'd probably scare the hell out of her. You wouldn't want to introduce him to friends either (this is key... girls- friends must approve of boyfriends/husbands). As for getting Dad to hang with this guy - oooops! No chance. After all, Dad is the real 'chowkidar' in a daughter's life. Why hire another? Next criterion: Would Namo make a compatible travel companion? Doubtful. He'd probably make a speech wherever he finds five people. And the only sight seeing he'd be interested in would be restricted to helicopter surveys of expressways. Could Namo be a good listener (this is perhaps the single most important quality women look for in men)? The answer is an emphatic 'no'. Modi loves the sound of his own voice. And he doesn't listen to anyone - man or woman.
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Thanks to Peter Griffin's G+ stream.
4 Comments:
totally disagree with Mitali Saran. I am not expressing my political views, but words 'pride' and 'honour' never in anyone's wildest dreams would evoke feelings of fear and fragility. I mean, it's ridiculous ! Soldiers are trained to protect pride/honour of their country, we use these words all the time to express our patriotism. These words evoke confidence, will power and positive energy, not fear and fragility. I'd love to ask Mitali Saran to close her eyes for a minute and take a deep breath and utter the words - pride, honour - 10 times. Fear/fragility would be the last things to cross her mind, I bet !
@Digbijoy Nath: I think context matters.
I don't know about Ms. Saran, but I tried your exercise. You know what, I just couldn't shake off all those macho dudes while chanting pride and honour. By the 3rd iteration, I became so scared that I had to stop.
:)
I wasn't speaking in context of anything particular. When I utter pride/honour, my mind 'sees' our jawans/soldiers standing tall and confident at our borders, and I feel very proud and strong.
Yawn.... I wish Modi's critics would present some data to criticize him. I have not seen/heard the ads that Mitali is referring to. But her babble would would have been more credible if she quotes Modi instead his underlings/present some data while criticizing him for gang rapes (not sure how many have happened in Gujarat). Unfortunately Modi fan boys are not making much sense either. This must be one of the most blah election seasons around.
And what is point of quoting a 60+ year old woman on what young women look for in their future mates? Within a week, I see you move from a Nobel laureate to woman who is known for the plastic she packs than her writing. Hmmmm....
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