Hegemonic and subordinate masculinity in Viswaroopam

Connell (1995:77) defines hegemonic masculinity as “the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women”. Even though not all men practice hegemonic masculinity, they often benefit from it. Masculinities  which are different from hegemonic masculinity are called subordinate masculinities. Media is often the place where hegemonic masculinity is showcased. Even though media do show subordinate masculinities, the preferred and the common masculinity showcased in media is hegemonic masculinity.

Viswaroopam (2013) is a Tamil movie directed and acted by Kamal Hasan. It is a movie on religious terrorism and the hero plays a role as a police who helps to stop terrorist activities in the US. This movie is an interesting movie for the discussion on masculinity because Kamal as the hero shows both the hegemonic and subordinate masculinities. In the first part of the movie, Kamal acts as a classical dancer. He is very graceful both as a dance and in real life. He is shown making dinner for his wife and entertaining guests. When his wife talks about him to a psychiatrist she says that he is different, highlighting the fact that he somehow does not fit into the culturally accepted form of masculinity.

The second role played by Kamal, is of a police office. He is physically strong, and of course in the end saves the heroine and US from terrorist act.  Even though this is not the first movie where the hero shows two different forms of masculinities¹, this movie is interesting because the rejection of subordinate masculinities  and the acceptance of hegemonic masculinity is clearly shown through the rejection and acceptance made by the heroine (the wife). The wife who is having an affair with her boss and does not seem to be able to accept the dancer as a husband reacts very different when she sees Kamal as the police officer. 

Reference: Connell, R.W. 1995. Masculinities. Berkeley: University of California Press.

^{1. In the movie Varalaru, Ajith plays three roles, one as a bharata natyam dancer while in the movie Adhi Baghavan, Jeyam Ravi plays two roles, one as a transgender↩}

more about hair, the facial hair...

A casual observation in Tamil Nadu will show that most men in Tamil Nadu have moustache. Of course there is no official statistics for this but it is hard to miss. Similarly, many Malaysian Indian men have moustache. Most Malaysian Indians are Tamils. Which may explain the similarity.

This week I watched Veera Pandiya Katta Bomman. I think many would disagree that, that movie is a classic. I am not sure how much of the movie is based on historical facts but it is a movie that most Tamil movies fans would know. I often think that even if the real Katta Bomman appears, people would say that Shivaji is Katta Bomman. Many would identify dialogues in that movie and of course the scene where Katta Bomman talks to the British Dorai. This is the scene where he refers to his moustache.

I am not sure if it is because of Katta Bomman, but in Tamil culture, moustache has been identified as a symbol of bravery. Bravery in man is highly valued in Tamil culture, hence moustache has a big significance among Tamil. At least that is what I think. When I go back to my parents' native place, I often see man with big, I mean really big moustache. Often these people are nicknamed 'misai' which is the Tamil word for moustache.

Recently I did some research in Chennai about beauty standards for man and woman. The findings were very interesting and I will keep that story for another day.

more about hair...

I have been talking to many young people while doing field work in Seoul. I have a student helping me with data collection and one day when we were talking about hair, she said "look at all the old people, everyone has short hair. Nobody has long hair". I told her I didnt know that but after that I started observing older women in Seoul. Based on my observation, till today, I think after like 3 weeks of observing, I have not see one older Korean woman with long hair. Everyone seem to have short hair. Among the young women some have long hair and some have short hair. Long hair will be slightly longer than their shoulder, I have not see anyone having hair up to their waist. Anyway, this is not based on any systematic or scientific observation but just random, casual observation.

This made me think about another observation I made like two years ago, in my parents' native place. I was going out with my mom and aunt when I noticed that all teenage girls that I have seen in that village have braided hair, in the same style. Whether they are coming back from school, or going to buy things or temple, they always have braided hair...


These two experiences has made me think about many things in my life. When do I follow the norms and when do I break away from the norms? Why is so important to follow or to break away???

name...

I was listening to the radio this morning and the DJ was refering to someone as Mr. Jaya and Mrs. Ananthi Jaya (all names are fictitious). I was listening to a Tamil radio station and the names were Indian names. I notice it is kind of common to use the husband's name after their name among married Indian women. Of course, not everyone does it but many people do. This got me thinking, did this practice start as a result of the British influence during colonization or has it been there even before that. I am not an expert in literature but from whatever classic Tamil literature I have read, I have never seen this practice. For example, everyone called Kannagi as Kannagi, nobody called her as Kannagi Kovalan. People often talk about Valluvan Vasugi as a couple but I have yet to hear anyone refering to her as Vasugi Valluvan. Therefore, I think it must be something that came much later. However, I may be wrong. If they are any experts in this, please do leave a comment.

again...owning culture...

I was talking to a Pakistani student today. He was talking about language and he said that Urdu is Pakistani national language. "It is ours but it is also used a lot in India". So I asked him, "aren't there Indian who speak Urdu?" He said, "Yes." I asked him again if they only started speaking Urdu after 1974 (separation of India and Pakistan). He said, " No, they have used it for centuries,". Precisely my point...Language, which is an element of culture existed longer than present political boundaries were drawn. We are caught of with political boundaries and try to limit culture within the same boundaries. Culture, however, does not work that way. Of course, with political boundaries, different political systems in different countries, culture may evolve but it is ridicolous to put the same boundary for culture as for a country.

long hair...

I went to petrol station early this morning. After filling up my car, I was about to leave when one of the employee at the station asked me if my hair is actually my real hair or is just a wig. I burst out laughing and told him it is real hair not a wig. Then he explained that being in Malaysia so far he has only seen three women with long hair. According to him, everyone else has short hair. I guessed that he is from Nepal, so I asked him, do Nepali women have long hair. He said "of course. That is what makes them so beautiful. Here, everyone has short hair, like men." I am at them moment involved in a study on social construction of beauty. What he said reminded me of some of the things I have found in my study. Many things in our lives are socially constructed, from what is considered beautiful or feminine and masculine. Many of it are actually socially constructed. Beauty especially, different societies consider different features as beautiful. even though in recent years, such beauty standards are going through various changes, socialization still plays a role on what is considered beautiful. Having said that, in recent years there are also many studies which tries to identify biological standards for beauty. There have been some studies which have identified that biologically, there are certain characteristics which are considered more attractive.

Malaysian Culture

In recent times, there have been many arguments on what is Malaysian culture. There have been attempts to highlight that many parts of what we cherish as Malaysian culture is actually borrowed from other people. Well, I am not here to identify what consists of our culture vs their culture but to discuss the 'nature' of culture itself.

Culture is generally divided into material and non-material culture. Material culture refers to things like food, clothes, tools that we use etc. Non-material culture refers to intangible ideas by members of a society.

Culture is not something that is carved in stone. Culture is something that evolves. Something which is considered as a tradition today may not be 20 years from now if people stop practising it. Therefore, some elements of 'our' culture which we have today may not be there in future. When people meet and interact there are possibilities that some elements of culture are borrowed or shared. In addition to this, cultural boundaries is not the same as political boundaries. People who culturally same may be divided by political boundaries, that does not mean group A which lives in country A can claim ownership of certain cultural elements.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that, culture evolves and elements of culture can be borrowed and shared and that is what makes human interaction something fascinating.