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↩}