In South Asia, initiatives addressing issues of violence against women have largely focused on women's empowerment. But where do men fit in? Can the use of film put men into the picture?

Using film to challenge entrenched gender stereotypes in South Asia has already featured on the id21 web site (Poudyal, June 2000). Since then, 'Let’s Talk Men’, the South Asian Masculinities Film Project set up by Save the Children and UNICEF, has produced a set of four films aimed at raising awareness of HIV/AIDS among adolescents and violence against girls in the region.

Parents rarely talk to their children about day-to-day inequities and the notion of discussing gender and sexuality is unheard of in South Asia. In the absence of such dialogue, most children develop notions of gender and power based on the visual medium through cinema and television, for example, which portray conservative images of women and men and the relationships between them. The films aim to initiate discussions between boys and girls, help them understand how knowledge and femininity/masculinity are constructed, and challenge traditional images of men and women and the power relations between them.

In the Indian film, 'When Four Friends Meet', four boys share their secrets concerning sex, girls, their dreams, failures, frustrations and triumphs. The film documents the boys' attempts to make a living in a working class area in Delhi where stable jobs are hard to come by, life is challenging, girls seem bold, and sex provides a mixture of guilt and pleasure. After the screening, the facilitator leads a discussion focusing on certain issues such as: What roles do boys play during childhood? How does society view working women, and why? Should boys cry, can they feel anxious, is it OK for them to feel confused? The films present alternative male role models as well as a platform for discussion.

In Bangalore, as a result of an alliance with the NGO, Community Health Cell, the films are now an integral part of on-going staff training for professionals in 20 child-focused development agencies. Based on UNICEF/SCF’s experiences, policy recommendations for all agencies working with children include:

• establishing a culture of discourse with children. Professionals working with children should solicit their views and encourage them to talk about their experiences.
• integrating gender, patriarchy, sexuality, masculinity, inequity, power, domination, abuse, and violence within mainstream discourse in all sectors dealing with children. These issues need to be openly discussed and form an explicit part of agency agendas.
• creating experiential approaches to inform and sensitise children and locating them in ongoing, process-focused programmes. Current attempts have so far centred on professionals deciding what is appropriate for children and telling them what to do, without asking their opinions.
• incorporating life skills education, such as health education, building self-awareness and self-esteem and developing decision-making skills into the school curriculum. This should be linked to children's experiences and alternative pedagogies such as the use of films, art and theatre.

Source(s):
'South Asian Masculinities Film Project II Workshop Report' (internal report), presented in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 4-6th April, 1999, Save the Children by Shekhar Seshadri and Ranjan Poudyal, 1999
See also ‘Alternative masculinities in South Asia: an exploration through film for schools’, IDS Bulletin 31/2, by Ranjan Poudyal, 2000 Full document.

Funded by: UNICEF, SCF

id21 Research Highlight: 4 April 2002

Further Information:
Shekhar Seshadri
National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences
Bangalore
India

Tel: +91 806 995550
Contact the contributor: shekhar@nimhans.kar.nic.in

Other related links:
'Conspiracy of silence? Stamping out abuse in African schools' Insights Gender Violence Special issue

'Dangerous game of love? Challenging male machismo'

'Mobilising men to care?'

The UNDP has relevant links to men's roles in ending gender violence

Men's Roles & Responsibilities in Ending Gender Based Violence: envisioning men as part of the solution

'Young Lives at Risk - Adolescents and sexual health' from Panos