One cannot deny that women have been oppressed and abused by society for centuries. Even now, although much progress is being made daily for women to strive for equality, there is still a long way to go especially in India.
The societal roles for women are still very strict, but it would not be right to assume that men don’t have their issues to deal with. Toxic masculinity is a big term that covers a lot of topics like gender equations, empathy, being told not to cry, behaviours that are considered unmanly and many more.
In this environment, an interactive webcomic aims to not only highlight the privilege of men in Indian society but also things like power equations they are not always made aware of, sexuality, consent, emotional manipulation and create more awareness about it among men itself.
What Is This Webcomic?
The Mardon Wali Baat webcomic is a list of interactive stories that focus on daily instances men come across and bring up topics of toxic masculinity, homophobia, violence, consent, boundaries, intercaste relationships and more.
The stories and their interactive nature have the reader select an option from multiple choice format questions that will then decide what happens next in the story.
The stories can be found on the site mardonwalibaat.com and there are various scenarios created. Every option selected also comes with a pop-up box afterward that explains whether that choice was correct or not.
Read More: How Did British Colonial Rulers Played A Part In Shaping Toxic Masculinity Among Indian Men?
One story is about a brother being confronted by his sister for harassing her friend and through multiple questions you decide the end of the story and what actions the main character takes.
Another is about a boy going through various concerns before a first date like where he should take her or if he should initiate a kiss or not.
One story is about how a guy is caught kissing his male best friend by his brother.
Each option you choose has a particular comment related to it and how these things affect men, such as certain behaviours being imposed on them, and how especially men in the LGBTQ+ community have to go through prejudice since they are exhibiting behaviours that society deems unacceptable for ‘true men’.
It further encourages the user going through the story to think about how these actions that are unexpected from men would be taken by society.
The Mardon Wali Baat (or, The Thing About Manhood) webcomic was created by The YP Foundation (TYPF; YP stands for Youth Parliament) a Delhi-based non-profit organisation (NGO) early in the year. The project had 6 writers and three illustrators create 4 scenarios and are aimed at urban Indian men between the ages of 18 to 26.
Sagar Sachdeva, 30, TYPF director of programmes and policy engagement speaking about the comics said “The interactive format allowed us to explore and create different tones and subtext.”
Sachdeva added that the project aims to shed light on the privilege that masculinity brings with it but also not ignore the ways boys are expected to behave in particular ways from a young age.
TYPF executive director Prabhleen Tuteja also stated “Asking men to describe what was appealing about these men led us to an understanding of the various types and phases of masculinities they experienced across caste and class lines.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Hindustan Times, Business Standard, IDR
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Masculinity, Masculinity india, YP Foundation, typf, the YP Foundation, YP Foundation Mardon Wali Baat, typf Mardon Wali Baat, YP Foundation masculinity, interactive web comic, web comic
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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