Becoming Young Men in a New India: Masculinities, Gender Relations and Violence in the Postcolony

by Shannon Philip

Becoming Young Men in a New India tells the gendered story of a changing India through the lives of its young middle class men. Through time spent ethnographically 'hanging-out' with young men in gyms, bars, clubs, trains and gay cruising grounds in India, this book critically reveals Indian men's violence towards women in various city spaces and also shows the many classed and masculine entitlements and challenges that they experience. The book lays bare the often secretive and hidden social worlds of young Indian men and critically analyses the impact young men's actions and identities have not just for themselves, but for the many women they encounter. In this way, it puts forward a critical queer-feminist perspective of men and masculinities in postcolonial India where the politics of class, gender, sexuality, violence and urban spaces come together.

210 pages, Hardcover

Published November 24, 2022

Reviews

[komal · Rating 5 out of 5]

read for gender, peace, and security class. this book is an insightful ethnographic study on evolving masculinities and consumer identities in neoliberal, post-colonial India. the author focuses on studying urban spaces to offer an understanding of how young men shape women’s senses of safety and belonging in Delhi.

[Mukesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, because it's not only about young men of India in particular, it also talks about the safety of Indian women and the thoughts of young men about the same topic. Chapter 5 is very important in particular, Every indian who is either a male or a female must read this book till the conclusion.

Young men create an inner social world of their own where they live and build a ‘good life’ that they value. It is in and through this inner social world, away from the authority of their families, that I have approached and probed the processes of becoming young men in a ‘new’ India.

The author is right, the times have changed, there was one India which was contemporary in nature, and now we have the New India (particulary he talks about Delhi as an entire example) which we are experiencing rn, and still, things aren't improving.
This particular book is before covid era, and after covid, I believe some things are now totally different, and I believe it deserves a part 2, I hope the author gives it a chance at least.
5/5, it may sound boring or super analyzation by author and it could be annoying but you'll understand once you're turning the last pages, that it all made sense in the end.

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging but long read.