Masculinities today: Challenges and Possibilities Before Young Men
I started my professional career as a village doctor. Later I moved on to public health and my focus shifted to improving healthcare services. Today, I am in that stage of life which is called Vanaprastha , and I live in a small village in Uttarakhand. This allows an opportunity to reflect upon the lessons that I have learnt. At my age, I should not be speaking about the struggles of young people, but from experience gleaned over the years there are some things I wish to share with you. Living among and working with people from north Indian villages, I realized that women’s social status has a deep impact on their health. This understanding inspired me to study their lives, especially around their health-related problems more seriously and to work toward solutions. In this process, I also gradually started to understand the social life of men and about their so-called masculinity . How it is constructed, what factors influence it, and how its effects appear in society and affect them...