Men need to express their emotions or risk health, says expert

Organised in collaboration with Prajnya Trust, the men’s only programme was born out of a need to facilitate conversations around patriarchy, toxic masculinity and alternatives to violence, said Chintan Girish Modi, founder of the initiative.

A writer, researcher and educator based out of Mumbai, Chintan, who has written extensively on gender stereotypes and gender-based violence in contexts of education, arts and culture, said that he wanted a forum for men to openly interact about a range of topics.

“Most men rarely attend such workshops because of various reasons. I wanted to create a platform where they could talk openly about their personal issues, being allies for violence against women, how patriarchy can be harmful, so on. We have men alienating their emotions or not expressing themselves at all because they are constantly told they must ‘man up’ and take it. This could even lead to mental health issues.

This is the barrier I wanted to break with this forum,” explained Chintan.

He added, “I found in conversations with several men that they had even experienced sexual violence in some form with either older family members or friends.

Maybe they couldn’t talk about it to people they know but with strangers, it’s easier.” 

Mardon Waali Baat began with a survey of men’s attitudes, needs and perceptions. It is currently in a nascent stage, said Chintan, who has been trained in ‘Understanding Masculinities: Engaging Men and Boys towards Gender Equality’, an initiative organised by the Centre for Health and Social Justice in partnership with MenEngage Alliance South Asia.