Eshal Zafar
In our modern tech-savvy society, people have very conflicted opinions regarding the LGBTQ+ community. However, as time goes by, several Western countries openly support and validate the LGBTQ+. Still, the situation is drastically different in Asia. Asia has been the hub of ancient traditions and gender norms that still thrive today, no matter how discriminatory in nature. Their perspective of marriage has always been one between a man and a woman, the man being dominant, head of the family who earns and provides for the family. The woman takes care of the house and the children and is supposed to be obedient and submissive towards her husband. These stereotypes have become the accepted standard, and we’re unwelcoming to anything outside of it.
Women are encouraged to sacrifice their professional and personal dreams and expected to marry and settle down. Any woman who defies society is considered a ‘disgrace’ or ‘a morally loose woman’ and faces constant discrimination throughout her life for any independent choices she makes.
Ancient Indian subcontinent history does not recount discrimination against women or LGBTQ+ members. However, during the colonial period, the British established many misogynic and homophobic laws, which the countries in the region followed for many decades, even post Independence. It has taken over 60 years of active protesting for several of these laws to be repealed and more equal laws to be enacted instead of them.
The analogy of homophobia and misogyny has several overlapping concepts; a common theme stems from toxic and patriarchal standards.
Heterosexual men have been conditioned to act and look a certain way, to appear more “macho” or “alpha”, which they have grown to internalize. When these men see a man act feminine or vice versa, they show blatant disapproval towards it. It implies that they can’t stand the idea of femininity, which has a condescending undertone. The idea of men acting feminine is seen as ‘weak’ and ‘vulnerable’, which perpetuates harmful stereotypes against women and queer individuals. Another case may revolve around the fact that homophobic men are uncomfortable around gay men. They are afraid of being treated the same way they treat women, even if the women in question feel no attraction towards them.
Women and the LGBTQ+ community collectively are a “potential threat” to gender norms and the idea of toxic masculinity, which is harmful to them and to men themselves.
The fetishization of lesbians (particularly femme) by straight men is also misogynistic. The eroticization of women degrades them to the position of being an ‘object’ for male pleasure. The same goes for the fetishization of MLM, where straight women start seeing them as only sexual beings rather than real people. According to PornHub, Lesbian porn has dominated the statistics for the past 10 years in all regions, which has led to further sexualization and a spate of harassment against queer women.
Feminist writer Suzanne Phar, who identifies as lesbian, states, “Homophobia works effectively as a weapon of sexism because it is joined with a powerful arm, heterosexism. Heterosexism creates the climate for homophobia with its assumption that the world is and must be heterosexual and its display of power and privilege as the norm...Heterosexism and homophobia work together to enforce compulsory heterosexuality and that bastion of patriarchal power, the nuclear family”.
The two go hand in hand in the polarization of masculinity and femininity, leaving no spectrum in between with rigid expectations. These traditions have carried on for centuries. The only way to get rid of them is to break the generational cycles, which bring the mental and social transformations of the collective and individual. These issues are deep-rooted and must be inspected to diagnose the appropriate measures to solve them. Every individual has the right to live freely. By combatting these harmful stereotypes, not only will we emancipate women and queer folk, but also men themselves, trapped in destructive cycles of toxic masculinity.
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very informative!