Men in pink

The 10 male members amongst 58 from Pune are proud to proclaim their love for pink. So are 40 male members of long hair community,not to forget the 15 male members of I love long nails,who too profess their love for long nails,an attribute strictly restricted to the female territory. “If I like pink,I will say that. Why can only girls like pink? This notion appears very absurd to me. Many of my friends like pink but they won’t voice it loud because pink is mostly associated with girls or feminism. I can’t live with such double standards. If I like something,I will go ahead and say I like it,” says Deep Singh,a Chandni Chowk resident and a marketing executive who feels joining a community like I Love Pink does not make him less of a man.

While for Singh,pink does not highlight only feminine traits,for Hrishikesh Karnidhikar even if it does what matters more is his own preference. “ I believe every human being has a balance of male and female traits. Since society has conditioned your thinking and you are brought up like that,males are supposed to like and dislike a certain set of things and the same goes for females. If a boy likes to have long hair or long nails or likes to wear pink,he will be scolded and discouraged to do so. So the affinity is nipped in the bud at that stage,” says Karnidhikar,who also feels that every man has an inclination towards liking female traits.

Where some like Karnidhikar and Singh don’t take offence when spotted nourishing their choices,there are some who completely abhor the idea of going – feminine. Shashank Pethe,resident of Chandni Chowk and a member of the community Chavinism in You on Orkut condemns the idea of men joining such communities. “These are fundamental rules. You have to follow them. You are a man so you will have to behave like man and if you are a woman behave like a woman. I find all this unnatural,”he says.

But Anoop Powar who is a member of Gang of Girls and the community Tears has a couter view,“ Who decides what a man should be like,it’s the society,and not us. I believe we should live life the way we want to live. If I want to cry why should I hide my tears? Just because I am a man does not make me extra strong. This is absurd,” he says.