The Promise of the Masculine

Much is discussed about the promise of the girl child, especially in India, where some of us tend to ensure our girls never see the light of day. But WHATABOUT...

What about the boy child? The young, sharp, promising looking child that dares to look right at you and speak truth to power? The young man whose talent knows no bounds, who delights you, makes you laugh, stands up straight, his spine unbending?

What about the intelligent man, the soft spoken man, the well spoken man? The one who reflects the cosmetic attractiveness of chivalry, without its murky undersides trailing after him?

Every time I see such a boy or man these days, my heart sinks. Despite myself, I ask, where's the hitch, where's the catch, show me your flip side. Too many times have I been captivated by the shining beacon of fresh and youthful masculinity only to find that those older women jokesters were right after all.

Men are trash, they say, over and over again. And now I agree, over and over again.

It's too dangerous to give into the temptation, to be enticed by the promise of a good man. No sooner have you believed in one of them than do the headlines turn up - condescension, brutality, hopeless confusion over what constitutes consent.

At the height of the #MeToo movement, I repeated these disappointing names like a prayer, over and over again, hoping that perhaps that might make it not so.

It is still so, and that is why my heart breaks at the sight of David Hogg, survivor of the latest US school shooting. The sharks are circling amidst rumours of "crisis actors", so I find myself praying that David Hogg is the real deal. That John Cusack is the real deal. That Vincent D'Onofrio is the real deal. (All cis-white men - see a pattern here?) Greg Hogben. Tom Hiddleston. Dan Radcliffe. Tom Felton. Dear sweet faced Grant Gustin.

There are so few idols from this demographic left. Please, I ask them - let yourselves be.