Saturday, December 1, 2007

If there is one art form that is the harbinger of change then it has to be music. Almost all social change movements of the last century have had at their centre a music that symbolized the dreams of the men and women who shaped these movements.

Music is also a rehearsal of change, a cultural expression of values and beliefs that may still face resistance in our social lives but exist as dreams waiting to become a reality tomorrow.

Rock The Boat has been organised with the thought that it is now possible to build an alliance of boys and men who take a stand to prevent gender-based violence. We live in a world that is witnessing an alarming increase in violence and if we implicate gender into reading this violence, the dominant image would be of men at the centre of most violence. Masculinity is the mechanism through which men gain privileges. However, this distribution of privileges for accepting the dominant values of masculinities is hierarchical and besides women, men who are on the lower rungs of patriarchy too find themselves at the receiving end of the more aggressive and violent masculinity.

Music has for long been carrying messages against violence, can it now take the next turn and talk about masculinities? Can it persuade boys and men to look into their own lives and more importantly can it provide a platform for a collective voice of men and women, boys and girls, together asserting that gender based violence can no longer be tolerated? Can it give a rhythm to the questions that are already being posed?

The musicians who have come together for this concert have been consistently responding to what they see around them through their music. They are known not only for the music they produce, but also for the stands they have taken, for the questions they have raised and for the strength of their conviction – that music can challenge injustice and open up a world of possibilities.

Rock The Boat is being organised as part of a series of events to generate a discussion on masculinities and build partnerships with boys and men to prevent gender-based violence.

Rahul Roy / Juhi Jain / Uma Tanuku

Aakar

www.southasianmasculinities.org

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