IntersectionalityMasculinity TikTok As A Political Weapon In India’s Hypermasculine Narrative

TikTok As A Political Weapon In India’s Hypermasculine Narrative

A Forbes article stated that the immediate threat from TikTok is the influence it has on young impressionable minds. In an increasingly war-like situation, banning TikTok in India could also be seen as a message to its users to embrace their masculinity.

Posted by Pratyusha Pramanik

The cyber-security issues in TikTok have now become a global concern. TikTok was not only seen as a means through which China could inject content into America, Europe and India, it could also spy into millions of phones globally. On June 30, 2020, the Indian government imposed a ban on 59 apps, one of which was Tiktok. The Indian government has previously been concerned with the app’s data accessibility last year and to add to it, Apple’s iOS 14 also found TikTok accessing the users’ keyboard. Most importantly, Hong Kong’s national security law can allow China to coerce TikTok to share information. Thus, TikTok was projected as a global threat, in a matter of a few weeks. On India’s social media front however, the anger towards TikTok had taken a narrative of emasculation.

While India’s ban on TikTok was largely seen as a fitting response to China, on the social media front,the anger towards TikTok had taken a narrative of emasculation.

Also read: TikTok In India: How Cyber Secure Is The App?

In May 2020, the war of YouTube vs TikTok waged between social media influencers CarryMinati and Amir Siddiqui, divided the social media into two halves. The battle of memes, trolls and videos escalated quickly, however CarryMinati’s video taken down by YouTube for violating their policy on harassment and bullying. He did not just employ abusive language but was also homophobic and transphobic in the video. The huge rage that followed, among his followers and fellow YouTubers showed how his content was normalised, and how homophobia and transphobia is now part and parcel of our lives. So, when the app was banned, it was considered the triumph of YouTubers over TikTokers. Of all the apps banned, the boycott of TikTok was celebrated grandly. In this article, I argue that although banning TikTok has nationally been projected as a decision to address security concerns in India, the social media discourse and celebration around it’s ban has been about the masculinisation of the nation. 

The recent trend of Hindu nationalism in India encourages gender-specific roles. Historical icons, folks, myths and political narratives are used to embed heteronormativity and strict gender binaries in the cultural consciousness. A concept of the aggressive male warrior with astute morals, martial prowess, muscular strength, readiness to go to war and resolute masculinity is being projected as the male hegemony. The Hindu soldier and warrior monk is the yardstick against which the masculinity of Indian men is being measured. TikTok generated a trend of men putting on makeup, dancing on streets, lip-syncing songs or dressing up like women – especially generating opportunities for people from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to display their acting, dancing and singing prowess. However, this does not adhere to the male hegemonic masculinity narrative that is employed by the state.

TikTok generated a trend of men putting on makeup, dancing on streets, lip-syncing songs or dressing up like women. Image Source: The Economist

The Hindu soldier and warrior monk is the yardstick against which the masculinity of Indian men is being measured in the nationalist polics of India today. However, TikTok generated a trend of men putting on makeup, dancing on streets, lip-syncing songs or dressing up like women – especially generating opportunities for people from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to display their acting, dancing and singing prowess.

TikTok, just like any other social media apps, had its share of misogynistic and offensive content, but at the same time, popularly gave a levelled platform to people from all backgrounds. The mockery of male TikTokers has been happening long before CarryMinati decided to roast them. In fact, whatever he said was an anthology of the prevailing labels and insults hurled at TikTokers. They have been called ‘TikTok k Betiyaan’ (effeminate), meetha/chakke/hijda (transgender people). The binary of boys playing PUBG and girls making TikTok videos were considered the norm, so anyone making videos in TikTok was effeminate, and those playing PUBG was masculine. CarryMinati’s video voiced the toxic thoughts already prevalent in the nation. Social media posts, trolls, memes targeted the algorithm to generate as much support for CarryMinati as possible, after his video was taken down from YouTube. A more extremist support also included trolling LGBTQ+ activists when they protested against the video. CarryMinati came with an explanatory face-saving video, but he had already rattled the domino. TikTok’s ratings diminished considerably, which is almost like a prologue to the ultimate end. 

Finally, when India banned TikTok over national security issues, it was seen by most social media users as the triumph of YouTubers over TikTokers. The loss of the platform and a popular passtime for millions of users across the country was nonetheless celebrated by a huge section that had deemed TikTok as “cringey” and “unsophisticated“, for instance. All the other apps like CamScanner, Shareit did not receive an overwhelming response, implying that the hatred prevailing against TikTok was not an outcome of just it being a Chinese product. Especially from the perspective of the hate it garnered on social media after the CarryMinati episode, the fate of TikTok can almost be associated with the recent ‘cancel culture’. The TikTokers have not only been shamed online, especially and largely through emasculating narratives, their platform was also banned.

A Forbes article stated that the immediate threat from TikTok is the influence it has on young impressionable minds. In an increasingly war-like situation, banning TikTok in India could also be seen as a message to its users to embrace their masculinity.

Also read: Hitting Women Is Not “Cool Content”: Call Out The Misogyny On TikTok

It is evident that this ongoing discourse has catalysed public shaming opposing views and ostracisation of marginalised communities. TikTok is being looked at as a global threat from China; the threat is not just in terms of security and commerce, but as has been pointed out in a Forbes article that the immediate threat from TikTok is the influence it has on young impressionable minds. In an increasingly war-like situation, banning TikTok could also thus be a message to its users to embrace their masculinity – martial prowess, muscular strength, with a readiness to go to war, by discarding effeminate practices. There are alternate platforms cropping up to occupy the place emptied by TikTok, but to create a similar fanbase and monetise it, would definitely be a challenge for the artists who’d have to start from scratch. 


Comments:

  1. Aniket says:

    I don’t have any problem with gay and non masculine men but I want to know why feminist people have deep problem ( read pain in the as*) if men are being masculine.
    Tik tok is just another tool for time waste. It’s a cultural deterioration.

    The archetype of MARYADA PURUSHOTTAM or Nietzsche’s UBERMENSCH is as ancient as our civilization. Feminine men were not the ones to kill the mammoth and feed the family. It’s terrible that in postmodern culture men who are not feminine and who don’t wear bra and make up are considered hyper masculine. It’s pathological. Bra wearing men are were not the ones who can shoot down F 16 fighter jet with a Mig jet, make up wearing men were not the ones who brought scientific enlightenment in 17 th century Europe.
    I don’t see how an effeminate man gets offended if someone calls him beti( daughter) and meetha ( sweet) . Calling him beti means I am accepting him as a female which I think he also wants that , society is fulfilling his desire to be accepted as a female and we are doing the exact same thing, I don’t understand how is that offensive.

  2. Sreyashi says:

    Oh dear how insecure masculinity is! And how easily they feel they are in crisis! This is very much evident from the above comment.

  3. tanya agrawal says:

    ok i really feel that feminism india is getting biased on this topic…u guys have your own vision on the whole scenario…I agree banning a app is not any solution but if it is done for national security purposes it is good..Also the tiktok app was banned last year also and it was celebrated back then also.The thing iis tiktok is always considered to be a waste app by intellectuals also…i am never interested in these battles…also i dont understand why people are so concerned about it to be banned…the top creators were not talented and many small tiktokers were suffering their ,also only the creators with big influence on app were earning…talking about small town people engagement it was fun for them and anything could replace it ……also if u see the app it always promoted lipsync videos,slow motion videos…copied content and the people who were actually talented were not getting due…also i will be happy if similar app gets launched in india only when it promotes talent…also the mockery done by tiktok people by dressing as women and doing over emotional scenes were annoying and needed to be addressed….
    also blaming a creator for the whole fiasco is not right u cannot blame him for the whole scenario…it is with the society how they take things…i agree the video contained slangs which u guys are addressing as a abusive video…also the jokes were not homophobic and transphobic at first stance it was only after its deletion people started searchings the reason and because he used mithai ki dukan he is reffered to be homophobic and transphobic and using beti might be done for him using #skirt in his post…no i am not justifying but putting my point…u guys need to get over the topic ..u should promote talent guys no matter on which app but it is true majority people on tiktok were surviving because of lip sync and over emotional drama…i request u guys to stop steching this topic…also guys stop being biased …

  4. Aniket says:

    Madam, I sincerely want to know where you found sense of insecurity in my above argument of masculinity. Probably you didn’t read the very first sentence of my comment.
    I am suspecting you are showing your intellectual dishonesty by making a straw man of my argument. With regards ?

  5. Tamanna Mandal says:

    Pratyusha Didi ,
    You said it so nicely.

  6. Bittu says:

    Ahh these insecure men and their ego they are literally butthurt

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