Power, privilege and paradox: Understanding Ranveer Singh’s sartorial fame and the (un)making of the new millennial masculinity in contemporary Indian society | Intellect Skip to content
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Volume 7, Issue 1-2
  • ISSN: 2050-070X
  • E-ISSN: 2050-0718

Abstract

Bollywood film star Ranveer Singh’s fashion choices are often defined as eccentric, outlandish and even androgynous, in particular, his much-talked-about public appearances in bright floral pantsuits, or kohl-lined eyes and man-skirts are discussed in popular media as subverting gender norms and challenging gender binaries. Commenting on the shift in representation of contemporary Bollywood’s male protagonist, film scholars have argued that Singh embodies ‘metrosexual masculinity’ in neoliberal India and that his on- and off-screen persona involves deliberate scripting of a ‘feminist’ and ‘less patriarchally structured masculinity’. Testing the extent of the assertions mentioned above, I examine Singh’s media persona as a site of cultural production and a form of social reproduction. I use a feminist theoretical framework, and gender studies debates to critique Singh’s negotiations with gender and sexuality in his media images across – film, advertisement and social media. I argue that the millennial star as a fashion icon is not only far from offering a progressive model of millennial masculinity, but is also working towards normalizing Hindu gender ideologies that have long sanctioned power to men and subjugated women in Indian society. Focusing on the role played by the corporatized androcentric media industry, I argue that ‘feminist’ posturing of the star appropriates and suppresses other forms of marginal identities. Singh’s media persona thus works to maintain the status quo as far as gender, class and caste identities are concerned, and becomes a vehicle of the nationalist ideology under the present right-wing leader, Narendra Modi.

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2020-12-01
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http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/csmf_00024_1
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Power, privilege and paradox: Understanding Ranveer Singh’s sartorial fame and the (un)making of the new millennial masculinity in contemporary Indian society
Critical Studies in Men's Fashion 7, 177 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1386/csmf_00024_1
/content/journals/10.1386/csmf_00024_1
/content/journals/10.1386/csmf_00024_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Bollywood; celebrity style; contemporary Indian fashion; gender stereotypes; Hindu masculinity; millennial fashion; millennial masculinity; Ranveer Singh

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