The YP Foundation is taking part in the Reframe Pan-Asian Summit, organized by Breakthrough (in partnership with ARROW, MEASA and SWAYAM). Through this summit, The YP Foundation aims to bring together masculinities programmers, development professionals, and young people to co-create a roadmap for the expansion of masculinities and GBV prevention programming in the development sector in India to speak to transmasculine experiences, and address issues and needs of transmasculine persons. To make this happen, The YP Foundation is holding a panel discussion to build more cohesive understandings of masculinities and gender-based violence that challenge and go beyond cis-heteronormative understandings of gender. Date: 3rd March 2022 Time: 1:30pm to 2:30pm IST Register soon at the link given above! If you’ve registered for the summit, do check out our 10 minute Lightning Talk at 11:00am IST on March 3rd as well. This talk will be a combination of looking back at the Covid-19 lockdown and the challenges it presented to programmers, and what it has taught us about the urgent needs of programmatic and strategic shifts that need to be made specifically in the work with men and boys.
About the Panel “Men, Masculinities, and More”
About the Panelists
Diti (he/they) has been part of Queer, Feminist and Student movements across India. They have worked as a researcher on issues of gender-sexuality and its intersections with issues of citizenship, nationalism and education. He has worked in the development sector in different capacities to facilitate networking, feminist capacity building and resource mobilization.
I am excited to finally be on a panel which is trying to explore ways to include trans masculine perspectives in masculinities programming. For long masculinities programming has been limited to addressing cishet men and addressed men as fathers, brothers and husbands. I feel it is time to move beyond the baap-bhai issue and include us who are outliers within our heteronomative families.
Kolika (they/them) is a Sociologist and Queer rights activist who has worked as Researcher, Consultant, Program Associate and volunteer at various organisations in New Delhi and Kolkata over the last nine years and is currently working at the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata. Kolika currently identifies as genderfree/agender and is a member of the West Bengal Transgender Development Board under the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Govt of West Bengal. Celebrating queerness in all and challenging heteronormativity from every possible angle are their boosters in life along with nature, food, books and music.
What excites me about this topic is its focus on trying to expand the understanding and thought behind masculinity. It’s so important to understand this concept in its plurality of existence and practices. Acknowledging transmasculine lived realities would help sharpen masculine programming by reflecting upon the nuances of masculinities.
Sagar (he/him) has worked in the development sector for four years towards building spaces and processes that facilitate dialogues on gender and masculinities among young men. At The YP Foundation’s Mardon Wali Baat programme, his work involves creating interactive models of engaging with young men and boys by approaching masculinities and violence through an intersectional lens. Sagar likes to spend his time napping, and cuddling with cats and dogs at every opportunity he gets.
I am excited about this brainstorming discussion because this will be an opportunity to broaden the way we’ve addressed masculinities in programming, and to learn of the different strategies we can use for doing that.
Avali (they/them) works as a coordinator in the masculinities programme at The YP Foundation, with their current work focussing on addressing the safer sex needs and issues of trans* masculine persons. Previously, Avali has worked on imparting Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) to diverse youth in schools and community settings across three states in India. Avali has also collaborated with young queer activists to create a national digital campaign on queer rights, and curated an anthology foregrounding the intersections of young queer experiences in India. In the past, Avali has been the co-convenor of a student-led queer collective at Ambedkar University Delhi, and the coordinator of a student run and led gender forum at Delhi University.
Avali is excited to learn about all the work that transmasculine people have been leading in the sector, the possibilities of finding intersections of this work with masculinities work, and platforming transmasculine voices that do not find mention in masculinities programming and related spaces!
Last date for application
May 12, 2022
