“Have you ever experienced gender dysphoria? I experience it all the time”, exclaimed Jerry Pinto, clad in a bright yellow skirt with a red plastic rose tucked behind his ear. Renowned for his captivating journalism, Mr. Pinto spoke to us, about topics ranging from the gender fluidity promulgated in Indian mythological texts, to the roots of toxic masculinity’s modern avatar.

As part of the English language and literature curriculum, we study language and gender. However, most students, though animated in the classroom, distance themselves from these pertinent issues in non-academic settings.  Mr Pinto’s address and the subsequent student dialogue were a means of engaging the students and highlighting the implications of gender bias on a national scale.  

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Mr. Pinto supported his claims with allusions to Indian mythology and some fascinating stories about Krishna, Abhimanyu, Vishnu and Shiva. “Gender fluidity was a practice espoused by Indian mythology”, asserted Mr. Pinto.

Mr. Pinto then lamented over how these progressive mindsets were corrupted by history, engendering India’s regression in time. Using humorous anecdotes, Mr. Pinto described another reason for the power of patriarchy: mollycoddling. “Toxic females make toxic males”: in other words, mothers who pamper their sons subliminally, convey the message to men that a woman’s role is to serve them and tend to their needs, which causes a lack of independence and skewed expectations of their future wives.

He ended his address with a heartfelt request to the students, that despite the ease of ridiculing those who are different, it does not take much to be human. His speech, suffused with both poignancy and humour, left the students moved and inspired.