Navigating masculinities in Dhaka’s slums

 

                                             Poverty in the slums leads many young boys to drop out of school and seek work. 

In the slums of Kallyanpur, boys as young as six years old can be seen working in the scrap trade, breaking down junk for a small amount of money. During the January cold wave, they can be spotted huddling around a plastic flame, using their nimble fingers to separate usable parts from the waste. Without fully comprehending the magnitude of their suffering, they rise to the challenge of providing for their impoverished families. This harsh reality affects the lives of numerous adolescent boys and young men in the urban slums of Dhaka.

Jashim has been working in the scrap trade since he was just 14, and the weight of years of sifting through junk is evident; now, at 20 years old, he looks much older than his age. He flashes a sad smile as he recalls his family's migration to Dhaka. "We moved to this slum after the river took all we had. My father started a tea stall, but he fell sick when I was preparing for my SSC. He could not work as much, and we were struggling. As the eldest son, it was my duty to step up—I had to be the man of the house."

While poverty defines much of the lives of boys and young men like Jashim in the slums of Dhaka, their ideas of manhood and masculinity play a particularly important role in shaping how they experience this life within structural and social disparities.

Bangladesh's pursuit of modernisation and development has brought about social transformations that have impacted various aspects, including gender relations and power dynamics. Although there has been significant progress in promoting women's rights and freedoms, gender roles are still primarily influenced by patriarchal values in the country. Patriarchy, an ancient institution founded on the systematic subjugation of women, views power in gender dynamics as a zero-sum game. This means that the privileges enjoyed by one group, traditionally men, are contingent on the oppression of others.

However, not all men are equal under the patriarchy—some men are dispensable, particularly those from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. On the one hand, men hold significant privileges and benefits as they continue to derive different forms of power and control from the existing gender structures. On the other hand, they face considerable pressures to conform to idealised societal expectations of masculinity, such as being providers and protectors, and the inability to fulfil these roles results in humiliation and emasculation. Failing to fulfil expected gender roles in poor socioeconomic conditions leads to experiences of inner turmoil that many men struggle to deal with. In slums and informal spaces, in particular, men find themselves in uneasy positions where rampant structural deficiencies prevent them from realising the social expectations of manhood that they strive towards.

The outside world proves to be not much kinder. With over four million people reported to be living in Dhaka slums, there is a scramble for the limited available resources and services. This struggle worsened after the pandemic, as poverty in Bangladesh increased from 21.6 percent in 2018 to 42 percent in 2020. Poverty in the slums leads many young boys to drop out of school and seek work. Some may show promise in their studies, but they are often left disappointed because of the many barriers to realising their potential. Young men reported similar struggles when it came to employment prospects due to a lack of job opportunities. The barriers in education and work opportunities in the slums trap boys and young men in cycles of poverty, reinforcing feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy that affect their perceptions of manhood.

The burden of traditional gender roles creates a conflict for these young individuals in the slums: their reality prevents them from attaining the masculine ideals they aspire to. When they fail, they are left on their own to face the consequences. Jashim's story is in many ways exemplary of this experience. He talks about the sacrifices he had to make to prioritise his family over his well-being. "When I was younger, I wanted to work on a ship and travel the world. But I knew that I had to work to support my family. As the eldest son, it is my responsibility to look after my parents. Who else would do it?"

When they fail to live up to what is expected of them, men often struggle with feelings of inadequacy and significant emotional stress. They suppress these emotions as they feel that sharing feelings is a sign of weakness for men. Burying the pain within, they find themselves stuck in a miserable loop of striving and failing to reach the manhood they so desire.