For the occident, a surprising cultural norm in India is that of men holding hands. Seen as unconventional and in sharp contrast to the West, the phenomenon symbolic of India (in particular) and South Asia at large became a project in 2018, whereby photographer Vincent Dolman created a series depicting an organic and intimate aspect of male friendship. Appreciating such uninhibitedness in a country given to rampant homophobia and toxic masculinity, Dolman, in one of his interviews, observes how such practices hold a mirror to society and societal conventions of masculine constructions and performances. 

While scholarship on men and masculinities has mostly focused on boyhood, fatherhood, patriarchy, misogyny, toxicity, and male power and authority in South Asia, very few have addressed friendships and youth subcultures in masculine contexts. The issue aims to examine male friendships, camaraderie, and displays of emotions, and the ways in which such homosocial relations aid in the construction and performances of both urban and rural masculinities in India. Social construction of friendships in relation to masculine performance will also be examined from South Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The issue aims to trace the political and cultural history of male friendships in South Asia from the ancient to the contemporary period to critique the heteronormative patriarchal structures within the subcontinent that have forced men to suppress ‘a whole range of human needs, aims, feelings and forms of expression’ (Kaufman, 1998). Some of the questions that will be explored in this issue are: What does male friendship look like beyond the patriarchal heteronormative gaze and metanarrative?  How are male friendships portrayed in the popular culture of 20th and 21st-century South Asia? How have South Asian men overcome gender stereotypes to portray complex ideas of friendship and consequently a softer and more sensitive form of masculinity? 

We seek essays that examine political and cultural representations of male friendship and masculinity in cinema, fiction, life writing, comics, non-fiction and other forms of popular culture such as video games, visual arts, photography, social media, music, etc.  Essays should be no more than 7000 words including footnotes and bibliography. 

PLEASE NOTE:  Currently, I am soliciting chapters that focus on Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. We have already received chapters on India. The proposed volume is under consideration of being published by an international academic publisher of repute (Palgrave/Bloomsbury). 

 Topics include but are not limited to:

• Memory and friendship 
• Friendships in cinema, popular culture, and other forms of visual and material culture 
• Subcultures and friendship in the diaspora 
• Friendships at the intersections of age, caste, class, culture,and  religion
• Friendships during partition and the Bangladesh liberation war 
• Friendships as depicted in English and vernacular literature
• Friendship as acts of resistance
• Role of male friendships in coming-of-age narratives
• Power dynamics in male friendships
• Friendships arising out of political activism 
• Digital media and friendships, including male peer support practices 
• Friendships in graphic novels and comics
• Online gaming and male friendships 

Interested contributors are requested to send a 500-word abstract with a title along with a 100-word biography no later than 30th October 2025, to masculinitiesandmen@gmail.com. All papers submitted will go through the standard peer review process. 

• a working title
• an abstract of 500 words
• 5-6 keywords
• a brief bio of not more than 100 words