BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS: Crucial Doc On Men As Allies

Harish Sadani is a hero.

For over 20 years, the Mumbai-based activist has been fighting for equal rights with his organisation Men Against Violence and Abuse. MAVA educates young men and boys about rape, gender-based stereotypes, slurs, abuse of power and other pressing gender-based issues to breed new generations of feminist men.

It’s a man’s world

Referencing India’s patriarchal society, Sadani acknowledges that men have power in the system so teaching males why gender equality is beneficial for everyone is his approach to employing his philosophies. Following various characters involved with the boys club set up by the organisation, including teenage student Ved and mentoring social worker Aspar as well as Sadani himself, Inka Achté’s brilliant, urgent new documentary Boys Who Like Girls provides a significant overview of MAVA’s work through detailed character examinations. Boys Who Like Girls is undoubtedly a timely work in cinema following the #MeToo revelations but the ugly truth is that these topics have been relevant long before.

Achté’s film is set a few years ago in 2013/14 following the horrific 2012 gang rape in Delhi. The case received international attention and protests took place throughout India. Following the legal proceedings, there was a lot of discussion on the ways to prevent similar horrific events in the future with ideas such as widening the definition of rape, introducing fast-track courts and tighter policing brought to fruition. Boys Who Like Girls looks into one of the most necessary ways possible to change things – education.

It’s a boy’s world

Ved is a 16-year-old boy who’s home life is tumultuous primarily because of his drunk and abusive father. He has a mother who cares for him but she bears the brunt of her partner. She attempts to deliver a monologue about her unfit husband but an audibly frustrated Ved tries to cut her off. Ved’s brother is practically useless, so he has to do the majority of the cooking, cleaning and collecting. He relays a story to his friend about having once slept on the streets as an escape from his old man, following a fight between them.

The family’s livelihood is staked by him passing his end-of-school exams. If he doesn’t pass, his father will send him to a farm in rural India, thus ruining the family to an even further extent. The laborious imbalance he faces up-keeping his family whilst studying for multiple exams makes him immediately sympathetic and worthy of the extra attention he receives from MAVA as a result.

Ved and his fellow teen classmates are, understandably, conservative thinkers from the outset, having been raised in a system of patriarchy. In an early group exercise, Aspar, the aforementioned support worker and another hero, gives the youngsters an opportunity to express their views on what they deem to be good and bad images of women.

After probing questions about why they think of a particular image the way they do, like one of a model with a crop top as “bad”, Aspar deconstructs their conceptions and, frankly, there are many people – not just teenagers – who could benefit from seeing these obviously erroneous lines of thinking corrected.

Men in power?

One of the most sadly paradoxical aspects of MAVA is how it’s an organisation born out recognising the power men have in society but there’s a lack of support for these men trying to bring social change, thus depreciating any power they actually have.

The dearth of supporters for Harish’ organisation is disheartening and it’s even more heartbreaking when he attends a conference in Denmark and tries to raise funds for his work, only to find non-existent financial backing for male-led organisations. He needs the money so he can keep people like Aspar, who’s at a crossroads with mounting family pressure to find a better paying job abroad, in a stable position. Aspar’s heart is in MAVA, for he is confident he won’t find more satisfaction in another job.

Achté’s film is a hopeful one, however, ultimately suggesting that there’s hope for MAVA’s future based on the success of the students. They’re given very ample support in the revision period, as Ved’s journey depicts, and come out of the side with a lot more deference for women and the representation of women as they slowly transition into adulthood. Let’s hope the evidence is enough to keep MAVA afloat.

Boys Who Like Girls

The world needs more people just as passionate about combating gender-based oppression as the team in MAVA, and more support for any men willing to take the lead like Harish. Inka Achté is one of them, for she has constructed a brilliant documentary out of Harish’s nobility and Ved’s vital story. Raising awareness of such an organisation is necessary for a better future for all. Boys Who Like Girls is a major work that needs to be seen by anyone living in the #metoo generation.

Which other documentaries about gender-based prejudice / sexual abuse do you think more people should know about? Let us know in the comments below.

Boys Who Like Girls will have its world premiere at the Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 on the Saturday 9th June followed by another screening on Tuesday 12th June. Click here for more details of these screenings. More details on distribution elsewhere will follow.