Villain, Victim, Hero or Creep: The fear of violence amongst middle class men in urban India

Abstract

This thesis concerns Indian middle class men s fear of violence in public spaces. It attempts to broaden the perspective of the implications of fear of violence. Both the public and academic discourses on violence in public spaces in India are centered on the notion of the female victim. In this thesis I argue that we need to open up a strict binary understanding of only women as vulnerable and affected by the fear of crime in public spaces. I discuss the gendered implications of different types of violence, and how different identity categories that cut across gender, have an impact on middle class men s fear. In addition to this I assess how the fear for others safety and the masculine ideal of being a protector has an impact on men s personal fear of violence. Because there is no research on men s fear of crime in an Indian context I have supported my analyses with three theoretical frameworks, all relevant in different ways. This is the research on masculinity in India, the research on men and fear from the West, and the research on middle class women and fear of crime in India. My own research consists of data collected through a survey where 98 men and women participated, and interviews with men who are involved in initiatives for safer cities. To understand how fear of violence in public spaces is affecting lives in India, it is necessary to not restrict ourselves to only women s narratives. This thesis is an attempt at putting men s fear of violence on the agenda, and hopefully it contributes to a widening of the understanding of fear of violence in public spaces.