Making Heroes, Mocking Women: Digital Discourses of Political Masculinity and Gendered Derogation in Kashmir

This paper examines the production and performance of political masculinities in Kashmir's evolving political landscape, tracing how legitimacy, authority, and resistance are gendered across two key moments: the pre-2019 period, when Mehbooba Mufti became the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and the post-2019 period following the abrogation of Article 370. While male politicians such as Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, Waheed Para, Omar Abdullah, and Sajad Lone are widely celebrated as “authentic,” “brave,” and “principled,” female political actors—including Mehbooba Mufti, Iltija Mufti, Sakina Itoo, Hina Bhat, and other women in mainstream and regional parties—face disproportionate ridicule, moral judgment, and symbolic erasure. The study, based on a critical digital discourse analysis of public comments on X (Twitter), demonstrates how political legitimacy in Kashmir is routinely masculinised, with femininity framed as fundamentally incompatible with “serious” leadership even among politicians sharing the same ideology, party, or experience. Theoretically, the paper brings together Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity with Acker's feminist institutionalism and postcolonial critiques of gendered nationalism in arguing that conflict-affected politics have increased the demand for strong, heroic male figures. Rather than treating masculinity as a characteristic of male bodies, the paper conceptualises it as a political performance that is embedded in media narratives, voter expectations, and party hierarchies. By locating Kashmir as a site where gendered power is hyper-visible and undertheorized, the paper presses a feminist critique of masculinities structuring political authority in postcolonial contexts.