Desire and Denial: Masculinity Crisis and the Politics of Intimacy in Red Lipstick: The Men in My Life by Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

Abstract

The present research explores the issue of intimacy and masculinity crisis in Laxmi Narayan Tripathi's memoir titled Red Lipstick: The Men in My Life (2016) using the theory of hegemonic masculinity by R.W. Connell. According to the paper's main postulate, hegemonic masculinity constructed by society in India is inherently fragile in its confrontation with male lust for a transgender person. Using qualitative textual analysis, the research detects the presence of four major themes in Red Lipstick (i.e., desire and denial, secrecy, power disparity, and emotional labour). Based on these themes, it is possible to conclude that the characters of the men depicted in the book tend to pursue intimacy in private and disown it publicly in compulsive manner. By referring briefly to the ideas of Butler regarding gender performativity and Sedgwick about the closet, the paper demonstrates that Red Lipstick becomes an essential field for understanding the disruption of hegemonic masculinity due to the presence of transgender individuals.