When Varun Grover’s fans noticed his nail paints for the first time, they had a mixed response. Women were fine. Some men were aghast.
He replied —
Most people want to know why nail paint. Which tells me this is one of the frontiers of masculinity. Long hair, ear-studs, sensitivity — all have been accepted by men as unisex but nail-paint is still crossing the line.
His choice of words “frontiers of masculinity” reminded me of Overton Window, also known as the window of discourse.
Overton Window is a spectrum of ideas that are socially acceptable at any given time on a particular topic.
The term is named after the American policy analyst Joseph Overton, who proposed that an idea's political viability depends mainly on whether it falls within this spectrum.
Look at this official portrait of King Louis XIV of France. Long wig, stockings, high-heeled shoes, dancer’s posture — none of these square with the contemporary measures of masculinity.
Yuval Harari, in his book Sapiens, describes Louis as the European paragon of manhood and virility in the eighteenth century.
The Overton Window is dynamic, shifting and stretching over time in response to changes in people's perspectives on an issue.
Commenting on twenty-first-century masuclinity (taking Barack Obama’s official picture as example), Harari writes —
Dominant men have never looked so dull and dreary as they do today. During most of history, dominant men have been colourful and flamboyant, such as American Indian chiefs with their feathered headdresses and Hindu maharajas decked out in silks and diamondsd. Throughout the animal kingdom males tend to be more colourful and accessorised than females — think of peacocks’ tails and lions’ manes.
Imagine Overton Window as a barometer of the public opinion. Its utility lies in understanding which ideas in a society are more likely to graduate to the level of a policy or a law.
Three simple illustrations from the book We, the Citizens, capture this beautifully.
The thing about Overton Window is that it’s a slow moving. It’s a function of public debate and cultural discourse. The window shifts one conversation at a time.