Males are Toxic: A Masculine Critique of Ayad Akhtar’s Play The Who & The What

Abstract

Hegemonic and toxic traits of masculinity are complex concepts that have affected personal relationships and social hierarchies for centuries. The play The Who & The What by Ayad Akhtar presents these traits through the male character, Afzal, a Pakistani American citizen whose traditional culture and modern American lifestyle, lead him to adopt these forms of masculinity. Therefore, the present study basically aims to examine the impact of Afzal’s masculinity in Akhtar’s play The Who & The What on his daughters, Zarina and Mahwish, as well as on Zarina’s husband, Eli. The Who & The What centers on Zarina, the female protagonist, who challenges her society by writing a novel titled The Who & The What, exploring the personal life of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH). As the play progresses, her father, Afzal, opposes her and anyone who crosses the limits set by their traditional Arab-Muslim culture. However, employing the notions of Hegemonic Masculinity by R. W. Connell and the Toxic Theory of Masculinity as proposed by Terry A. Kupers provides new lenses to analyze the text of the play. Thus, the present study reveals that Afzal’s actions reflect certain hegemonic and toxic aspects such as authority, domination, control, superiority, and making decisions for others.