Heterosexual relationships among young black men in the construction of masculinity at a South African university

ABSTRACT

Drawing on interviews conducted with young men residing in a hostel in a tertiary institution in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in 2016, this article explores young black men’s construction of masculine sexuality, their approaches to romantic relationships, and responsibility within them. Through the use of semi-structured interviews conducted with young black men, the study investigated the relationship between the social construction of masculinities and the way in which these young men understood, talked about, and explained their views and actions regarding romance and sexuality. The study focuses on the voices of acceptance and resistance to traditional, patriarchal versions of manhood and the variations in men’s discourses and ways of being. It highlights through these voices that heterosexual masculinities are not inherently reckless, impassive, and uncaring, but are situationally and contextually constructed. The findings reveal that while the young men inhabited subject positions offered by traditional discourses of heterosexual masculinity, at the same time they also contested these dominant discourses in the complex and multifarious processes through which these young men constituted their identity.     

Queer youth,intoxication and queer drinking spaces

Research on intoxicating substances and gender has developed considerably in the last 30 years, especially in the social sciences as feminist scholars highlighted the contradictory discourses about young women’s intoxication. Nevertheless, there still remain significant gaps if we are to fully understand the role and meaning of intoxication for all young people and not merely for heterosexual, cisgender young people. As a way of exploring the possible limitations of this legacy, we will examine the qualitative data from 52 in-depth interviews with self-identified LGBTQ young people. Our analysis explores the relationships between meanings of intoxication and sexual and gender identities, drinking spaces, and the extent to which notions of masculinity and femininity influence alcohol consumption and drinking practices among LGBTQ youth. As gender expressions among young people, especially those who identify as LGBTQ, become increasingly nuanced and fluid, understanding the role of social and cultural practices of alcohol consumption in the performance of sexual and gender identities may increase our understanding of the ways in which sexuality and gender influence alcohol consumption.     

Accounting for Men’s Refusal of Heterosex: A Story-Completion Study With Young Adults

In the present study we bring together theory regarding the construction of heterosexuality and masculinities to understand the shifting and changing terrain of heterosexual sex (heterosex). We use inductive qualitative content analysis of story completion data to discover the different ways that heterosex is constructed by the male and female respondents in scenarios where women initiate sex and men, at first, refuse. The stories represented a spectrum of responses that reify and subvert dominant understandings of heterosex. Five major themes were generated from the current data (1) men should initiate sex, (2) he wants to take it slowly, (3) it is natural for men to want sex, (4) it is men’s job to look after women, and (5) coercion. We discuss in detail the dominant narratives described by women and men and how they may be shifting. The study thus provides a rich, experience-based representation of heterosexual sexual activity and suggests subtle shifts in how masculinity is managed within heterosexual relationships.     

‘How to be a rural man’: Young men's performances and negotiations of rural masculinities

This paper is concerned with young rural men and how they ‘do’ identity politics living in a rural area of Norway. Focusing on how masculinity and rurality are constructed and interrelated in young men's narratives of living in a remote community, it is identified that young rural men reproduce, negotiate and transform local discourses of rural masculinity. First, the article shows that young men living in rural areas believe it is important to express rural masculinity through hunting and outdoor life as well as by exhibiting skills as handymen. Second, it reveals that it is important for young rural men to communicate a particular stance in the ongoing and controversial Norwegian debate over snowmobiles and carnivores, as these topics are related to rural men's sense of loyalty to place. Third, the article shows how rural men negotiate ‘the tough man’ images related to hunting, motors and handyman skills by constructing new and alternative masculinities. The analysis reveals that young rural men enact alternative masculinities, expressed in relation to new working life opportunities in the service sector, through emotional openness and caring, and in relation to traditional ‘masculine spaces’ such as hunting and snowmobiling. It is concluded that, little by little, rural communities are opening up for more flexible masculinities.     

Queering the Home

Abstract

In the West, the private sphere of the home is traditionally associated with the heterosexual nuclear family. Through social, cultural, and legal processes, the heterosexual bond has been constructed as central to the family home. Despite these dominant discourses, the home is also a space in which heteronormativity (or the unacknowledged assumption that heterosexuality is the natural and normal form of sexuality) may be subverted. This article considers how the domestic lives of lesbian and gay couples in England challenge the heteronormativity prevalent in dominant discourses of the home. Drawing on in-depth interviews with lesbians and gay men, the article continues to extend and build on the existing literature on queer domesticity by focusing on how lesbian and gay couples divide and understand domestic labor in their homes. The perceived normativity of coupled domesticity and childrearing means that on the one hand the lesbian and gay participants in this study could be seen to fit in with normative ideals of domestic family life. On the other hand, I show how these couples subvert heteronormative assumptions about gendered household practices through their approaches and attitudes towards domestic labor and parenting. In particular, the article focuses on the complex ways in which lesbian and gay couples destabilize traditional domestic gender roles and queer the spaces of the home through the seemingly unremarkable, mundane practices and negotiations of domestic labor and childcare.     

The Cultural Construction of Heterosexual Identities

In this article, the author reviews current scholarship on the cultural construction of heterosexual identities. Specifically, this article examines current research on how heterosexual identities are (i) central to the production of the ritual practices of marriages, weddings and high school proms; (ii) ever more salient due to increases in lesbian and gay visibility in America; and (iii) formed through their relationship with constructions of masculinity and discourses of homophobia. Finally, I briefly discuss new scholarship on queer heterosexualities as a way to illustrate how queer cultural studies are influencing the field of sexualities studies more generally.     

A social semiotic analysis of male heterosexuality in sexual health resources: the case of images

This paper describes the application of the visual social semiotics schema developed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) to sexual health leaflets and posters for young people (age 13 to 19 years) in order to explore how male heterosexuality is managed at a visual level. It illustrates the use of the method, and its advantages and drawbacks in comparison with other methods, and highlights the importance of visual representations as a source of sociological data. This analysis shows how social semiotics can be applied to reveal the discourses in images, and how sexual health materials reinforce dominant ideologies of masculinity. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the potential effectiveness of sexual health materials.     

Real men, real husbands: Caregiving and masculinities in later life

Drawing on data from in-depth personal interviews with a sample of fifty-three older men caring for their impaired wives, authors report findings on these men's caregiving experience, specifically on the way they see themselves as men within such role. Through analytic methods based upon content analysis and open coding, authors found that when describing their gendered understanding of themselves participants evidenced several negotiations with the dominant masculine ideology in order to maintain their sense of masculinity and legitimate their presence in a feminine role. This was accomplished by reframing their definition of a man and reinforcing that of a husband and by retaining varying degrees of power over the caregiving relationship. The social visibility of the role within particular gendered community-based social networks was found to be important in shaping these older men's masculinities.     

“I've been independent for so damn long!”: Independence, masculinity and aging in a help seeking context

This paper draws on semi-structured interviews conducted with 36 older men to examine how older men's understandings of independence relate to their help seeking behaviours and health service use. We argue that discourses of masculinity and successful aging are both represented in men's talk about independence. Recognising that these discourses are intertwined is important for understanding how older men seek help and use health services. We outline the practice and policy implications of viewing older men's help seeking behaviours in this way, and how it might be useful for promoting older men's health.     

New masculinities in universities? Discourses,ambivalence and potential change

In this article, we explore forms and possible implications of new masculinities in universities, and elucidate how they relate to hegemonic masculinity. ‘New masculinities’ coins a particular tradition of naming in Nordic masculinity studies. In the Nordic context, gendered social relations are shaped by State policies and equality discourses, which are increasingly embracing father‐friendly initiatives. New masculinities refers to the increased involvement of men in caring practices and especially in fathering. Our empirical study comprises in‐depth interviews with young male academics in a Finnish business school. We elucidate, first, the ambivalence and struggles between masculinities in the discourses of these men and, second, how the construction of masculinities is specific to societal, sociocultural and local contexts. Relations of class, and middle‐class notions of the ‘good life’ in particular, emerge as central for understanding the experiences of these men. Beyond the Nordic countries, we argue that while the change potential of caring masculinity stems from particular contexts, the concept of new masculinities is helpful in capturing the ambivalence and struggles between hegemonic and caring masculinities rather than dismissing the latter as subordinate to the former.     

“It Takes a Man to Put Me on the Bottom”: Gay Men’s Experiences of Masculinity and Anal Intercourse

In anal intercourse between gay men, men who are typically insertive (“tops”) are often perceived as, and may identify as, more masculine than those who are typically receptive (“bottoms”). “Versatile” men, who may adopt either position, may be perceived as more gender balanced and may transcend the gender-role stereotypes associated with self-labeling as top or bottom. The aim of this study was to explore how gay men’s beliefs about masculinity were associated with their beliefs about the gendered nature of sexual self-labels and their behavior in anal intercourse. Individual semistructured interviews were undertaken with 17 UK-based gay men. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) identified that perceptions of tops and bottoms as gendered social identities varied depending on the extent to which gay men subscribed to the mandates of hegemonic masculinity, the dominant masculinity in Western society. The findings also suggested that some gay men differentiated between top and bottom as social identities and topping and bottoming as gendered behaviors. This had implications for gay men’s behaviors in anal intercourse. It is suggested that future efforts to engage with gay men about their sexual behavior should account for their beliefs regarding the gender-role stereotypes associated with gay sexual self-labels.     

Editorial

Most gender and development researchers and practitioners are not used to focusing upon men, men's sense of masculinity, and the relevance of that for development. While discussion of gender has tended to dwell upon women as they relate to various issues, only recently have debates on economic and social policy, as well as the future of the family, begun to examine and accommodate men's gender identity. Men and masculinity, however, need to be studied if power relations between men and women are to be changed for the better, and the potential of individuals of both sexes is to be realized. Development research and practice have tended to marginalize the issues of men and masculinity, while researchers from other disciplines such as sociology, cultural studies, and anthropology have increasingly shown interest in studying men's gender identity and roles. This article discusses some of the relevant published literature in sections on linking the practical with the ideological; men's roles as biological fathers, economic providers for families, and social fathers; status, power, and violence; readjusting the sexual division of labor; men's attitudes on fertility; and harnessing men's potential.     

Network position and sexual dysfunction: implications of partner betweenness for men

This article combines relational perspectives on gender identity with social network structural perspectives on health to understand men's sexual functioning. The authors argue that network positions that afford independence and control over social resources are consistent with traditional masculine roles and may therefore affect men's sexual performance. For example, when a heterosexual man's female partner has more frequent contact with his confidants than he does--which the authors refer to as partner betweenness--his relational autonomy, privacy, and control are constrained. Analyses of data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) show that about a quarter of men experience partner betweennessa and that these men are 92% more likely to report erectile dysfunction. Partner betweenness is strongest among the youngest men in the sample, which may reflect changing conceptions of masculinity in later life. The authors consider several explanations for these findings and urge additional research on the links between health, gender, and network structure.     

Migration,masculinity and social class: Insights from Pikine,Senegal

In the shattered economy of Dakar, many young men feel stuck in prolonged bachelorhood. Handed‐down role expectations can often not be met due to dire economic prospects. Drawing on fieldwork in Pikine, an urban area within the Dakar region of Senegal, between 2011 and 2013, this article reflects upon the relation between risk, migration, social class and masculinity. Through migration to unknown destinations and by enduring the many challenges and hardships associated with it, in the hope of eventually reaching a higher social class upon return, young men wish to fix and rewrite their masculine identities. To pursue this aim even the oddest job in Europe becomes acceptable. At home, however, many work opportunities are considered to be beneath their social class. Most male urbanites seek jobs that are rewarded with respect and authority, and often assemble their choices about pursuing certain income‐generating activities considering notions of class.     

Men,masculinities, and the politics of development

Gender identity is clearly as much of an issue for men as it is for women. However, that fact is just beginning to be recognized in development practice and mainstream development still takes men's gender identities for granted. While some women may benefit from their position in a patriarchal society, some men are disadvantaged. Certain men benefit more than others in society since gender identity cuts across other forms of social differentiation, including race, age, and economic class. Each man has varying success in conforming to the norms of masculinity, depending upon experience, upbringing, and external context. Agencies and analysts should seriously consider how men's self-perception in society affects development outcomes and challenges existing approaches to work on gender issues. Including men and masculinities in the gender perspective should broaden and deepen the understanding of power and inequality between both men and women as well as in other social relationships, increasing the effectiveness of development interventions.     

Men,masculinity and "gender in development"

Articles and training materials on gender issues always talk about women. This focus is logical given the main goal of fostering the involvement of women as equal partners in the development process. The problems faced by men are rarely considered. Moreover, gender training, one of the core strategies of gender and development practice, rarely addresses men's experiences as men. By ignoring the complexities of the male experience, characterizing men as the problem, and continuing to focus upon women as the oppressed, development initiatives attempting to be gender-aware can fail to effectively address the issues of equity and empowerment. The author focuses upon the implications of recent work in feminist theory and questions of masculinity, stressing the need to consider the complex and variable nature of gender identities, and to work with men in exploring the constraints of dominant models of masculinity.     

The Girl Hunt: Urban Nightlife and the Performance of Masculinity as Collective Activity

The purpose of this article is to document the collective nature of gender performance and sexual pursuit, activities typically associated with individual rather than group behavior. Drawing on narrative accounts, I analyze how young heterosexual male students employ the power of collective rituals of homosociality to perform sexual competence and masculine identity by “girl hunting” in the context of urban nightlife. These rituals are designed to reinforce dominant sexual myths and expectations of masculine behavior, boost confidence in one's performance of masculinity and heterosexual power, and assist in the performance of masculinity in the presence of women. This analysis illustrates how contemporary courtship rituals operate as collective strategies of impression management that men perform not only for women but for other men. In doing so, interaction rituals associated with the girl hunt reproduce structures of inequality within as well as across the socially constructed gender divide between women and men.