This thesis aimed to analyze how men and masculinity were portrayed in The Hunger Games. I intended to investigate the most salient masculine characters. I also wanted to analyse the one-on-one interactions between men as well as their group interactions. I sought to investigate if one could see any power relations between the male characters and if they were traditionally masculine or not in this interaction, and also if this book could be used for discussions in the work with the core values of the Swedish national curriculum. The questions used in the thesis were: ”How are the men portrayed, and how do they act, compared against a traditional masculinity norm?”, ”What happens in the homosocial interaction between the men?”, and ”How do the men treat Katniss, seen from a masculinity perspective?” The theories used in the analysis were found within the field of masculinity studies. Hegemonic masculinity theory was the first one, and the second theory was the theoretical framework of traditional masculinity ideologies by Mahalik et al., specifically the measurement tool of CMNI – Conformity to Masculinity Norm Inventory. The method used to collect the data for the analysis was Close Reading. In the analysis I compared the men to a set of masculinity norms. The measurement tool was the norm inventory of CMNI. The results of the analysis found that at all the men in the study lived in accordance with at least some of the traditional masculinity norms. Out of the four men analysed, three of them had a gender equal relationship with the female lead character. Some men in the book were shown to act based on a patriarchal power structure. It was found that the men who acted in accordance with this structure were conforming more to the traditional masculity norms in their interaction with other men than in their interaction with women.

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, Dramatic Arts, 2013 / Gender based sexual violence against women has become epidemic in South Africa. This study attempts to explore the pedagogical approach of Applied Drama as a qualitative behavioural change programme for adolescent black males. This Practice-based Research Report investigates the efficacy of Applied Drama as a tool to address male adolescent perceptions toward their female counterparts, with particular reference to the case study of Izenzo Community College, Hillbrow, South Africa. The research consisted of a Participation Action Research exploration in three phases over a year, culminating in a Practice-based examination and followed by this written research report. The study argues that Applied Drama is a powerful tool to encourage dialogue amongst adolescent males about complex subject-matter. Chapter One introduces the reader to Izenzo, the framework of the study, and the narrative of the researcher/facilitator. Chapter Two interrogates masculinities in contemporary South Africa. Chapter Three introduces the research problem and methodology, and Chapter Four discusses the two initial phases of research. This highlights the trajectory of research that resulted in the final phase of research that is explored in detail in Chapter Five. Chapter Six analyses the nature of Applied Drama in relation to masculinities. This study affirms the role of Applied Drama as a meaningful approach to tackling the rising crisis of gender based sexual violence in South Africa. It emphasises the central role of the facilitator as the implementer of Applied Drama as a facilitation process that enhances dialogue for change.

Student Number :0318744F - MA research report - School of Arts - Faculty of Humanities / Title: LIVING DANGEROUSLY Subtitle: HIV/Aids, masculinity and the post-apartheid generation: A case study AIM: to investigate via the story of one young South African man the complexity of dealing with HIV/Aids in South Africa. RATIONALE: With the ending of apartheid and the rise of HIV/Aids, there has been a clear crisis of masculinity in the wake of social change. Government response to the epidemic has been ambiguous. Fana Khaba, aka Yfm DJ Khabzela, was the first young black celebrity to publicly declare he had Aids. I plan to follow his story and to look at HIV/Aids campaigns and to examine why they are not working. METHODOLOGY: Through a literature review, an examination of statistics and public health messaging on HIV/Aids and my investigation into the life of Fana Khaba, I will show the complexities currently not being considered in the compilation of public health messaging. The reason I chose to follow the story of Fana Khaba is because I am a South African deeply concerned about HIV/Aids. I found his life compelling because it encapsulated so much of the rapid and intense culture shift that followed the arrival of democracy in 1994. And because his life echoed that of a pivotal generation in the apartheid struggle: the generation who grew up in Soweto in the seventies and eighties and came to adulthood with democracy. The so-called “lost generation” who later became known as the “Y generation”, they are deeply affected by the pandemic. I intend to show that Fana Khaba was a hugely popular iconic figure for the generation because he spoke to their aspirations and their anxieties. I will argue that because his life experience resonated so strongly with this generation, it is reasonable to draw more general lessons from it. The chief executive officer of Yfm was a friend of mine and, through him, I am able to gain access to Khabzela, his family, friends and colleagues at Yfm. This is an exceptional opportunity to gain an inside view of a life not readily available to relative outsiders such as myself. Clearly there is an ethical issue here. I will at all times keep my interviewees informed about the purpose of my research. I hope to help shed light on this anguished, important and under-debated sphere of life in South Africa.. The format I choose is part investigative journalism, part biography. The reason for this is that I have worked as a journalist for 25 years so all my skills and training point me in that direction. I wanted to make it accessible in order to reach as many people as possible. The narrative-biographical form is conducive to this because it is easy to engage with. In order to give the narrative tension and focus, I shall repeatedly employ the central question of why Fana Khaba refused to take the anti-retrovirals which might have saved his life.

I hereby declare that this research report Is my own work. It is being submitted for the degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other university. / This study is a constructive application of Feather's (1985) investigation of the relationship between masculinity, femininity, self-esteem and subclinical depression. As such, it aimed at testing the generaliseability of Feather's finding that self-esteem is "a crucial variable to consider when accounting for the negative linkage between masculinity and depressive symptoms" (Feather 1985 p 498). Data was collected by means of questionnaires administered to English-speakirlg, unmarried, "white", female students (age range 19 - 23) registered at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). The subjects were all studying English at the second or third year level and at least one of each subject's parents was employed in a professional or managerial capacity. The questionnaire consisted of a form obtaining biographical information, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (the latter rneasuring masculinity and femininity). Complete data was obtained for 103 students. Questionnaires were completed in the subject's own time. Results obtained from the calculated statistics (descriptive, correlation, partial correlation and analysis of variance) led to the conclusion that Feather's principal findings can be ganeralised, at least to the student population investigated here. Hence, given the potential implications of Feather's research for intervention in and prevention of depression, additional effort is Justified to investigate the assumed causal relationship underlying his work and to focus upon clinically depressed individuals. Perhaps the chief conclusion arising from this study, however, is that the nature of the relationship between sex-role orientation and psychological well-belnq needs to be more fully explicated to account adequately for the complexity of psychological life. More specifically, for example, there is a need to define the roles of various mediating variables other than self-esteem in the relationship between sex-role orlentatlon and psychological well-being. It is suggested that a combination of a qualitative with a quantitative approach may be necessary to adequately account for the complexity of the area . / Andrew Chakane 2018

Student Number : 9900639H - MA research report - School of Dramatic Art - Faculty of Humanities / This report is concerned with analysing the cinematic representations of the ‘township space’ and its articulation of black masculinity in two post apartheid South African films – Wooden Camera directed by Ntshaveni Wa Luruli and Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood. I argue that the ‘township space’ has become a fetishised cinematic trope in post-apartheid South African filmmaking. Cinematic representation’s of the space of the township articulates the performance of black identity associated with criminality, excessive violence and deviancy relegating the black experience to one of ‘otherness’. In this report I argue that the ‘Cinematic Township’ predetermines a black identity that appears to be shot through a colonial lens, or from an ‘outsider’s point-of-view’. This space developed on the fringes of major cities was developed - through Afrikaner Nationalist Ideologies - as a ‘port’ into major cities. The township was constructed through a process of ‘othering’ and is often represented as the manageable part of modernity for ‘black identity’. Cinematically there appears to be a ‘fixing’ or ‘freezing’ of an authentic black experience within the ‘township space’ that essentialises black identity and the black experience. Apart from analysing the cinematic representations of the ‘township space’ and the manner in which space determines sexuality and identity, this report speaks to issues of representation and who can claim the rights to representation in post-apartheid South Africa (Thiong’o, 2000 and Axel, 1999). The South African filmmaking landscape is unique because of the interesting mix of ‘white’ and ‘black’ filmmakers. This raises questions about ‘Racialised Africanness’ and what are the implications for ‘African whiteness’? These are important issues in relation to the South African post-apartheid body politic and the role of the filmmaker in post-apartheid South African cinema. In this paper I suggest that the cinematic township is representative of the fetishisation of the ‘township space’ in the imagination and representations of post-apartheid filmmakers. The ‘township space’ has transcended its political memory and appears to be invested with nostalgia and myth-making.

Thesis advisor: Ana M. Martínez-Alemán / The purpose of this study of college men of faith was to posit a theory of the intersection of masculinity and faith in college men’s identity. This study was conducted from a social constructivist epistemological paradigm through an intersectionality social justice theoretical lens utilizing a constructivist grounded theory methodology. The following research questions guided this study: (a) how do masculinity and faith identities intersect in college men who actively participate in faith-based communities, and (b) how does this intersection inform college men’s development? Two interviews were conducted with twelve Christian college men from Catholic and Protestant traditions at two large, four-year, highly residential, and high research activity universities in the Northeast with parallel offerings for faith-based communities. The theory that emerged from this study was grounded in the participants’ experiences at the intersection of masculinity and faith in college men’s identity through constant interaction with cultural expectations of them as men of faith. In order to meet these expectations at the intersection of masculinity and faith, participants described a meaning-making process of accountability and affirmation, where they negotiated masculinity and faith identities and were more likely to receive accountability and affirmation from their faith communities than a hypersexualized and very individualistic masculine culture, which resulted in a greater conformance to faith and religious principles. Through this process, participants were able to create a more harmonious identity at the intersection of masculinity and faith. The theory of accountability and affirmation is present in three major themes of this study: (a) family and relationships; (b) career, calling, and vocation; and (c) sex and sexuality. The theory of the intersection of masculinity and faith in college men’s identity has implications relevant to theory development, student affairs and campus ministry practice, and future research. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: James R. Mahalik / Epidemiological studies consistently identify markedly higher rates of depression and anxiety in women than in men. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema's (1991) response styles theory posits that women's higher use of rumination contributes to these differences in rates of depression. The purpose of this dissertation was to extend this theory with the inclusion of conformity to gender role norms as a meaningful predictor of women's and men's tendencies to use of a variety of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, including rumination. The current study also sought to examine relationships among cognitive emotion regulation strategies and both depression and anxiety. Adult women and men (N = 754) completed an online survey including measures of conformity to masculine and feminine gender role norms, 10 cognitive emotion regulation strategies (rumination, distraction, self-blame, acceptance, positive refocusing, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, catastrophizing, and other-blame), depression, and anxiety. Results of regression analyses indicated that use of particular cognitive emotion regulation strategies predicted levels of depression and anxiety. Specifically, self-blame, rumination, and distraction were associated with higher levels of both depression and anxiety. Other-blame was also associated with higher levels of anxiety. In contrast, acceptance and refocusing on planning were associated with lower anxiety scores. Women were more likely, by a small margin, to endorse use of both rumination and distraction, however, significant sex differences in reported levels of depression and anxiety were not found. Further, conformity to gender role norms did not explain the sex differences that were found in the use of rumination and distraction. Finally, analysis of a structural equation model, designed to examine an extended version of response styles theory, supported the regression findings and provided additional information about the relationships among conformity to gender role norms, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and symptoms of depression. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are discussed, including the importance of exploring alternative meaningful components of within-group variability for women and men. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Anderson J. Franklin / Referencing Ralph Waldo Ellison's 1952 novel Invisible Man, psychologist Anderson J. Franklin has proposed that the "invisibility" detailed in Ellison's work--the experience of having one's true sense of self rendered invisible by racial stereotypes--is not only a very real experience encountered by Black men in contemporary society, but one that can serve to confound their relationships and personal sense of agency. To better understand the experience of invisibility, the current study utilizes a multiple-case, case study approach to analyze several videotaped sessions of a therapeutic support group organized specifically to address race-related stressors in the lives of the Black male participants. The transcripts of each session are analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis, an analytical approach that investigates actors' language, its implicit meanings and assumptions, and the manner in which it reflects power differentials operative in society. The findings of the study reveal the presence of an intra-racial, as well as an internalized form of invisibility not currently found in the literature pertaining to Franklin's theory of invisibility. Further, the current study expands our understanding of how invisibility is experienced by Black men by identifying a variety of strategies used by members of the support group to counter those experiences and become "seen." Finally, the fact that the group was largely comprised of college-educated, professional Black men yields valuable insights regarding the race-related, emotional functioning of an infrequently studied population. The study's findings are discussed in terms of their implications for group as well as individual mental health service delivery for Black men. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Shawn McGuffey / This paper provides a look into the lives of 13 stay-at-home fathers. This qualitative, exploratory study conducted in-depth interviews with 13 men who defined themselves as stay-at-home fathers. Respondents were obtained through convenience sampling. Fathers were from several major metropolitan U.S. cities, from New York, Los Angeles, Boston, to Washington, D.C. All respondents were white, middle- to upper-middle class males. This study aims to analyze gender through the theories of “doing gender” (West and Zimmerman, 1987) and structuralism (Risman, 1998). This paper argues that what dictates an individual to become a successful parent is not sex or a biological desire, but structural and situational demands. Due to financial reasons and time availability, these men were able to commit the time and energy needed to become a full-time parent. This paper also analyzes the different ways in which men construct masculinity when taking on an untraditional role. Stay-at-home fathers emphasize physical activity, sports, and a lack of emotional connection as a way of maintaining and constructing masculinity. This paper concludes that gender is not only socially constructed, but also that gender is constructed within the structural demands of the situation. Although stay-at-home fathers still find ways to construct masculinity, their stories demonstrate that they are just as capable as women to rise up to the challenges of full-time parenting. In conclusion, this study argues that good parenting knows no gender, and that government policies and programs should advocate for all different family structures. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.