Hegemonic masculinity (HM) is considered by many boys and men to be the "gold standard" of masculinity to which they are expected to conform (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). However, many boys feel that they fall short of this standard and are thus challenged to negotiate their sense of masculinity through positioning themselves in relation to masculine standards in various ways (Wetherell & Edley, 1999). This research therefore aims to explore the process of subject positioning in relation to HM and, if it occurs, the process of successfully aligning masculine identity with alternative (non-hegemonic) forms of masculinity. Eight late adolescent boys from rural KwaZulu-Natal were interviewed, and the data were qualitatively analysed by focussing on the boys' narratives used to describe masculinity and how they position themselves in relation to the various norms of masculinity. The results indicate that these boys did not show signs of having non-hegemonic masculinities. However, all boys reframed HM into a new discourse still based on the acceptance of the hegemonic domination over women and femininity (including less masculine boys), while disavowing practices relating to alcohol use, crime and risky sexual practices. This discourse represented a sanitised version of HM. It was suggested that boys maintain these multiple versions of masculinity in parallel, and use psychological splitting to maintain them. Soccer emerged as serving an important function for the creation and maintenance of these sanitised masculinities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Violence in South Africa is a serious problem and young men have been and still are the driving force behind the high levels of violence in South Africa. Although young men commit the most violence researchers have largely neglected the critical examination of young men and their association with violence. This study set out to examine this phenomenon by conducting focus group and group interviews with 23 adolescent boys between the ages of 14-16. The boys were selected from two schools in the Cape region. Two focus groups and one group interview was conducted in order to gain insight from the participants on what they thought were the motivations for young mens‟ tendencies to enact violence. As a result, various themes emerged from the participants responses. The participants provided rich descriptions about what they thought motivated men to enact violence. Overwhelmingly all the themes highlighted that men and boys who endorse traditional dominant ideals of masculinity that encourage toughness, dominance and willingness to resort to violence were more likely to enact violence. However, what was apparent was that for most boys violence played an integral part in the construction of their masculinity. It was defining characteristic of what it meant to be a man. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geweld in Suid-Afrika is 'n ernstige probleem en jong mans was en is nog steeds die dryfkrag agter die hoë vlakke van geweld in Suid-Afrika. Ten spyte van jong mans se beeld as oortreders van geweld is jong mans se geweld deur navorsers geïgnoreer. Hierdie studie het 'n ondersoek gedoen om uit te vind wat die motivering is wat sommige jong mans na geweld toe dryf. As gevolg, het hierdie studie 23 adolessente jong mans tussen die ouderdom van 14 tot 16 'n onderhoud met hulle waargeneem. Die seuns is gekies uit twee skole in die Kaapse streek. Twee fokusgroepe en een groep onderhoud is uitgevoer met die adolessente seuns om 'n begrip te kry van hierdie fenoneem. Verskeie temas is uit die deelnemers antwoorde geneem. In al die temas kon ek aflei dat mans en seuns wat die tradisionele dominerende ideale van manlikheid omhels is meer geneig om geweld uitgevoer. Wat egter duidelik is vir die meeste seuns is dat geweld 'n integrale deel is in die konstruksie van hul manlikheid. Dit is 'n kenmerk van wat dit beteken om 'n man te wees.

This study explored the negotiation of masculine identities among male adolescent rugby players within South Africa, using the brief of "What it means to be a young man in South Africa today". Of particular interest was the way in which young men engaged with concepts of hegemonic masculinity and how they positioned their own and others' gender identities in relation to this. A total of 14 adolescent boys participated in two focus groups with the topic of masculinity as a discussion point. The research was situated within a qualitative research paradigm which allowed for the exploration, description and interpretation of the data generated during the focus groups. Two focus groups were held, with 10 and 4 participants in each group respectively. The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was analysed using a critical thematic analysis, in order to establish central themes within the data. Four prominent themes were indentified: the male body; aspirational role models; engagement and interaction with the feminine; and negotiation of alternative masculinities. Each theme was discussed and expanded on using appropriate theory. The study highlights how the young men actively engaged with the negotiation of their gendered identities, raising critical questions regarding the acceptance of many hegemonic or dominant forms of expression of masculinity. It was also noted that while there was engagement and debate surrounding the construction of gender identities, a rather conventional hegemonic form of masculinity was still largely regarded as the ideal. An interesting finding in the study was that while many of the young men prized a more hegemonic conception of masculinity, alternative forms were engaged and identified with, and at times were incorporated into a more fluid understanding and expression of gender identity.

This qualitative research identified constructions of masculinity among seven adolescent boys who were HIV positive, purposively sampled from the age range of 13 to 16 years and were members of a clinic-based HIV support groups. Central to this research was the critical use of the concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, defined as the legitmation of gendered power through masculinity ideals, embodied practices and imperatives. The framework of dialogical self theory was used for exploring the dynamics of individual and group positioning around hegemonic masculinity and this theory was compared with other approaches such as discursive theory. Using multiple research methods within a qualitative design, this research identified individual and group ideals and practices held by the adolescent boys, with a key focus on how young men maintained ‘positions’ in relation to hegemonic masculinity, be these forms of masculinity that retained complete or partial identification with hegemonic masculinity or versions of masculinity that were alternative to the hegemonic form. The study was situated at the intersection of masculinity with the experience of living with a chronic medical condition, and the relatively homogenous and small sample provided an indepth basis for understanding the instantiation of masculine identity in a situation of fairly unique challenges and complexity. A combination of semi-structured interviews, focus groups, autophotography, reflective writing, biographical drawings and biographical interviews were used to match an interpretive, inductive research process, with reflexivity and research ethics as key considerations. Interviews were carried out by the researcher and two of the support group facilitators, creating an opportunity for reflexivity around the complexities of qualitative interviewing. Multiple methods of data analysis were used to analyse and ‘dialogue’ multi-sourced verbal and visual data. Thse methods consisted of thematic analysis, an adaptation of critical narrative analysis for selected texts and content analysis of visual data. The findings suggested that there were active processes of positioning masculine identity at individual and group levels and that positions in relation to hegemonic ideals were emotionally invested. Two hegemonic versions of young masculinity were identified as sets of ideal standards and embodied practices. ‘Township young masculinity’ was a peer-approved version identified with physical invulnerability, risk-taking and an ideal of attaining ‘influence and affluence’ through exceptional performances. ‘Aspirant young masculinity’ was a future orientation towards attaining a commodity masculinity, identified with an independent provider roles and signified through visible displays of ownership both material and symbolic. Interpreting findings from dialogical self theory, it appeared that some of the boys, at some times, established a distance from hegemonic imperatives by taking personally agentive, independent I-positions. This carried the risk of impulsively reacting to hegemonic imperatives without the support of collective identities and social relationships. Some boys developed Ipositions that were contradictory to produce new and more tenable I-positions. This process appeared to be more sustainable when it was connected with a group or collective identity such as being a member of the support group or being a person living with HIV. Some of the boys maintained alternatives through ‘metapositions’ that were made available through contexts or resources which offered alternative perspectives and possibilities. Dilemmas faced included managing the hegemonic imperative of being sexually active as an HIV positive young man or prioritising health where the hegemonic standard promoted physical risk-taking. It was apparent that despite interviewer expectations, the participants did not foreground an HIV positive identity but instead defined themselves foremostly as young men. One of the solutions to these dilemmas was to modify but maintain some alignment or identification with masculinity ideals. Here, the constraints of being HIV positive meant that maintaining health was more important than conforming to masculinity ideals or a reframing of masculinity within the physical, social and symbolic barriers of having a potentially life-threatening illness. The challenge of this solution was that its sustainability relied to a large extent on the availability of safe ‘dialogical’ spaces such as the HIV support group. Some of the boys found ‘principled’ alternatives to hegemonic masculinity from community or cultural values. Some of the boys identified with hegemonic standards but had to constantly defend against the anxiety of not being able to embody these hegemonic standards. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / While children are young, they look to their parents for all their needs; they expect them to have the answers to all their questions. When they enter adolescence they go in search of their own answers. If they do not find guidance at home or with other responsible adults within their community, they may start to look to their peers for advice, information, and direction. “Earlier work on gangs in South Africa has suggested that the effects of poverty and Apartheid’s massive social engineering created social stress to which gangs were a teenage response. The result of this uprooting and neglect is that the solid core of contributing adult members crumbles, and the institutions that provide the foundations of community fall apart. The community safety net is left in tatters. Parents, exhausted by long hours required to make ends meet or demoralized by their inability to cope with the hardships of poverty, may turn to drugs and alcohol. Kids are left on their own in …. adultless communities.” (Sarah Van Gelder as cited in Pinnock, 1997, p.5) To counteract these negative social patterns that prevail in disadvantaged communities, a community based intervention was conceptualised to provide youth at risk with a rites of passage diversion programme. In 2001, a programme called the Community Building Leadership Programme was developed and piloted by USIKO in partnership with the University of Stellenbosch and a peri-urban community in Jamestown, near Stellenbosch. Twenty-one boys (mentees) and thirteen men (mentors) from Jamestown and the surrounding areas were selected to be pioneers in this process. This thesis expounds the experiences and recommendations of the thirteen men who were the entrepreneurs of the first Jamestown USIKO Youth Project.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / In the context of poverty, political turmoil and HIV/AIDS, it has become more difficult for parents to take care of their children accordingly. This problem is especially pronounced in Africa and contributes to the formation of child- and youth-headed households (CYHHs). The emergence of such households places children and youth at risk of vulnerability to exploitation, poverty and lack of access to education and resources. This means that these children and youth need to fend and provide for themselves. Given the dominant position of boys in African cultures, they may be in a better position to take care of and provide for their families. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe and understand the gendered experiences of 12- to 14-year-old African male learners living in CYHHs and, based on this, to suggest possible support interventions to assist them. A qualitative multiple case study design was used, where seven male learners from the Soweto area participated in the data collection process. These learners were identified through a non-profit organisation (NPO) in the Soweto area. The data collection process included the use of individual interviews, collages, and essays. These were analysed using qualitative content analysis methods, as stipulated by Zhang and Wildemuth (2009). The study is explorative in nature and, given the issues of gender being addressed, a social constructionist paradigm was used. The theoretical framework included the works of two prominent theorists in the field of developmental psychology – Erikson (1963, 1968) and Nsamenang (1992, 2005, 2006). Erikson provides valuable insights into the psychosocial experiences of adolescents, whereas Nsamenang explains the relevance of development in an African context. Their ideas were used to understand the findings in relation to the development of the participants.

This study investigated the relationship between traditional masculine role norms, body image discrepancy, body appearance schemas, and sociocultural attitudes towards appearance in a sample of 495 Indian South African school going boys, between the ages of 13 and 18 years old. The main objective of this research study was to investigate the interrelationships between these variables in terms of how they relate to the experience of body image discrepancy for Indian males in the context of the regulatory norms and practices of traditional masculine ideology. Also examined were the traditional male role norms associated with the boys’ cognitive body appearance schemata. In addition this study attempted to identify the role played by the portrayal of Indian male somatoforms in Indian cinema on the personal and collective evaluation of masculine appearance for a sample of Indian school boys. The variables of interest were measured using the Masculine Role Norms Inventory (MRNI; Levant & Fisher, 1998), Lynch and Zellner’s Body Figure Drawings (1999), Appearance Schemas Inventory (ASI; Cash & Labarge, 1999), and the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale-3 (SATAQ-3; Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004). The above constructs were considered in light of biographical questions which pertained to self-worth, the psycho-behavioural implications of pursuing an enhanced appearance, and Indian cinema. The findings of this study showed how a sample of South African Indian boys are defining and refining a localized masculine sense of self within the broader interplays of South African gender relations and masculinities. Analysis revealed the traditional masculine role norms of status-seeking, heterosexism, anti-femininity, and emotional stoicism, shared positive and significant correlations with body image discrepancy. Nontraditional masculine attitudes were similarly associated with body image discrepancy. Moreover it was shown that the influences of sociocultural attitudes towards appearance, and a more substantial investment in body appearance, were key ingredients for participants positioning an athletically muscular and toned male body as their ethnomorphological and masculine ideal. Finally, concerning trends in steroid and supplement use were illustrated as foremost risk behaviours associated with support for a muscularised, traditionally masculine subjective and normative agenda. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Masculinity is a relevant and important research priority in South Africa, where problematic constructions of adolescent masculinity are linked with a range of health issues and psychosocial risks. The theoretical basis for this qualitative research study was social constructionism informed by dialogical theory and psychoanalytic accounts of masculinity, including Kristeva's theory of abjection. The overall aim was to explore the lived experience of adolescent boys in order to understand how boys are subjectively positioned in relation to hegemonic standards for 'acceptable' masculinity in social contexts. Following ethical guidelines, boys were purposively sampled for the study from two school settings, a 'multicultural' urban single-sex school and a 'monoracial' rural coeducational secondary. A mixed method approach was used - a photo-narrative visual research method, focus groups and semi-structured interviews within a constructionist paradigm. Visual and verbal data was analysed by means of an integrated quantitative content analysis and qualitative narrative analysis. Findings suggested that hegemonic standards were experienced in different ways by boys in terms of subjective positioning and microcultural context. Peer-groups were identified as having major importance for adolescent boys as a means of validating masculine norms, with sport functioning as an important masculinity marker. A central finding was that peer group norms created the conditions for inclusion and exclusion, which in turn lead to the construction of 'acceptable identities'. Performative 'doing' and symbolic 'having' were identified as two important ways of constructing masculinity - ways that were not always in accord. Another important finding was that boys battled to create even a rough congruence between masculinity norms and an authentic sense of self. There was a convergence around hegemonic norms of toughness, emphasised heterosexuality and displayed risk-taking across contexts; however, these norms were understood in different ways. Non-relational and objectified sex talk was a strong focus of hegemonic masculinity for most boys in the study. Toughness was understood as alternatively verbal, performative or physical, and these differences were linked to racial and cultural differences. Similarly, there were racial and cultural differences in how expressions of masculinity were 'commodified'. Hybridised identities emerged from the multicultural context of School A but not in the monoracial context of School B. Based on the findings that boys occupied several positions simultaneously and experienced contradiction among various identity positions, it was suggested that Connell's masculinity framework provided only a limited macrosociological perspective that neglected the ambiguities of masculine subjectivity. The study identified a range of means by which boys negotiated distances for alternative masculinities outside of hegemonic standards. The collective pressure of meeting an illusory and unattainable standard of masculine acceptability was identified as a source of conflict and anxiety for most of the boys in this study. This anxiety was managed in various ways including finding alternative constructions of masculinity in sub-cultural contexts, religious experience and in traditional cultural practices. These findings have implications for programmes and policies that address issues of masculinity in relation to the challenges and risks facing adolescent boys in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

The field of masculinity research is an increasingly important area of concern for gender researchers. Contemporary masculinity studies have extensively explored the construction of masculine identities and the range of social processes that generate them. However, these studies have largely focused on non-disabled masculinity and as a consequence have overlooked the construction and subjective experience of disabled masculinity. This research is thus an attempt to address this gap by focusing on the construction and subjective experience of visually impaired adolescent boys. This study consisted of semi structured face to face interviews with visually impaired boys, which were fully transcribed and analysed using the integrated analytic approach of social constructionism and psycho-analysis. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Xhosa people practise the circumcision ritual. The exciting period is during the pre- circumcision. It is also the time when Xhosa teenage boys experience various problems associated with the ritual. The main purpose of the study was to explore and describe Xhosa teenage boys' experiences of the period prior to the circumcision ritual in East London in the Eastern Cape Province. A descriptive, exploratory and descriptive qualitative research design was followed and 28 participants volunteered to participate. In-depth phenomenological focus group interviews were conducted. Data analysis revealed two themes: social pressure on teenage Xhosa boys associated with the ritual, and depression associated with the treatment of teenage Xhosa boys by their communities. The study recommends that all stakeholders be involved in the performance of the ritual. A limitation of the study was failure to include stakeholders. The researcher recommends further research to involve all stakeholders of the ritual. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)