"Indoda" in the dawn of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: a study of masculine ideals, behaviors and practices among black heterosexual men living with HIV

Description

A
thesis
submitted
to
the
Faculty
of
Humanities,
University
of
the
Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg,
in
fulfillment
of
the
requirements
for
Masters
degree
in
Sociology
March
2016 / Following
a
qualitative
approach
and
using
diaries
and
the
anthropological
tool
of
ethnography,
the
study
engaged
black
heterosexual
men
living
with
HIV
to
explore
and
describe
their
masculine
ideals,
values
and
behaviors
in
the
dawn
of
the
HIV
epidemic.
The
findings
revealed
that
the
fabric
that
made
“Indoda”
varied
and
changed
over
time
but
to
be
Indoda
,
a
man
had
to
have
one’s
own
family
and
consequently
be
the
head
of
the
family
“Intloko
yo
Muzi”.Indoda
was
also
detailed
as
someone
who
was
“iQhawe”,a
warrior
who
fought
many
battles
of
invulnerability
and
endured
hardships.
The
findings
suggested
that
although
participants
strove
to
attain
these
specifications,
they
were
also
restricted
and
burdened
by
them;
especially
those
who
were
under
varying
degrees
of
pressure
as
a
result
of
the
different
social,
economic
and
political
transitions
that
were
taking
place.
HIV
was
seen
as
a
threat
to
the
constructions
of
hegemonic
masculine
ideals
and
thus
exposed
a
budding
crisis
of
masculinity
that
men
in
this
context
were
confronted
with.
While
HIV
seemed
to
alter
ones
identity
for
some
of
the
participants,
other
participants
revealed
that
HIV
did
not
change
their
lives
in
anyway.
Among
these
participants,
multiple
relationships
with
‘roll
ons’;
secrets
and
low
condom
use
were
rife.
The
other
group
of
men
who
differentiated
themselves
from
those
who
were
HIV
negative
challenged
the
dominant
notions
of
masculinities
and
reconstructed
their
masculinities
in
more
positive
ways.
In
this
way,
these
men
inhabited
a
subjective
position
of
agency
by
taking
control
of
their
lives
and
accepting
and
driving
their
Z3.
The
study
concluded
that
masculine
norms
behaviors
and
values
are
fluid
and
it
is
through
continuously
engaging
in
critical
examination
of
the
discourses
that
construct
masculinity
that
new
constructions
of
what
it
means
to
be
a
man
can
emerge. / MT 2018

Links & Downloads

1. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/23890

Tags

Masculinity--South Africa

Men--Sexual behaviour--South Africa

Gender identity--South Africa

Additional Fields

Identifer	oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23890
Date	January 2017
Creators	Mthombeni, Nomaswazi Mandisa
Source Sets	South African National ETD Portal
Language	English
Detected Language	English
Type	Thesis
Format	Online resource (107 leaves), application/pdf