Male identity and marital and personal commitment

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Vredenburgh ◽  
Jay C. Wade
Keyword(s):  
Male Identity ◽  
Personal Commitment

Heteronormativity and Developing Masculinities at a Primary School in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luckmore Chimanzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Male Identity ◽  
Social Unit ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Diary Research

This article explores the development of heteronormativity and the construction of masculinities at a township primary school in South Africa. In this study, boys and girls chastise homosexuality yet maintain their male-to-male and female-to-female social bonds. Homosocial or male-to-male social bonds have a bearing on the construction of male identity. It is argued that homosocial relationships serve as a means through which certain boys negotiate and exhibit their masculinity in a process of identity formation in which heterosexuality is a key component. Qualitative data from focus groups and diary research with Grade 7 students (male and female) in a primary school are used. Boys engage in a number of games and acquire resources for themselves; hence, as a social unit, they portray themselves as heteronormative. Their solidarity plays a role in maintaining their power in relationships even though privately some of them expressed preference for more flexible constructions of masculinity.

More to the Eye than Meets the Eye

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uriah Y. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Collective Violence ◽  
Male Identity ◽  
The People ◽  
Anxiety And Fear

The patriarchal authority is undermined from the beginning of Samson’s story when Manoah is depicted as playing no role in Samson’s birth. The erosion of patriarchal authority is augmented by an assault on male identity when Samson is forced to play the role of a woman, or rather to become one. Samson’s story thus far may reflect anxiety and fear among men who have lost their male identity and authority in the exile. But the story takes an intriguing and unexpected turn when it questions whether it is fair for the Philistines to gauge both of Samson’s eyes. Perhaps the Philistines meted out more than what Samson deserves. If so, how do we account for the extra suffering he endured? The unnecessary violence to Samson’s other eye attests to the empire’s cruelty and abuse. In Samson’s death, the victims have their say. The people acknowledge their sins but also protest against the collective violence of empire. 


‘A man’s work was a man’s life’

Bread Winner ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 62-85
Author(s):  
Emma Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
Young Age ◽  
Male Identity ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Over Time

This chapter reveals the significance for work to male identity. Here, it shows how the centrality of work dominates men's autobiographies. Work was the key feature of a man's life and it was very often the motif by which male writers structured the story of their life. For most working-class men, work was equated with manhood — ‘I was a man and I knew it’. The chapter goes on to discuss how many Victorian children commenced their working lives at a considerably young age, particularly early in the reign when the place of children in the labour market was much more loosely regulated. Furthermore, to a far greater extent than girls, boys' experiences of work were shaped by the legislative framework as child labour laws became increasingly restrictive over time. This changing legal framework for child labour is clearly visible in the male autobiographies.

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