The construction of masculinity and risk-taking behaviour among adolescent boys in seven schools in the Western Cape

Abstract

The term risk-taking has often been used to describe some of the behaviours and their associated negative outcomes occurring during adolescence (Irwin & Millstein, 1991). Statistics have shown that South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection in the world, with most infections occurring during adolescence. Adolescents have thus been identified as a prime focus group for HIV/AIDS preventive programmes (Reddy et al., 2003). For many years women have been targeted as key agents for change in HIV/AIDS preventive programmes. Recently, there has been a growing focus on boys and men in the literature on HIV/AIDS, sexuality and gender-based violence (see, for example, Morrell, 2001; Connell, 2000). It is argued that in the context of HIV/AIDS, young men in particular, across geographical borders, race, culture and class, play a central role in the pandemic (Abbott-Chapman & Denholm, 2001; Shefer, et al., 2005). The central aim in this study was to explore the relationship between current constructions of masculinity and risk-taking behaviours among a group of young South African men. It was an exploratory study, focused on exploring how young men construct their masculinities, and how this intersects with or impacts on adolescent male risk-taking behaviours. The study was conducted within a qualitative feminist methodological framework and data were collected through the use of focus groups. A sample consisting of eight to ten young school-going males between the ages of 15 and 16 years was selected from seven schools within the Western Cape. All data collected were then qualitatively analysed through the use of thematic content analysis (TCA). With regard to key findings, the study highlights the complex nature of being a young man in a modern, technologically fast, and often confusing society. Although buying into many of the dominant discourses on masculinity, such as the importance of being a provider, being (hetero)sexually active, etc., some of the participants distanced themselves from the traditional constructions of masculinity and being a ‘real man’, by asserting their ability to resist peer pressure and argued that it was ‘others’ who followed these paths of substance abuse, practicing unsafe sex, of violent or abusive relationships, consumerism and gangsterism. Participants thus presented images of responsible manhood, and although they argued the importance of ‘being yourself/ being your own man’, this was a contradiction in itself, for even though they wanted to be individuals, there was a stronger need to fit in with their peers, and so doing protecting themselves from being ridiculed or rejected. Conforming to the dominant/hegemonic masculinity was thus expected and, in most cases, accepted. A key conclusion drawn at the end of this project was that some traditional notions of manhood still held sway, and these tied in strongly with how these participants constructed their masculinity. The study also highlights the participants’ inability to identify what it meant to be a real man. Manhood was something to strive for and still to be obtained.

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