Home > Articles > Young Men and Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa Young Men and Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa by Charlotte Feldman-Jacobs (May 2006) "The language used to refer to young men—particularly low income, urban-based young men—in the African context is often pejorative. In Sierra Leone, they are called 'rarray boys' (footloose youth)É. [I]n Nigeria, they may be referred to as Ô jaguda boys' (crooks)É. [i]n East Africa, they may be called Ô bayaye' (rogue people)..," according to Gary Barker and Christine Ricardo, co-authors of the recent report "Young Men and the Construction of Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for HIV/AIDS, Conflict, and Violence." But these depictions fail to take into account the plurality of young men and realities in the region and, particularly, how they are made vulnerable by rigid social norms of masculinity. Although gender has been used more and more as a framework for analysis and program development in Africa, it usually refers only to the disadvantages that women and girls face. The authors emphasize that, given the extent of gender inequalities in the region, this almost exclusive focus on women and girls has been appropriate. However, they also argue that there is a need for a more sophisticated gender analysis that also includes men and boys—that factors in young men who must drop out of school or give up herding cattle as generations of their forefathers did, or who are abducted to serve as combatants or live in camps for internally displaced persons. To this end, the primary aim of the report is to explore what a gender perspective means when specifically applied to young men in Africa, focusing on conflict, violence, and HIV/AIDS. With funding from the World Bank, the authors carried out an extensive literature review of promising programs applying a gender perspective to work with young men, and combined it with interviews of staff members who work with young men in Botswana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda, as well as with focus groups and interviews of the young men themselves. Based on their research, Barker and Ricardo emphasize that: A gender analysis of young men must take into account the plurality of masculinities in sub-Saharan Africa. There is no typical young man in sub-Saharan Africa and no single African version of manhood. Versions of manhood in Africa are socially constructed and fluid over time and different settings. The key requirement to attaining manhood in Africa is achieving some level of financial independence and subsequently starting a family. Achieving manhood in the African context often depends on an older man—one who holds more power—deciding when a young man is able to attain a socially recognized manhood. This issue of the "big man" and of older men in general holding power over younger men is a widespread and defining aspect of manhood in Africa, and is directly related to trends in the region, such as older men's greater access to younger women as sexual partners and the average age difference between women and men at sexual debut. Initiation practices or rites of passage, such as male circumcision, are important factors in the socialization of boys and men throughout the region, and continue to have tremendous relevance even with urbanization and newer social influences, including religion and media from Europe and North America. For young men in Africa, as for young men worldwide, sexual experience is often associated with initiation into adulthood, and achieving a socially recognized manhood. Efforts to question the sexual behavior of men in the African context, for example, have sometimes run into resistance by national level leaders, who perceive—often rightly so, Barker adds—that African men themselves are being "bashed " or maligned. The report explores two of the most pressing social issues in Africa: conflict and post-conflict recovery, and HIV/AIDS. In the section on young men, conflict, and violence, the authors discuss the role of unemployment, ethnic tensions, and forced conscription. The section on the role of young men in the HIV/AIDS epidemic focuses on how young men's risk behaviors are learned and reinforced, and ultimately, how young men can be engaged as protective forces and allies in ending the epidemic. Many of the sections are enriched with illustrative quotes taken from interviews and group discussions with young men in the various sub-Saharan countries. For example on circumcised males in eastern Uganda: "Andrew: When you are done (circumcised) and you have been healedÉ you must have sex and you must go live (have sex without a condom). You might even go with a girl who is infected (with HIV or STIs) but you cannot refuse." (p. 10) Barker and Ricardo provide examples and lessons from promising program approaches in applying a gender perspective to working with young men in Africa on issues related to gender equality, HIV/AIDS, violence prevention and support in post-conflict settings. Summary descriptions are provided on nine specific programs: Climbing into Manhood Program (Kenya); Conscientizing Male Adolescents (Nigeria); The Fatherhood Project (South Africa); Man as Partners (South Africa); Men Sector (Botswana); Soul City (South Africa); Stepping Stones (regional); Targeted AIDS Intervention (South Africa); and Positive Men's Union (TASO-Uganda). In conclusion, the authors state that: Applying a gender perspective with young men helps us to understand many of the root causes behind HIV/AIDS and conflict in Africa; While still relatively limited in scope, work with young men in Africa is beginning to include a gender perspective—particularly as it relates to HIV/AIDS; However, empirical evidence on gender approaches to working with young men is scanty. "Changing gender norms is slow, and it is made even slower by the fact that those who make program and policy decisions often have their own deep-seated biases about gender and are frequently resistant to question thoseÉ. The challenge to promote changes in gender norms is to tap into voices of change and pathways to change that exist in the context of Africa," Barker and Ricardo state. "Ultimately, it will be the voices of these young men and adult men, and women, who will promote the change. " Gary Barker is Executive Director of Instituto Promundo (www.promundo.org.br), a Brazilian NGO based in Rio de Janeiro, that works nationally and internationally to promote child and youth development to reduce violence and to achieve gender equality. Christine Ricardo is Senior Program Officer of the Gender and Health Initiative at Instituto Promundo. This summation of the report was written by Charlotte Feldman-Jacobs of Population Reference Bureau (PRB) for the IGWG. The full text of this report can be found at: www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDS_IBank_Servlet?pcont= details&eid=000012009_20050623134235. In addition, a summary of a recent presentation of this report by Gary Barker at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, including a video of the event and Dr. Barker's powerpoint, can be found at www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1413&fuseaction= topics.event_summary&event_id=174427.