The gender straightjacket: a qualitative investigation of a group of South African adolescent males' cognitive schemata for masculinity and gender roles

A surge of "masculinity in crisis" discourse suggests that men are primarily responsible for lawlessness, social mayhem, violence and other forms of psycho- and socio-pathology. This crisis is attributed, in part, to hegemonic models of masculinity which restrict men to certain modes of be...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bantjes, Jason Robert
Other Authors: Kruger, P.
Format: Others
Language:en
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2100
Description
Summary:A surge of "masculinity in crisis" discourse suggests that men are primarily responsible for lawlessness, social mayhem, violence and other forms of psycho- and socio-pathology. This crisis is attributed, in part, to hegemonic models of masculinity which restrict men to certain modes of behaviour and specific roles in society. This study investigates the content of a group of South African adolescent males' cognitive schemata for masculinity and gender roles. A qualitative mode of enquiry was used to identify the beliefs held by participants about manhood and gender roles. The findings of this study affirm that a hegemonic model of masculinity exists is the sub-culture of South African society represented by the participants and suggests that hegemonic masculinity in South African is both restrictive and damaging to men and society. === Psychology === M. A. (Psychology)