Men between Worlds

Changing Masculinities in Urban Maputo

Bibliographic Data

ID2387828
AuthorsSofia Aboim (0000-0002-6605-8614, University of Lisbon, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume12
Issue2
Pages201-224
Publication date2009-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMen and Masculinities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1097-184X • E-ISSN: 1552-6828
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1097184x07313360
OpenAlexW2038599476
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited21

In 2003 Mozambique's parliament approved a new legal code that proposes a 'Western' view of family and gender roles. These changes question the social organization and the symbolic views of gender in Mozambique. We show how men are reconstructing their identities when caught between tradition and male dominance and the Westernized values of the modern equalitarian family. We analyze change at the levels of individual practices and identities and of societal symbolic models to show how entanglements are produced at both levels. At the macro-level the law legitimates Western values and deals with hybrid realities. At the micro-level, men live entangled trajectories in which they mix different references and social times when relating themselves to hegemonic masculinity(ies). The analysis draws on data collected in urban Maputo both through a survey applied to Eduardo Mondlane University students and in-depth interviews with men from several generations and contexts

Dominance (genetics · Hegemonic masculinity · Hegemony · Masculinity · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Sociology · The Symbolic · African history and culture studies · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology