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AbstractThere have been growing concerns among feminists and masculinity theorists on how particular constructions of masculinities may tend to limit options available for men to explore. Drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews conducted with fifteen men aged 30-35, findings revealed that young men are active agents who do not only passively embrace particular normative gender norms and practices, but that young men also have the capacity to deconstruct and challenge what is normatively presented to them. It is particularly essential to note the ways in which problematic constructions of gender were not only enacted and reproduced, but how particular constructions of masculinity were challenged simultaneously. We argue that such contestations should be read within the broader historical and sociocultural contexts in which young men make sense of their masculine identities in relations to prevailing gender discourses. This is an important finding as it highlights the complex and contradictory processes through which young men may situationally make sense of their normative gender identities in order to merit acceptance and status validity among their peers. Findings from this study have important implications for how gender equitable subjectivities can be nurtured and promoted among young men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Raewyn Connell's theoretical notion of hegemonic masculinity, this study examines relations between masculinity and suicide attempts in Bangladesh. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 men from the Jhenaidah district, who had previously attempted suicide. Participants discussed how "real men" were expected to be primary providers, demonstrate their material power and sexual prowess. However, the men disclosed that they encountered difficulties in achieving these versions of hegemonic masculinity in their real lives. Within this context, suicide attempts operated as a redemptive means to overcome perceived masculine "crises." These findings demonstrate that suicide is a socially and culturally constituted phenomenon, which should be understood beyond an individualized and mental health framework. Suicide intervention strategies in Bangladesh must include critical analyses of masculinities, as well as measures to change rigid processes of gendered socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most academic scholarships, particularly from the global North continue to theorize African men, especially poor black men as problematic, abusive, and violent. Such scholarship often fails to foreground how men's gendered subjectivities are likely to be shaped by intersecting inequalities. The danger of such neglect is that African men continue to be pathologised as being unable to cope with western liberal conception of gender equality. Drawing on interviews with young men in northwestern Ghana, our findings highlight those young men may construct masculinities and femininities in ways that reproduce harmful gender norms, relations, and power inequalities. Despite the problematic constructions of gender, the narratives of participants appear to offer some potential in imagining alternative masculine discourses which reject and resist hegemonic masculine ideals. Based on this, we argue that a sincere appreciation of how young men may progress towards imagining progressive masculine subjectivities ought to develop clearer understandings of the ambiguities, ambivalences, and conflicting appeals of multiple voices of masculinities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]