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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]

Feminism provides a key analytical space for theory-building and re-centring historically marginalised narratives and epistemologies. However, the preponderance of women in feminist scholarship has been construed by some as meaning that feminism excludes the interest of men. Situated within a critical discourse analysis and drawing on interviews with men and key informant interviews with women, this essay investigates people's attitudes towards feminism in Ghana (with the concomitant discourses around what is African and what is Western). Feminism was largely perceived by most men and women as a dangerously feminising and Western construct, capable of destabilising the cultural exceptionalism of Ghanaian society. However, a few men appear to have embodied 'progressive' thinking about feminism and alternative constructions of masculinity. For such participants, embracing feminism comes at no cost to men and their manhood. They admit that men have benefited from a patriarchal system, which comes with opportunities and privileges; hence, the struggle for a better and gender equitable society continues. They propose the use and adoption of feminism as an important tool to precipitate shifts in how men approach both their relationships with women, and their own masculine identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]