Male Peer Talk About Menstruation: Discursively Bolstering Hegemonic Masculinities Among Young Men in South Africa

Macleod, Catriona I; Glover, Jonothan M; Makusem, Manase; Kelland, Lindsay; Paphitis, Sharli A

Title: Male Peer Talk About Menstruation: Discursively Bolstering Hegemonic Masculinities Among Young Men in South Africa
Creator: Macleod, Catriona I
Creator: Glover, Jonothan M
Creator: Makusem, Manase
Creator: Kelland, Lindsay
Creator: Paphitis, Sharli A
Subject: To be catalogued
Date Issued: 2022
Date: 2022
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426502
Identifier: vital:72358
Identifier: xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
Format: computer
Format: online resource
Format: application/pdf
Format: 1 online resource (17 pages)
Format: pdf
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Language: English
Relation: Women's Reproductive Health
Relation: Macleod, C.I., Glover, J.M., Makuse, M., Kelland, L. and Paphitis, S.A., 2023. Male Peer Talk About Menstruation: Discursively Bolstering Hegemonic Masculinities Among Young Men in South Africa. Women's Reproductive Health, 10(1), pp.6-23
Relation: Women's Reproductive Health volume 10 number 1 p. 6 2022 2329-3713
Rights: Publisher
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Taylor and Francis Online Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.tandfonline.com/terms-and-conditions)
Rights: Closed Access

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Macleod, Catriona Ida (Distinguished Professor)

Kelland, Lindsay (Dr)

RU DST/NRF SARChI for Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproductions Research (CSSR) Programme

RU Department of Psychology

RU Community Engagement Division

SDG 05. Gender Equality

SDG 03. Good Health and Well-Being

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