Global Masculinities

Interrogations and Reconstructions

Mangesh Kulkarni, Rimjhim Jain (Associate Editor), Mangesh Kulkarni, Rimjhim Jain (Associate Editor)

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138234710
• eBook ISBN: 9780429752070
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

What does it mean to be male in today's world?

This volume interrogates the myriad practices and myth-making that underlie dominant and subordinate constructions of masculinities around the world. Challenging the patriarchal bias that restricts alternative understanding of masculinities, this volume documents and shares evidence, insights and direction on how men and boys can creatively contribute to gender equality in the twenty-first century.

The book:

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• highlights the many lives of men and their interactions with socioeconomic and political processes, including the family, fatherhood, migration, development and violence;

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• critiques hegemonic masculinities, and grapples with effective practices that engage men in the empowerment of women;

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• explores how cultures of masculinity can be transformed to promote social justice, conflict-resolution and peace-building within and across nations

The book will be indispensable to researchers interested in critical masculinity studies, women's studies, sociology, social anthropology, law, public policy, political science and international relations. It will also be of great relevance to government officials, NGO activists, and other practitioners concerned with gender, health and development issues.

1

Making men

The cultural politics of male initiation rites in South Africa

Nolwazi Mkhwanazi

Introduction

In many societies around the world, rites of passage accompany important life course events such as birth, puberty and marriage. The rites associated with puberty have been of particular interest to anthropologists (cf. Carstens 1982; Richards 1982; Turner 1995). Some have theorised that these rites are critical to social reproduction and maintaining or restoring social equilibrium in societies where relationships are potentially fraught. Both Richards (1982) and Turner (1995), for example, in their research on the Bemba and Ndembu respectively, link the performance of rituals to the existence of a contradiction in norms and social practice. Rituals, they suggest, serve to dispel social conflict. Turner (1995) explains that the practise of isoma among the Ndembu seeks to resolve a ‘crisis’ emerging from a contradiction in norms whereby the women of a matrilineal descent peoples with virilocal marriage spend the majority of their reproductive life cycle living in their husband’s villages. Since the children belong to the matriline, and because mothers and children share a close bond, the mother often follows her children when they leave to reside with her matri-kin. Citing the high divorce rate Turner writes “in a very real sense village continuity, through women depends upon marital discontinuity” (Turner 1995: 12). The enactment of the chisungu also served to counter a contradiction whereby among the matrilineal Bemba, men were dominant (cf. Richards 1982).

Among Xhosa-speaking people of South Africa, whom this chapter is about, the practice of male or female initiation rites was dependent on a variety of factors including the influence of missionaries, access to cattle, availability of young men and adherence to ideas reinforcing the importance of the rites.¹ Monica Hunter (1936) described how Mpondo families who had not adopted Christianity continued to perform female initiation rites (ukuthombisa) for their daughters. While these rites did not include a physical operation or sexual instruction for the initiate (intonjane), ideally, they took place at menarche to ask for the blessing of the ancestors for a fertile future. Since the 1930s, the practise of female initiation has waned significantly and today, it is only practiced in special circumstances. While a similar demise was also recorded in the practise of male initiation rites in the Pondoland countryside in the 1930s, undergoing male initiation rites has remained a significant aspect of becoming a Xhosa man even during the liberation struggle when the relationship between young men and their elders was strained.

Comparing the differing status of male and female initiation rites among the Nama and amaXhosa, Carstens (1982) suggests that cattle were central to why female initiation rites among amaXhosa waned while male rites continued to be practised, whereas among the Nama the opposite was true. Inspired by the conclusions of Judith K Brown’s cross-cultural study that female initiation rites occur in societies where firstly, women reside in the same domestic unit over their life course – undergoing initiation rites thus publicly and symbolically marks the young woman’s changed status from girl to woman. Secondly, where women make a notable contribution to subsistence and so the rites serve to acknowledge a woman’s contribution and competence, Carstens (1982) convincingly argues that both the Nama and rural amaXhosa uphold this hypothesis. He shows that Nama women controlled the distribution of cow’s milk, a valued resource for subsistence and that Nama women managed households and “even controlled men in the domestic arena” (Carstens 1982: 520). In contrast, among the rural Xhosa, cattle were a male preserve and men controlled women’s labour. Therefore any contribution a woman made to the domestic unit was measured as part of the male’s overall contribution. Men were “the managers of production units” (Carstens 1982: 520).

Popular anthropological accounts on the existence of male initiation rites often focus on the content of the rites and highlight five aspects that may be present. These include a seclusion which often involves a separation from women; a test of strength and endurance; restriction on food and sex; secret knowledge; and costumes or a masking of the body (cf. Silverman 2004). These accounts often reiterate the idea of initiation, particularly male initiation, as an intervention in social relations – relations between a son and his mother/kinswomen on the one hand; and between a son and his father/kinsmen, on the other. They also highlight that undergoing initiation is a dangerous ordeal. Taking a slightly different angle to earlier studies while still highlighting the vulnerability that young males are exposed to when they undergo initiation, the ethnographic problematique that guides this chapter is the question of why Xhosa male elders who described themselves as ‘traditional authorities’ refused to concede to an alteration of Xhosa male initiation rites that was suggested by medical and health professionals in order to minimise the injury and death of initiates. Put differently, why are Xhosa boys being encouraged to place their lives, bodies and sexuality in the hands of traditional authorities, some of whom do not have the knowledge and experience to oversee their safe transition from boyhood to manhood?

The argument I make in this paper is that in post-apartheid South Africa, initiation rites are a critical vehicle for maintaining the gendered gerontocracy that forms the basis of Xhosa social life. I use the term ‘gendered gerontocracy’ to refer to a hierarchy whereby status is assigned based on age and gender. In this case, it is male elders who wield authority. To make my argument I draw attention to two principles that inform Xhosa sociality – kuhlonipha (respect) and Ubuntu (humanity). I then use secondary sources to paint a picture of what occurs during initiation rites to suggest that initiation rites are an important medium through which young men are taught to uphold these principles. I then turn to examine the strategies that the men who called themselves traditionalists used to reject the proposed alterations to the rites and in doing so ensured that the gendered gerontocracy continues to be an important feature of Xhosa social life, even at the expense of the lives of young men.

The article draws on primary data that was collected during my PhD fieldwork in the township of Nyanga East. Between 2001 and 2002 I spent eighteen months conducting ethnographic research on teenage pregnancy and more generally, on the lives of children and young people in Nyanga East. It also includes interviews and conversations with young people that I continue to have in my long-term ethnographic research in the area. In 2005–6, 2010–11, and June–July of 2013 I returned to the township to conducted additional research albeit for much shorter periods of time. I used ethnographic research methods to collect the data. These methods included participant observation, where I immersed myself in the lives of the research participants. I also conducted interviews with a range of people, young and old, male and female. The interviews explored a variety of subjects. Among young people, for example, topics included sexual and reproductive health issues such as relationships (between genders and generations), sexual debut, love, teenage pregnancy, teenage motherhood, initiation and violence. Detailed field notes, documenting my observations of young people’s interactions and relationships, support the interviews. I did not initiate conversations about male initiation rites per se, since talk about the content of the rites is forbidden. However in conversations about manhood and/or marriage, initiation was frequently discussed by the research participants.

Becoming a man

Every year in June/July and in December/January throngs of young males between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five years attend initiation schools in the Eastern Cape. Among the amaXhosa, the majority of whom reside in the Eastern Cape, a boy becomes a man by undergoing initiation rites in an isolated place, colloquially referred to as ‘the bush’. The initiation rites involve circumcision and the seclusion of the boys for up to four weeks. During the rites, the boys are taught about the roles and responsibilities that will be theirs once they become men. While initiated men are forbidden from discussing the rites with outsiders, the uninitiated, and women, it is common knowledge that initiation entails teachings and a test of strength and endurance. Anaesthesia and antiseptics are forbidden. Going to the hospital during the rites is also forbidden. Initiates observe food and water restrictions and they are to avoid contact with women. Male initiation is thus strictly the preserve of men and what happens during the rites is kept a secret. Once a boy has been through initiation, he becomes a man. As a man he can command respect, marry, acquire property, perform rituals, partake in decision-making in the household and in the community. He can also become an ancestor when he dies.

For the majority of boys the transition from boyhood (ubukwenkwe) to manhood (ubudoda) is relatively straightforward. However for some boys the transition to manhood ends in mutilated or amputated genitalia and, in some cases, death. The initiation season witnesses numerous media reports on the number of boys that are admitted to hospital. Depending on when they were taken to hospital, a handful of boys are discharged with amputated penises and others die.

For much of the twentieth century, initiation schools have remained under the radar of the law and have not elicited much public concern. However in the twenty-first century, there has been a rise in the number of initiation schools and increasing attention is being paid to the casualties of initiation. The new schools, named after places that have recently seen wars such as Afghanistan, Beirut, Rwanda, Kuwait, are often run by practitioners who have little or no training and experience. In a climate of abject poverty, initiation schools are for some older men, a way to earn money. As a result, some of these unregulated schools have been reported to admit more initiates than they are able to adequately care for. Others impose brutal tests on the initiates which include boys being beaten, starved and abused.

The widespread reporting of the abuses and deaths in the initiation schools does not, however, deter boys who are determined to become men. In rural areas, boys as young as ten years old run away from home to join initiation schools. In the urban areas, an increasing number of boys have become vocal in challenging the need to undergo initiation to become a man. They claim that in the cities, undergoing initiation is not enough nor is it the only way to earn the respect of being a man. This resistance to initiation has not gone unnoticed. It has, in some instances, led to boys being kidnapped and taken to initiation schools by force, often with the consent of their parents.

The controversy surrounding Xhosa male initiation is emotive and impassioned. The deaths of young men and the mutilation of their bodies have been the subject of a public discussion about this secret rite of passage. One of the first organisations’ to take a stance on male initiation rites was Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa that labelled ‘‘traditional’² male circumcision a ‘reproductive health issue’ in 1998. This bold step was supported by the medical fraternity and drew the attention of the government. Three years later in the province of the Eastern Cape, the Application of Health Standards in the Traditional Circumcision Act (no. 6 of 2001) was passed. Rather than banning the rites outright, the Act put into place measures to protect the initiates from harm, neglect and financial exploitation. The Act specified that the Members of the Executive Council of the Eastern Cape province should appoint one or more medical officers who would grant traditional surgeons permission to perform circumcisions. Initiation schools could not operate without the permission of the medical officer. Failure to comply with the regulations would result in a fine of up to R10,000 or ten years in jail. The Act specified that potential initiates needed to be over the age of eighteen and needed parental consent to go to the bush.

The Application of Health Standards in the Traditional Circumcision Act (no. 6 of 2001) was received with hostility by those who styled themselves as traditionalists. The Congress of Traditional leaders (Contralesa) called it “an insult to our traditions”. Contralesa said that because women were on the team that drafted the law to be applied to male rituals, the law was unacceptable. They later claimed that the Act was unconstitutional because it infringed on the traditional rights of communities enshrined in the Bill of Rights (section 30). Mwelo Nkonkonyana, Chief of the AmaBhala described the Act as “a load of rubbish” and added “we reject it with the contempt it deserves”. He declared that he would rather go to jail than comply with the Act.

Respect and humanity

Dumisani was a soft-spoken, neatly dressed young male. Boys in Nyanga East called him ibari meaning that he was not street wise. With his eighteenth birthday approaching he knew that soon he would be expected to travel to the Eastern Cape to attend one of the initiation schools. Dumisani did not want to go. He told his family that as a Methodist (a denomination of Christianity), he didn’t have to go for initiation. Petros, his older brother, who had undergone initiation simply refused to listen to Dumisani’s explanations. He said that he would not allow Dumisani to bring shame to the family by remaining a boy for the rest of his life. Dumisani pleaded with his older brother and named some of his friends from church who had not gone for initiation. Petros sneered and threatened to take Dumisani to the bush by force. In the spirit of compromise, Mandisa, their twenty-six-year-old sister, suggested that Dumisani be circumcised in hospital. Petros laughed at his sister’s suggestion. With sarcasm in his voice, he told her that she didn’t know what she was talking about. Turning to Dumisani he added:

In the bush you learn a lot. You learn to be a man. You learn your place in the world. You learn respect (ufundaintlonipho). … You should be respecting me. I am the man of this house. See even now you don’t know respect. You think you can ignore our ancestors. I tell you, it is your people, your ancestors that will look after you. I won’t let you disrespect this family. This is a disgrace … (he muttered an insult under his breath). Who is going to sleep with a boy?

In his rant, Petros evoked a fundamental idea about the importance of initiation: initiation prepares a boy for his place in society as an adult. It teaches him respect and cements his relationship with his family, his community and his ancestors. Xhosa-speaking people negotiate the social world around them through two notions: respect (kuhlonipha) and humanity (ubuntu). Initiation teaches a boy what these notions mean and how to apply them in his day-to-day life as a man.

The principle of ubuntu is encapsulated in the saying: umuntungumuntungabantu. Translated literally, the phrase means: “a person is a person because of other people”. Goduka, a Xhosa academic and sangoma (traditional healer), translated the saying as “I am we, I am because we are. We are because I am. I am in you and you are in me” (n.d:3). The principles of ubuntu and ukuhlonipha are predicated on a relational personhood. In other words, a person exists and is constituted by a valued set of social relations. Ubuntu is an expression of the idea that a person comes into being through relationships and a person is inseparable from these relationships. It is through social interactions that one gains the experiences and wisdom that allow him/her to act in accordance with their social role. Being a girl/boy, man/woman is contingent on appropriate action in sociality, which one learns through the guidance of various elders including ancestors.

The notion of ubuntu complements the principle of kuhlonipha. While kuhlonipha denotes respect, it is primarily with reference to elders. It is based on a tacit acceptance that the words of elders are not to be questioned and on the observance of a gendered hierarchy. The title of ‘elder’ (umdala/oo-khoko) applies to anyone that is older, irrespective of where he or she comes from or who they are. It also applies to all men in general and all senior relatives of a woman’s husband. The coming-of-age rites, I suggest, were an important medium through which children who were soon to be given the responsibilities of adulthood were taught to uphold these principles.

Xhosa male initiation

Historically, the practice of male initiation rites has varied enormously between the twenty-ni...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Lists of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Foreword by Raewyn Connell
• Foreword by Abhijit Das
• Preface by Rimjhim Jain
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: engaging global masculinities
• 1. Making men: the cultural politics of male initiation rites in South Africa
• 2. Social norms, social structure and law in Nepal: patriarchy, violence against women and the three-headed hydra
• 3. Transforming masculinities as a contribution to conflict prevention?
• 4. Masculinity and violence against women: exploring the practices of young men in Bangladesh
• 5. Beyond male role models: gender identities and work with young men in the UK
• 6. Interpersonal neurobiology and the prevention of gender-based violence
• 7. Masculinities, faith and ending gender-based violence in the African Great Lakes region, Africa
• 8. Engaging men in ending men’s violence against women: beyond the mantras and towards more effective practice
• 9. Involving men in sharing the contraceptive burden: experiences from a community intervention with men in Madhya Pradesh, India
• 10. The role of male Dais (Huarku) in childbirth in a tribal block in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, India
• 11. Opportunities and challenges for promoting new concepts of fatherhood in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 12. Migrating males and gender role exchange: a study on how Indonesian males perceive their masculinities through caregiving activities
• 13. A Brazilian policy toward men’s healthcare and gender equity
• Index