“To Be a Man is not Easy”: Everyday Economic Marginality and Configurations of Masculinity among Rural Ghanaian Youth
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Authors
Dery, Isaac
Issue Date
2019
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Masculinity, northwestern Ghana, migration, Social respectability, gender, poverty, Dagaaba.
Alternative Title
Abstract
How might an African based knowledge critically cast doubt upon globally
hegemonic notions and traditions in understanding and theorizing men and
masculinities? This essay examines this question through a critical reading of what it
may mean to be ‘an emerging adult man’. The essay privileged a critical
understanding of how poverty, poor crop yields, and climate volatility shape
constructions of ‘emergent adulthood’. Drawing on interviews with men from
northwestern Ghana, findings suggest that emerging adult men are committed to
their cultural obligations as heteronormative breadwinners, yet ‘emergent adulthood’
is complicated by status insecurity, vulnerabilities, and powerlessness. To negotiate
emergent adulthood, informants combine migrating to Techiman and joining ‘boys
boys’ to achieve social respect and recognition. To understand the meanings of
emergent adulthood, I argue for analytical sophistication on multiple issues and
daily struggles that encapsulate rural life.
Description
Citation
Dery, I. (2019). “To be a man is not easy”: Everyday economic marginality and configurations of masculinity among rural Ghanaian youth. Masculinities and Social Change, 8(2),171-194. doi: 10.17583/MCS.2019.4157