Abstract

This study explores the links between masculinity and the spread of HIV/AIDS by examining adolescentsâ conceptions of manhood and the ways in which hegemonic masculinity manifests itself through peer pressure. The study employed qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Interviews were conducted with fifteen adolescent males between the ages of twelve to sixteen, who live in areas with high levels of HIV prevalence outside Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. A team of facilitators, who conduct HIV/AIDS awareness and education workshops with learners in the Durban and Pietermaritzburg region, were also interviewed. Efforts to understand the position and experiences of adolescent males aim to aid and inform HIV prevention programmes. It was found that the hegemonic masculinity within the respondentsâ conceptions of manhood is damaging in terms of HIV/AIDS. Notions of masculinity that call for men to be strong, respected, in control, able to provide and able to attract multiple sexual partners justify and reproduce menâs dominance over women. Such notions are detrimental to gender equity and similarly to HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. The respondents reported experiencing peer pressure to engage in sex from a young age and with multiple partners. Combined with negative attitudes towards condoms, such behaviour patterns are dangerous in terms of the spread of HIV. Similar findings reported by other studies are discussed. The study illustrates how boys are often influenced to measure their self-worth according to how successfully they can embody hegemonic notions of masculinity. It is argued that the dominance of gender within boysâ identities can have negative repercussions for the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Despite peer pressure and prevailing notions of masculinity, many of the respondents chose not to conform to the expected forms of hegemonic behaviour by abstaining from sexual engagement. Such choices are greatly beneficial in terms of curbing HIV spread. The study also examines the enabling and constraining factors that affect the emergence of such alternatives to hegemonic masculinity