‘But I’ve got something that makes me different’: Young men’s negotiation of masculinities

ABSTRACT: Much current research about young people is located in studies on risk behaviour and consequently tends to pathologise their actions and behaviour. Particularly poor, young, African men are often regarded as the drivers of a range of risk behaviours from sexual risk to crime and violence. By drawing on an ethnographic study conducted in an informal settlement of Gauteng, South Africa, this article challenges common perceptions of young men as risk-takers. It demonstrates the various ways in which masculinity is practised in everyday life as young men attempt to carve out a masculine identity. Their agency, aspirations, and insights with regard to risk-taking, as well as how they attempt to avoid being stigmatised by the common perceptions of young, poor, African men are highlighted. The article thus challenges literature that assumes a hegemonic masculinity and contributes to the largely Western dominated youth transitions literature by giving voice to poor, young men in a developing country context. It points to the need for continued research, which seeks to place young people at the centre of research about them, and to provide insight into their everyday experiences.