Of boys and men: Masculinity and gender in Southern African studies

Southern African historiography has become increasingly gender-sensitive in the last decade. Primarily as a result of the impact of feminism in the wo rld of work and in universities, research an women has burgeoned. The inclu sion of women in the study of the past and the recognition of their agency has filled an important lacuna but also has made evident the corresponding gap in knowledge about men. The dominance of men in the public record has o bscured the fact that little is known about masculinity. Men have generally been treated in essentialist terms. The socially constructed nature of mas culinity is widely acknowledged and it is this insight that needs to be app lied to a study of the region's history. This article introduces readers to the inter-disciplinary work on masculinity, reviews how research on gender in South Africa has handled issues of men and masculinity and then suggest s how insights taken from Men's Studies might help to broaden gender analys is and enrich the study of the South African past. In this article, a range of masculinities is identified. Colonialism created new and transformed ex isting masculinities. Race and class featured prominently in the configurat ion of these masculinities. Under colonialism positions of domination and s ubordination were created along the fines of race, bequeathing to the regio n the language of white men and black 'boys'. The particular trajectory of colonialism ended the political independence of the indigenous polities and destroyed their economic independence but the success of the defeated poli ties in retaining possession of land and of the policies of segregation and apartheid meant that key African institutions survived. These were the bas is for an African masculinity that in certain geographical and social areas disputed hegemony with white masculinities.