Unbecoming to becoming a man: Reply to Moshibudi Motimele

abstract

In this article, I respond to Moshibudi Motimele’s engagement (published in Agenda 35(4)) with Jared Sexton’s book, Black Men, Black feminism: Lucifer’s Nocturne and my book, Becoming Men: Black Masculinities in a South African Township that I see black male vulnerability as an aberration and that my analysis of the participants’ narratives is acontextual and depoliticised due to being rooted in the discipline of psychology. In my reply, I argue that the psycho-social approach was not a limitation but offered better insight into situating the psyche of black male subjectivities within a particular social and historical context. This approach interpreted black boys’ and men’s vulnerability not as an aberration but as something to celebrate. Their anxieties, fears and aspirations, despite characterised contradiction and tension, represented a positive move away from hegemonic attitudes towards alternative masculinities.

keywords:

• Becoming Men
• Black male vulnerability
• Masculinities
• psycho-social approach
• Township

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Malose Langa

MALOSE LANGA is a Professor and Senior Lecturer in the School of Community and Human Development, Department of Psychology, at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and Associate Researcher at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR). His research interests include risk-taking behaviours among the youth and their role in politics, substance abuse and addiction, trauma of collective violence and the psychology of men (masculinity) in post-apartheid South Africa. He has published book chapters and journal articles on violence and other topics on masculinities. He is the author of Becoming Men: Black Masculinities in a South African Township and the recent co-edited book entitled Youth in South Africa: agency, invisibility and development published by Mistra. Malose recently completed an LLB degree, following his extensive experience in serving as an expert witness as a psychologist with a specific focus on cases of torture and other human rights violations. Email: [email protected]