‘Coloured’ Boys Talk: Constructing Heterosexual Masculinities in a Working Class High School Context

Abstract

This article presents the results of a year-long ethnographic study of 13 ‘Coloured’, working class, high school boys aged 14–17 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Data derived using participant observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews. Social constructionist perspectives were used as a basis for discourse analysis. An interrogation of participant accounts illustrated the contradictory and ambiguous nature of their heterosexual identities. The findings suggest the simultaneous performance of crude, misogynistic masculinities, and more loving and respectful attitudes towards women and girls. The alternate discursive positions show potential for more equitable gender relationships to be encouraged in historically disadvantaged teenage boys.

Keywords:

• ‘Coloured’
• working class
• crude
• callous
• alternate masculinities
• dominant heterosexual masculinities