Non violence and masculinity do mix

INTERVIEW / Gary Barker

It has been ten years of work with governments and NGOS, and in this period the psicologist Gary Barker, has gotten to know underpriviledged urban communities in Brazil, the Caribbean, Subharan Africa and the United States. Despite differences, one thing he finds unchanging: youths who striving to become “real men”, risk and often lose their lives in the process.

These are places where the death rates for young men are much higher than for women or older men, higher even than those of nations in civil war. The main causes of death are violence, traffic accidents, and Aids.

Nevertheless violence and despair are not at the center of his latest book  Homens na linha de fogo (translates as 'Men in the Line of Fire', ed. 7 Letras.) Much to the contrary his book brings us the stories of young men he met in Brazil, Jamaica, Nigeria, South Africa and the United States who defied violent models of masculinity and opened their own paths of non-violence, attaining a role in society and the respect of their communities.

A PhD in child and youth development from Chicago's Loyola University, Barker uses gender studies to shed new light on youth violence, crime, social exclusion and health.

In this interview to Comunidad Segura, Barker, executive director of the Rio de Janeiro based NGO Promundo dedicated to gender equity and violence prevention, tells us about paths to peace and why there is hope. “I am optimistic for a reason”, he says.

In your latest book, Homens na linha de fogo, you describe young men you risk their lives to become “real men”. What standards of masculinity are involved?

I am discussing a model of masculinity that comes from society in general, it is not present merely in the periphery and shantytowns. It is there in the movies, in schools, and at home, where whoever brings in money dictates the rules. This model of masculinity is more extreme in some shantytowns and peripheries for lack of alternative identities.

Middle class men have other options. They can be workers, good students, good in sports. There are other areas where men can gain recognition. In the periphery, the lack of jobs deny men their recognition as providers, that is basic to male identity practically the world over. This increases the likelyhood that youths desire to be “in command”, to get guns, to use physical strength, and to generate fear in others.

How does this model arise?

It is there from childhood. In what we see at home, in movies, television, in clashes that take place outside their homes, where boys spend their time. Girls on the other hand, who spend more time at home with their mothers, helping with younger siblings are more docile. Boys will leave the house when they are eight or nine. They do not have a lot of freedom in the house, so they look for it outside. At school too, there is lack of space. Boys are expected to sit quietly. But they are more physical, are that kind of energy is not accepted in school. Apart from that there are the images in the media, in children's books, that show the power of masculinity.

In your book you say that youths from lower income brackets who live in poorer communities find ways to stay out of violence.

Many narratives focus on youths involved in violence. I looked precisely for the stories of those youths who chose non violence. A good musician, or a born again Christian for example,  is respected by armed groups. The church is respected by drug traffickers and by people with guns not only in Brazil, but also in Chicago, in the USA and in cities in Nigeria.

There are other options open, such as being good at sports, in music or dance, being a good student or getting a job – better still if it is a stable job and if it involves wearing a uniform. These are simbols that are respected by society and by gangs, and there are identities that a youth is willing to adopt, a uniform at work, the suit of the church goer, a musician's get up. It means that: “I am someone”.

What changes in the behaviour of youths who adopt non violence?

In South Africa, where 25 to 30% of adults have HIV and where there are the highest rates of violence against women in the world, there is a very strong cultural belief that says that men cannot test themselves since that would be a sign of frailty. But there are stories of men who test themselves, declare themselves to be HIV positive publicly. They accept treatment, they are active in family life and become advocates in their communities for non violence, respect for women and health care.

Can you give me other examples?

In Nigeria I met a meditation group that was led by a Muslem religious leader and an Evangelical pastor. They had both taken part in clashes between muslems and christicans that broke out in the year 2000, and continued, and they saw a lot of violence. Many youths in this groups had committed a lot of violence.

What took them to non violence was the desire not to disappoint the family, or someone in the family. Many had lost family members or close friends to the clashes. They had a sort of remorse, fear or sadness for having witnessed this violence, and they realized that by taking an eye for an eye, it would only leave everyone blind.

What needs to be there for one to chose non violence?

It is important that people have access to a world that is outside the confines of the violent settings in which they live. That they are given a change to build an identity, also an expertise. They need to have access to institutions that is often denied them, a place for them at school.

It is well known that school drop out rates surge after the age of 14, and this is of course, true especially for males. This is true for Jamaican, Brazil, South Africa and the United States. There must be a social institution that is respected by society that is also there for them during this period in their lives.

See also:

Not all men are the same

Democracy starts at the crib