Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali
The neoliberal transformation of Mali's burgeoning capital city, Bamako, has undermined men's capacity to provide for their households and dependents even as it has boosted women's economic participation, leading senior males to express mounting anxieties over their declining economic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Africa Spectrum |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231185158 |
| _version_ | 1827592946396954624 |
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| author | Bruce Whitehouse |
| author_facet | Bruce Whitehouse |
| author_sort | Bruce Whitehouse |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The neoliberal transformation of Mali's burgeoning capital city, Bamako, has undermined men's capacity to provide for their households and dependents even as it has boosted women's economic participation, leading senior males to express mounting anxieties over their declining economic power. As more men find themselves unable to assure economic stability for the women and children under their charge, many double down in their bid to exercise authority over women, particularly their wives. Some men use polygynous marriage as a means of performing certain masculine ideals, acquiring social prestige despite their diminished roles as breadwinners. Others find maintaining multiple female partners outside marriage similarly useful for offsetting their economic disadvantages. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with men and women in Bamako, this paper examines the extent to which modern masculinity in the city remains predicated on the control of women and their bodies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:02:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ae54781cda774d03b6b6ac6752799fc8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0002-0397 1868-6869 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:02:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Africa Spectrum |
| spelling | doaj.art-ae54781cda774d03b6b6ac6752799fc82023-12-08T04:33:33ZengSAGE PublishingAfrica Spectrum0002-03971868-68692023-12-015810.1177/00020397231185158Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban MaliBruce WhitehouseThe neoliberal transformation of Mali's burgeoning capital city, Bamako, has undermined men's capacity to provide for their households and dependents even as it has boosted women's economic participation, leading senior males to express mounting anxieties over their declining economic power. As more men find themselves unable to assure economic stability for the women and children under their charge, many double down in their bid to exercise authority over women, particularly their wives. Some men use polygynous marriage as a means of performing certain masculine ideals, acquiring social prestige despite their diminished roles as breadwinners. Others find maintaining multiple female partners outside marriage similarly useful for offsetting their economic disadvantages. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with men and women in Bamako, this paper examines the extent to which modern masculinity in the city remains predicated on the control of women and their bodies.https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231185158 |
| spellingShingle | Bruce Whitehouse Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali Africa Spectrum |
| title | Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali |
| title_full | Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali |
| title_fullStr | Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali |
| title_full_unstemmed | Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali |
| title_short | Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali |
| title_sort | patriarchal anxieties and masculine sexual privilege in contemporary urban mali |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231185158 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brucewhitehouse patriarchalanxietiesandmasculinesexualprivilegeincontemporaryurbanmali |