Redemptive Masculinities in Rural Kenya: A Reflection on David Maillu’s Man from Machackos

Abstract

The paper examines the challenges of being a “man” in rural Kenya. It is informed by issues of marginalisation of men and the changing faces of masculinities in contemporary Kenya. The marginalisation is caused by the high rates of unemployment, women empowerment, and poverty. These factors have led to shifting gender roles and a new dimension of what it means to be a “man”. The paper’s arguments are based on Kabaji’s (2008) assertion that power plays a major significance in the construction of gender relations among men and women. The paper interrogates the struggle by young men to transit from poverty to empowerment in a harsh rural environment. The key questions the paper will seek to answer are: how do men in the rural areas construct their masculinity? What type of masculinity is prevalent in the rural areas? And how is it different from urban masculinity? The paper adopts Connell’s masculinity theory. It examines the divergent masculinities using Connell’s key concepts of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities. The paper also examines the role of   the female “Other”   in the construction of masculinity.

Keywords: Culture, masculinity, rural, urban, hegemony, subordinate