Collapsing Masculinities and Weak States: A Case Study of Northern Uganda

Men's lived experiences of masculinity are diverse. Despite this, men are often taught that they should aspire to and judge themselves by certain fixed ideas about what it means to be a man. In northern Uganda, men are expected to become husbands and fathers (preferably educated), provide for the material needs of their families, and ensure the physical protection of their wives and children. Yet it is difficult for the majority of men to fulfil these social expectations, especially in the northern Ugandan context of ongoing war and internal displacement. 50 per cent of the population is internally displaced and has limited access to subsistence farming, income-generating opportunities, education, employment, or legal and physical protection from the state. For men looking to marry, the absence of cattle (due to cattle raiding) or cash to provide bride payments is a serious obstacle. Where men do manage to marry and have children, their role as protector of physical security is severely compromised. This creates a gap between society's expectations of masculinity and the reality of what real men can achieve, which can result in widespread feelings of fear, humiliation and frustration, often expressed in violence against themselves and others. In other words, violence becomes the last resort for those who are unable to fulfil society's idea of what being a man is all about. Interventions therefore need to work with men to develop alternative masculine identities, and must simultaneously address the role of the state in undermining these alternatives.