Masculinities Among Adolescent Boys

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Md. Afzal Hossain, University of Dhaka

Abstract

Masculinity is an attitude, behavior, norm, culture that is performed by mainly men in a patriarchal society to dominate women. It is characterized by transformations and shifts over time. Masculinities often associated with its hegemonic forms. Hegemonic masculinity is constructed in opposition to femininity and is dominant to all other gender identities. Men are socialized from birth to perform it, especially through behavior and symbolism. Most of the traits/features of hegemonic masculinities are believed to be violent, dominant, aggressive and authoritarian. The construction of masculinities is mainly depends on socialization process. Socialization is a process by which young generation come to learn the proper behavior suitable according to their gender identity and gender relation. Masculinity and femininity develop as an outcome of socialization process. In this process, parents, especially mother plays an important and significant role. Through various verbal and non-verbal methods and mostly through reward and punishments adolescent boys are taught and trained to become a man by their mothers. Hence, mothers reproduce hegemonic forms of masculinities among adolescent boys. By this point women are related in reproducing masculinities/ hegemonic masculinities which is not recognized by many former researchers. To conduct the research I have followed qualitative research method. I have taken 5 in-depth interviews from five mothers who’ve played a major role on their son’s socialization. I’ve also conducted a questionnaire survey among one hundreds young men and five focus group discussions. The analysis was done under Albert Bandura’s "The social learning theory", R. W. Connell’s "Theory of Masculinities" and "Theory of Hegemonic masculinities". I’ve found several important findings from this study. First, Mothers expectations to their son is socially constructed behaviors of masculinities. Second, Mothers primarily shapes their son’s masculinity by applying various learning methods. Third, Mothers are surely reproducing the traits of hegemonic masculinities among their sons.

Keywords: Masculinity, Motherhood, Socialization

Introduction

The intent of this study is to assess mother’s role in developing their son’s masculinity. Masculinity is a kind of domination and oppression based on gender, class, race, religion, ethnicity etc. Such domination and exploitation can occur between men and women, women and women and also among men. In its simplest sense masculinity is understood as ‘attributes of man’. It’s easily understandable that ‘attributes’ that are associated with ‘man’ can never be the same in all cultures and during all times (Imtiaz, 2009).The construction of masculinities mainly depends on socialization process. Socialization is the process by which individuals learn the culture of their society (Haralambos and Holborn, 2002). Human infants are the most helpless and can’t survive without any help of others for at least four or five years of life. Socialization, therefore, is the process whereby the helpless infant gradually becomes a self-aware, knowledgeable person, skilled in the ways of the culture into which she or he born (Giddens, 2001). By socialization process young generation come to learn the proper behavior suitable according to their gender identity and gender relation. Masculinity and femininity develop as an outcome of socialization process. Men are taught to be assertive, rational, aggressive, active etc on the other hand women are taught to be emotional, passive, cooperative, naïve etc. This socialization training starts from birth of a human being and the trainer is here the society itself. Little girls and boys are given toys in accordance with their sexual identity. Girls play with dolls and boys are given the gun which is a symbol of aggression. Even educational instruments like books are discriminatory. Girls are portrayed doing household chores and boys are portrayed working outside and earning money for family. Media focuses on differences between these two sexes by presenting them in such ways. In movies, dramas, advertisements women are shown as submissive and men are shown as dominating.

Family and parents teach juvenile infant about society, culture and religion. Masculinities are socially expected traits and features that every man needs to cultivate within themselves. In this process, parents, especially mother plays an important and significant role.Motherhood can be seen as a social institution. As a social institution it has a close relation with the socialization process of human being. In every known society of the world mothers are the primary caretakers of young children. Mothers socialize the children and shaped their masculinity or femininity according to the society’s need. The adolescent period of a male child is very important time for socialization and in this period mothers teach their son how to be a man. Through various verbal and non-verbal methods and mostly through reward and punishments adolescent boys are taught and trained to become a man by their mothers. Hence, mothers reproduce hegemonic forms of masculinities among adolescent boys. By this point women are related in reproducing masculinities/ hegemonic masculinities which is not recognized by many former researchers. Focusing on motherhood that reproduce masculinities from the perspective of Bangladesh may offer a new viewpoint to the researchers to understand the relation between these issues.

Theoretical Outline

I’ve used several theories and concepts to do the analysis of this study. Theory of masculinities, social learning theory, socialization theory, concept of motherhood etc. are used in this study. In social learning theory, Albert Bandura (1977) states behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.  In society children are surrounded by many influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV, friends within their peer group and teachers at school. These models provide examples of masculine and feminine behavior to observe and imitate. Socialization is one of the most important social processes in every human society. Without socialization the human beings would not be able to participate on group life and develop the human characteristics. The process through which an infant internalizes the values and norms into his self or the made of learning to live in society, is called the process of socialization. The prominent theories of socialization are formulated by Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead and Sigmund Freud. Raewyn Connell's theory of masculinity is the most influential theory in the field of men and masculinities. R. W. Connell (1995) states that-‘Masculinity’ is simultaneously a place in gender relations, the practices through which men and women engage that place in gender, and the effects of these practices in bodily experience. Essentialist definitions pick a feature that defines masculinity (risk-taking, aggression, responsibility, irresponsibility, and more) and describe men's lives according to it.

Socialization and masculinity

The socialization process of a boy teaches him to attain the traditional masculine attributes and exercise those in real life to become a "man". With their traditional perception and behavior they become dominant, violent, patriarch and masculine. The social construction of masculinity is an embodiment of social pressure and cultural norm that determine the gender roles, gender relations, responsibility and also rights. The social institutions like family, education, religion, culture, media etc. are helping in the socialization process of a boy to act like a hegemonic masculine man. The masculine values and practices derived from socialization shape power relation not only between men and women but also among men and among women.

Social learning and masculinity

People learn appropriate appearance; behavior that shapes their gender identity emerging from modeling same-sex parents, peers etc. Like many other social behaviors expected from men the hegemonic masculine attributes are also imposed upon men by society. Society sets some particular attributes and qualities for men to achieve in order to become a real man. The ideologies and code of contact for men are both learned and imitated by men from their role models. Here, social learning process plays the most significant role in constructing masculinities among young men in a society.

Motherhood and Masculinity

In the first phase of a man’s socialization, mother plays a very important role. Male infants always attached more with their mother rather than their father. According to Freud, both male and female infants are attached to the mother whom they perceive as all powerful. Mostly fathers work outside of the home as an earning person. In the circumstances of the father’s absence, it falls to the mother to bring up the children and to make the son into a man like his father. In order to develop the son into a man like the father, mother coerced the son to give up the mother as an emotional object and to become something other than feminine by rejecting femininity (Islam, 2008). A mother gives greater emphasis on the masculinity of the son in opposition to herself. It is the mother who primarily give shape the masculinity of the son.

Correlation among motherhood, socialization, masculinity and hegemonic masculinity

Motherhood is certainly the first institution for a child’s socialization. Mothers by their mothering process directly or indirectly socialize their children in different phase of their life. During the adolescent period it is definitely gives a shape to their masculinity. To link between motherhood, socialization, masculinity and hegemonic masculinity, the link chart is given below.

It shows that motherhood has a direct relationship with the socialization process and socialization process also shapes motherhood. Mothers socialize their children and make them what society wants to see them. But motherhood itself a socially constructed institution. Socialization process have dual relationship with masculinity. By a socialization process a man becomes a man. Socialization is the only process which gives all the elements to make a man’s masculinity. But masculinity also provoke socialization process as well. Because men’s behavior or attributes are socially accepted standards those society wants to pass to new generations. By the help of patriarchy, masculinity effects the socialization process to make new social men.

Diagram 1: Linkage between Motherhood, Socialization, Masculinity and Hegemonic Masculinity.

Masculinity also tries to go to the standard of hegemonic masculinity which can rule everything. So this whole process is interlinked and in this respect the question is, does motherhood is linked with or reproduce hegemonic masculinity?

Methodology of the study

The intent of this study was to assess mother’s role in developing their son’s masculinity. I’ve tried to take the view of motherhood and reproduction of masculinities from two perspectives. I have taken data from mothers and as well as from the young men who are the target of the masculinities process. So, I have designed the study mainly as a qualitative one. By making the study qualitative I tried to take out the reality of the individuals. I’ve used some quantitative data also for making the analysis more authentic.

I wanted to take a deeper look into the construction of masculinities and the part of motherhood in shaping the masculinities/ hegemonic masculinities among their son. So my primary respondents were mothers who were the main focus of my study. I took 5 in-depth interviews from five mothers who’ve already raised their son or raising them. I’ve selected three mothers from the respondents of my FGD study. I tried to select the mother’s from different educational background, occupational background and different age of their son. I thought it’d give my data a variation from different perspectives. The findings and comparative analysis have been represented in the following chapters. I’ve also taken FGDs and questionnaire survey from the young people between the ages of 16-24. The reason for choosing this age limit was, the young men between the ages 16-24 were in their adolescent period or just finished their adolescent period and are their verge to become an adult. The sampling method of the study was random sampling. I was roaming in the selected campuses and talked to the students who were in the age limit and were interested to talk. I didn’t force anybody to fill up the questionnaire. I’ve also conducted five focus group discussion with these young people. I’ve done this to get more insights from respondent regarding their culture of masculinities, their perception about masculinity and the effect of the socialization by their mother.

To conduct this research I’ve used three data collection tools. They are:

In-depth Interview

Questionnaire Survey

Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

In-depth Interview:I have taken five in-depth interviews from five mothers. All these mothers have at least one male child. A checklist was prepared before going to the respondents. Then, these interviews were taken by trying to incorporate the empirical evidence of the respondents. They were asked about their real life experiences. The mothers shared their perception about ideal men, real men and successful man. They’ve shared their thinking about how a man should be and characteristics of men. They also shared their experience of mothering on socializing their son. They have shared their idea of masculinity and their wish how their son will be in future. They’ve also shared their strategy for shaping their son’s masculinity.

Questionnaire Survey: I’ve conducted questionnaire survey among 100 young men in Dhaka University campus, Daffodil University Campus, North-South University Campus, Rajuk Uttara Model College and Notre Dame College. All these respondents were either college students or honors students between the ages of 16-24. The questionnaire was about their experience with their mother and how their mother shaped their masculinity in their adolescent period. Only 100 respondents cannot represent all the young men of Dhaka city, but it helped me to get an overall view of their experience.

Focal Group Discussion (FGD): I took five FGDs in my area of study. I took a FGD in Dhaka University, one in Daffodil University, one in North-South University, 1 in Rajuk Uttara Model College and last one in Notre Dame College. With the help of some of my friends I organized these five discussion session and invited those young men who had enough time and willing to share their perception and experience with us. I formed the groups with ten respondents per group. I started with the question about their perception of the characteristics should a man have. And according to their answers I questioned them about their socialization process, their relationships with their mother, their mother’s process for shaping their masculinity etc. All the respondents were very frequent in the whole session. They shared all their personal experiences with me in the whole session. After doing these FGDs I found that some respondent’s answered very differently and was on the track I was searching. According to my objectives they should be more researched. So I approached them to talk to their mothers. I’ve selected three mothers from the respondents of these five FGDs.

Transforming boys into men: Impacts and influences of motherhood

The impact of motherhood is vast in a young boy’s life. Mother’s influences the boys to adopt socially accepted behaviors and by these boys becomes a man. On the basis of the questionnaire survey the influence of mother on the construction of masculinities among young men were tried to analyze in the study. Some of the major findings of the study are analyzed here.

Family is the place where every people get their first lessons of becoming a social being. The lessons, advises and teachings of the family members often shape up the way of a person behaves and what characteristics he/she possesses. In short, a person’s behavior represents the family and the environment he/she comes from. Naturally and biologically it is widely perceived that mothers are the first teachers of their children as mothers are closely related with them. This affection has a direct influence in the socialization process of the boy and their construction of masculinities. Such interpretations can be made from the responses found in the questionnaire survey as 58% of the respondents stated that their mother was the most influential person in their socialization process (see Chart One).

Obviously it was not surprising that mothers did play a crucial role in forcing and punishing the young men to attain ‘masculine’ behaviors. Most of the respondents (68%; see Chart Two) claimed that their mothers forced them more often than not to attain the ‘masculine’ behaviors while they were or are growing up from their boyhood to adulthood. The closeness of the children with their mother and their inseparable impact in the social upbringing of the children reflects in such responses. The role of motherhood reinforces the masculine attributes among young men in this manner.

Socialization process often operates in establishing a role model and following or imitating that model. The thinkers of social learning theories have advocated such models to be effective in the social learning of the offspring. Since, mothers are the primary instigators of social learning process of young men, it is not surprising to find that they are the people who structure a role model for the young men to imitate or follow. Such claims are also evident from the responses of the people under the study. A staggering 82% of the respondents (see Chart Three) told that it is their mothers who structured a role model in front of them and also persuaded them to be like the role model.

Socialization process and social learning process often emphasizes on the learning through rewards and punishments. Society and social institutions reward and punish a social person to attain accepted and celebrated social behaviors. As an important part of the social agent, mothers were found also to reward and to punish their sons to acquire socially accepted masculine behaviors and attributes. 60% of the respondents shared that their mother rewarded them for picking up a masculine attribute (see Chart Four).

It seems that most of the young men of Dhaka city consider the term ‘masculine’ and ‘real man’ as synonymous. Our social perceptions regarding masculinities are very shallow and unitary in vision. These young men often like to mix up the term masculinities with hegemonic masculinities and in many cases they seem to consider that only hegemonic forms of masculinities represent the concept of masculinities. Such perceptions become evident when 70% of the respondents (see Chart Five) said that being a ‘real man’ is being ‘masculine’. Our social perception and social expectations regarding men and masculinities might be blamed for such responses. In our society we often celebrate the hegemonic forms of masculinities. Such practices may transmit through the families and reach the minds of the young men. In such cases, the roles of the mothers are very pragmatic. That is what that results in the social notions regarding masculinities which are often confined with the concept of being ‘real man’.

Social expectations and socially constructed forms of masculinities are often reinforced by mothers. Even in the simple cases where they are supporting and encouraging their sons to go and play various forms of sports outside the houses instigates the masculine attributes among young boys. A total of 72% respondents shared (see Chart Six) that their mothers always supported and encouraged them to go outside and participate in sports. Such encouragements can be linked with another major aspect of social construction of gender roles in our society. Mothers playing such roles often reproduce the old concept of "public-private dichotomy" where boys are meant to occupy the public sphere which in this particular case means to go outside and participate in various forms of sports.

The concept of "public-private dichotomy" is ever so evident in the case of performing domestic chores. In the socio-cultural context of Bangladesh men are not appreciated to perform the household chores. These set of works are usually considered as works of women and are termed as feminine works. The responses also exhibit such contrasting attitude and behavior of the mothers in the case of asking their sons to perform domestic works. 86% respondents (see Chart Seven) told that their mothers never asked them to take part in the domestic works. In such actions and mothers are not only prohibiting their sons into the realm of the household but also disseminating them a strong message to their sons regarding the gender division of labor.

Having physical and mental strength are also closely affiliated with men. In the socio-cultural context of Bangladesh men are expected to be strong both physically and psychologically. Such traits are eminent in the cases of mothers influencing their sons to be strong. Cent percent (100%; see Chart Eight) responses from the questionnaire survey are one of the most fascinating findings of this study. This result can be interpreted in two ways. One is, mothers are injecting the positive energy into their sons by asking and promoting them to be strong. The other one is, in many cases such strength might be used as a tool to rule, dominate and oppress people belonging to different class, age group and or gender (or in many cases it also means the people of same gender).

Dominating nature and authoritative manners are associated with the hegemonic forms of masculinities. These two attributes are considered to be the testament of hegemonic masculinities. Through the socialization process mothers are encouraging their sons to adopt such attributes. Evidence can be found in the results of the questionnaire surveys as 60% of the respondents told that their mothers asked and influenced them to be dominating in nature. It can be assumed that such dominating nature is meant to establish power, control and authority. Often such dominating nature might instigate the involvement of young men in violent and anti-social acts. Such responses also justify the assumption that was made in the interpretation of Chart Eight where the possible misuses of strength were discussed. Hence, mothers might be missing a trick by trying to develop the noble attributes in their sons which might backfire in many occasions.

Trying to trace the impacts and influences of motherhood in shaping young men’s masculinities was very important for this study. Mothers give pressure to their adolescent boys to learn proper manly behaviors. Mothers always influence their son’s to be masculine and to make them, they use many processes like rewards and punishments, construct a masculine model to follow etc. By the pressure and influence from mother and society, young boys learn to be masculine and start adopting hegemonic masculinities traits. From the questionnaire survey of young men, the impacts and influences of mothers in shaping their son’s masculinities/ hegemonic masculinities are clearly visible.

Motherhood reproducing hegemonic masculinities: Myth or reality?

The interplay among the issues of motherhood, socialization process, social learning and development and nurturing of masculine (hegemonic) attributes have the most significant impact in the lives of young (adolescent) boys living in Dhaka. As a matter of fact, this statement can be true for boys of any cities or any nations. According to Freud, the ‘Oedipus complex’ [1] makes the boys feel much more attracted towards their mothers. Such attraction also has some other effects on the boys. In this manner boys may become much more influenced and inspired by their mothers’ words and actions. Since mothers are the primary teachers of the children to become a social being, their beliefs and ideologies might often be reflected through the actions and thought process of the their sons. The boys get their first lessons regarding a boy and a girl or a man and a woman from their mothers. They also get to know about the socially expected attributes of a man or a woman from their mothers. The responses from the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews conducted under this study tried to locate such acts, behaviors and beliefs of young men’s notion regarding masculinities and how their mothers are responsible (or if they are responsible at all) for the development of such masculine traits among them.

Perception of real man (successful and or ideal man)

As masculinities are socially expected attributes of men, there is a social portrayal of ideal and or successful man in the society. Young men are taught to follow this portrayal of ideal and or successful man in their life. The perception of ideal and successful man varies person to person, society to society. It is also time contextual. But to be a real man, young men tries very hard, and their mothers also forces them. A view of the perception of real man among young men found on the FDGs when they expressed

"A real man will be strong one as well as he will take care of his family and the people who are dependent on him."

"A successful and ideal man will be followed by other men and the women will honor them."

Such statements shows the perception of real (ideal and successful) man which is dominating in nature. The young men’s perception about real man supports the hegemonic masculinities which controls all other human attributes. This perception not only by the young men but respondent mothers also showed their supports on dominating or controlling attributes as the attributes of real men.

"If he can keep his family happy by pulling rickshaw, it would not be a problem. The main point is his family should be happy. Then he will be a successful man."

"I think an ideal man will be successful both in educationand in career. He will make a space for him in the society so that others will follow him."

These statements given by mothers’ shows the thinking of ideal and successful man is actually the practices which makes the men authoritative and dominating which is also a social perception of men. Mothers want to see and make their son real, ideal or successful men. To make them real men they take much strategic learning process to teach their adolescent boys and men masculine/hegemonic masculine behavior. The perception about real men helps them to reproduce this perception among their son.

Reactions and actions regarding masculinities

Like many other attributes taught and learn by social learning process different forms of masculinities are often taught to young men by their mothers using the ‘rewards and punishments’ [2] process. The process of attain a masculine attribute is no different. In many cases, boys might adopt, reject or neglect various attributes of both hegemonic and non-hegemonic masculinities. In this process the roles and responsibilities of the mothers are inseparable and instrumental.

"Wow! You have really acted like a brave man!"

"What will the people say if they come to know that you are crying? You will defame our family’s name and honor"

Both these statements are indicating the fact that rewards and punishments are often the method that is undertaken and perform by mothers to teach their sons the issues of masculinities. Even the respondents of the FGDs expressed similar views by saying that,

"Whenever I used to cry my mother used to scold me in a harsh manner but when I did not express fear to walk into a dark room I was praised by my mother"

"I was six years old when I chased after a thief who broke into our house. I got a candy bar from my mother that day"

Such cases of rewards and punishments would notify that men (be it boys) are not entertained or appreciated or even shown sympathy if they failed to live up to the socially expected standards of masculine behaviors. Mothers are the first person to react to such actions. In some cases under this study, it has been found that the mothers are taking the concept of rewards and punishments very seriously. Likewise:

"Why are you weeping like a sissy girl? I will slap you if you don’t stop it right now"

"Everything in the world has a price. The price of being masculine is living fearless. I would praise my son if he can live such a life. Otherwise, he will not earn respect from me."

It is quite obvious that, motherhood is reinforcing the hegemonic forms of masculinities through rewards and punishments system. To some people such actions and reactions might sound a bit over exaggerated. But it is often the raw reality of our life. Only mothers are capable of creating and maintaining such realities which are tough but they are necessary according to the likings of themselves.

Imitation and persuasion: The best solution?

In the social learning process children are often given a ‘model’ [3] to follow. Mothers structured a model in front of the children to take the characteristics and attributes of the model. Mother is herself a live model to follow by the girl child and she constructs a model for her son also. The model that a son should follow is mostly a very masculine figure or socially accepted masculine figure. So the mother construct a masculine figure for a male child and by following the model the child becomes a masculine man. That means mother is reproducing the masculinities by giving a masculine model in front of her son to follow with. It is found in the in-depth interviews from mothers.

"I always tell him to be like his father. His father is a successful man."

"The prophet (PBUH) is the greatest of all men. He had every quality a man should have. I tell and inspire my son to follow his idealism. If he gets a bit of Prophet’s idealism, he’ll be a good man."

"My father was very successful in every aspects of his life. I want my son to be like him. So that he can make a space for him in the society and people will follow his instruction."

As a live model most of the time mothers instructs her son to follow his father or grandfathers. It is quite normal for a mother to tell her son to be like his father’s or grandfathers because they are the closest man in a women’s life. Mothers also construct other figures from her perception of men and force the boy to imitate and persuade him to be like that masculine figure. Mothers thinks that, this is the best learning process for a male child to follow an ideal model as she is not capable of teaching him masculine behavior first handed. As a woman she wants her son to reject every feminine quality she has and that’s why she implies the modeling process to teach her son masculinities.

Gender orientation and gender division

The orientation of gender starts from the childhood of a child. Every child is oriented to learn the attributes and behaviors of his/her gender identity. Girls are taught to be at home, do domestic work, learn cooking, sewing etc. On the other hand boys are instructed to play outside at the evening, not forced to do any domestic work. In some cases boys are taught to do his essential works at home, for example, making his bed, washing his clothes etc. But he never forced or instructed to do the domestic works like cooking, moping floor etc. The division of labor is strictly followed in the family premises. From the FGDs the gender division in labor is seen as follows

"My mother never asked me to do any domestic work rather my sister taught to do those. While I used to play outside in the evening, my mother forced my sister to stay at home and learn stitching."

"I’ve always heard my father saying ‘the boys of Khan’s never drink a glass of water by pouring it themselves. They just order’. So I used to use this comment on my mother when my mother asked me to do any domestic work."

Mother’s creates a gender division of labor by following public-private dichotomy. In the socio-cultural context of Bangladesh men are not appreciated to perform the household chores. These set of works are usually considered as works of women and are termed as feminine works. Girls specially taught to learn these works because it is considered that girl will do the domestic works and man will work outside. This statement also proved from the in-depth interviews where mothers also shared their idea about gender division.

"Why would not I appreciate my boy to play outside? As a boy he will go outside to play, it is quite normal."

"It is not surprising that there is a division of labor, people have to play different roles. In this case women have to play the role of caring and man has to play the role of breadwinner."

Mothers think this is normal that there is a division of labor. According to this gender division mothers oriented their children. By this, sons learn to be a social man. Mothers in this sense reproducing masculinities to their son.

As an important social institution, mothers play a vital role in their son’s socialization. By their perception about real (ideal and or successful) man they identify some preferred masculine attributes for their son. Through the social learning process their sons adopt these attributes and become a masculine man. Mothers apply different method of learning to their children according to their sexual division. Boys are forced to be a man by applying rewards and punishments process, Constructing model process etc. To make boys masculine mothers plays very progressive role. So motherhood reproducing hegemonic masculinities is not a myth, it is the reality of our society.

Conclusion

The construction of masculinities starts from the family and mothers are the most influential person who is mostly related with the socialization process of the children. Through various norms, cultural practices and given standards young boys are taught to become masculine or attaining masculine attributes. In this process mothers interplay with their sons plays a very important role to create their masculinities/ hegemonic masculinities. As masculinities and hegemonic masculinities are often interlinked with the domination and mothers are linked with the socialization process by which boys becomes masculine. So this can be assumed that mothers are somehow reproducing masculinities.

Masculinity is mostly affiliated with men. It is thought that only men are bearing, reproducing and applying attributes of masculinities. But a socialization process of a man is not only completed by the men. So the learning of masculine traits won’t be done only by men themselves. Mothers can play a significant role in teaching their son the traits and attributes of masculinities. The adolescent period of a male child is very important time for socialization and in this period mothers teach their son how to be a man. Through various verbal and non-verbal methods and mostly through reward and punishments adolescent boys are taught and trained to become a man by their mothers. By applying these methods mothers reproduce hegemonic forms of masculinities among adolescent boys.

Most of the young men of Dhaka city consider the term ‘masculine’ and ‘real man’ as synonymous. Our social perceptions regarding masculinities are very shallow and unitary in vision. These young men often like to mix up the term masculinities with hegemonic masculinities and in many cases they seem to consider that only hegemonic forms of masculinities represent the concept of masculinities. I found that mothers expect her son would be an ideal and successful and have most of the traits and attributes of a socially expected man. To fulfill these expectations mothers imply many strategies to teach the son masculine/ hegemonic masculine traits. This finding was found both from mothers and young men.

As the question rose during this study that, does mothers reproducing masculinities to their son? My answer from the findings and analysis is yes. Mother’s role in the social learning process of young men is very significant. As sons were dependent on mothers primarily to learn the minimum behaviors to act in the society, mothers teach them to be the expected character of the society. Thus mothers are not fully responsible for the reproduction of masculine/ hegemonic masculine attribute because mothers are not the only agent of social learning. But it can be said surely that mothers primarily shapes their sons masculinity from their childhood.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I am very grateful to Dr. Sayed Md. Saikh Imtiaz, Assistant Professor at the Department of Women and Gender Studies, University of Dhaka for his guidelines and co-operation. I am indebted to my father Md. Anwar Hossain and my mother Hasina Momtaz. I really owe to Aumio Srizan Samya for his help in every steps of this study. I am very thankful to my friends Mehbuba Jabin Lopa, Ibrahim Khalil Ullah, Abu Saleh Md. Sowad, Ferdoushara Urme, Rakiba Naznin Huda and Afifa Afrin. I want to thank Sultana Yasmin for her endless support and encouragement. Finally I want to thank all my respondents for their co-operation with me.