Masculinities and young men’s involvement in sexual and reproductive health: the case of Family Health Options hospital, youth program in Eldoret, Kenya

Abstract

The thesis seeks to understand the different definitions attached to ideals of masculinities by male youth involved in Family Health Option Kenya (FHOK) youth intervention program. The study was conducted using in-depth individual interviews to explore how male youth engagement with FHOK programs tell us about their construction of masculinities, as they seek to promote their sexual and reproductive health. Findings reveal that the FHOK youth intervention program is redefining male youth’s understandings and construction of masculinities, though their understandings were aspirational. Further, the findings reveal other societal institutions such as the family, the church, and traditional circumcision play a role in shaping male youth’s construction of masculinities. Additionally, findings reveal that protest masculinities largely conceived by Connell (1995) as ‘damaging’ falls short of accounting for protest masculinities that are not seen as ‘deviant’ such as those practiced by male youth at FHOK, Eldoret.