Popular South African music on dominant local masculine ideals and their influence and societal response to the gender-based violence (GBV) pandemic

Abstract

Abuse against women and minorities is a global issue that requires immediate attention. SA is one of the countries found to be grossly unsafe for women in the world. Current, evidence suggests that one South African woman is killed every hour. In addition, evidence shows that GBV and femicide are rooted in negative masculine ideals. The GBV pandemic rooted on context specific dominant masculine ideas has been mirrored by artists through music in raising awareness. This study draws on a case study qualitative methods to purposively sample Three songs from three South African artists to understand music portrayal of dominat masculine ideals, how they are linked to GBV and artists response to the GBV pandemic. Connell’s theory on masculinities is employed to interpret the findings of this study. The sampled music suggests that Men aspire to work and provide for their families. However, due to rife unemployment, poverty, and inequality, men adopt alternative masculine ideals based on violence, power, money, women, and sex to reinforce and uphold their masculine identities. Artists raise awareness and provide advice to women, neglecting men as an integral part that is involved and play a role in the GBV pandemic. This study concludes that dominant masculine ideals and their influence on GBV are echoed through music. Researchers and musicians should work together to raise awareness about GBV and in ensuring that interventions for GBV include a focus in changing men’s behaviour. This study recommends that artists should focus on men and use thier voice to discourage negative masculine ideals.

Keywords:

• Awareness
• gender-based violence
• masculinities
• music
• South Africa

Reviewing Editor:

• Timothy Clack
• University of Oxford
• United Kingdom

SUBJECTS:

• Gender Studies - Soc Sci
• Sociology & Social Policy
• Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Music

1. Introduction

Gender-based Violence (GBV) is a global concern. South Africa (SA) has documented an unprecedented rise in violence against women and femicide since the year 2016 (StatsSA, 2018). Current statistics show that GBV cases continue to grow (StatsSA, 2021). Due to increasing evidence showing the death of women at the hands of men, ‘South Africa holds the shameful distinction of being one of the most unsafe places in the world for woman’ (NSP, 2020, p. 2). The national strategic plan (NSP) on GBV was devised to deal with GBV. Scientists have raised concerns and provided vital evidence necessary for raising awareness in local communities about the GBV pandemic (HIPSS, 2018; Satoh & Boyer, 2019; NSP, 2020). However, the voices of scientists fail to reach the masses, in a paper on research dissemination, Edward estimates that it ‘…takes an average of 17 years for 14% of published evidence to be widely incorporated into…practice’ (2015, p.467). This shows that scientific research targets a limited audience of educated fellow scientists and few practitioners who deal with the issues such as GBV in communities. This suggests that even fewer individuals in the general population receive the impute of scientific studies on GBV trends and awareness.

The South African president, Mr Ramaphosa addressed the nation on the 17^th of June 2020 about the increasing crimes committed against women and children by men (Ellis, 2020). The president stated that GBV had turned into a pandemic that disproportionately affects and kills women in SA (Ellis, 2020). This presidential statement remains an indicator of the grave lived experiences of most South African women, who continue to be disproportionately exposed to GBV pandemic while at the same time suffering the burden of the HIV/AIDS pandemic (HIPSS., 2018; Satoh & Boyer, 2019; Ellis, 2020; AFG, 2021). Since GBV was declared a pandemic, the media have covered numerous tragedies of violence committed against women. While South African media coverage of the GBV pandemic is growing, evidence suggests that less than 20% of femicide cases were covered by media between 2012–2013 (Bhekisisa Team, 2021). This suggests a grim reality about SA femicide and the lack of media coverage to raise awareness. However, like scientific papers, SA media serves an elite few as 12% of South Africans are illiterate, thus, having limited access to the print media (Khuluvhe, 2021). The country also has major inequalities and poverty issues, meaning the majority of the country’s population cannot access the media while a great proportion cannot read written media work (Bhekisisa Team, 2021; Khuluvhe, 2021; Sachs et al., 2022).

South African people have found ways of expressing their concerns and raising awareness about GBV, with Social media and art playing a role in the expressions. With the growing awareness, artists have played a role in utilising music as a social tool to raise awareness about negative masculine ideals based on violence that are dominant amongst South African men and their impact on GBV. South African history is intertwined with the country’s music development, with each historical significant event accompanied by music for various purposes. The apartheid regime was opposed through many defiance movements including music. Understandings of the experiences of the African people living under apartheid were spread across the world through musical performances and recordings (le Roux-Kemp, 2014). During the HIV/AIDS pandemic music was used and continues to be employed as a “principal tools for local initiatives and media to disseminate information, mobilise resources and raise societal consciousness with regards to HIV/AIDS” (Barz, 2014, p.3). The GBV pandemic is receiving a similar response with artists employing music to raise awareness. This study seeks to uncover the SA music response to GBV by understanding dominant masculine ideals portrayed by music, how they influence GBV and the artists response to the pandemic.

2. Background

2.1. GBV pandemic in SA

South Africa has been experiencing an extreme growing trend of women abuse and femicide. A report, on crime against women in SA, shows that one in five women reported having experienced intimate partner violence (StatsSA, 2021). The threat to women and girls has been noticeably growing sharply (Enaifoghe et al., 2021). Statistics suggest that since the year 2016, a woman is killed hourly in South Africa, with femicide statistics showing a growth of more than 50% from 2015 to 2018 (StatsSA, 2018). South Africa continues to hold the ‘shameful distinction’ as its femicide rate was reported to be Four times that of the global figure (Nyoka, 2022). In response to the GBV pandemic, the South African government introduced a national strategic plan for GBV and has since labelled GBV a pandemic (NSP, 2020). This strategical framework was aimed at providing a national integrated multi-sectoral policy framework for the national response to GBV and femicide. The national strategic policy recommends program frameworks to guide the GBV response in an attempt to build ‘A South Africa free from gender-based violence directed at women, children and LGBTQIA + persons’ (NSP, 2020, p.5).

2.2. SA music and social justice

South African music has played a central role in social activism and is not new to the phenomenon of ‘songs of socio-political commitment’ (le Roux-Kemp, 2014; Shumba & Meyer-Weitz, 2019; Mlala et al., 2021). South African artists played a role in the struggle against the apartheid government’s rule of law (le Roux-Kemp, 2014). The struggle songs echoed around South Africa as a sign of resisting the apartheid government. Singing and chanting were communal bonding activities employed to respond to specific certain situations and evoke specific emotions (Colling & Thompson, 2013). For example, the ‘struggle’ songs were understood as having multidimensional functionalities, they served to inspire, teach, instruct and maintain a political ideology in specific contexts (le Roux-Kemp, 2014). During apartheid, a mere chant of ‘Amandla awethu’ [the power is ours]’ was a call for people to come together and march against the apartheid laws imposed on non-White South Africans (le Roux-Kemp, 2014). This chant often highlighted brewing anger and signalled a fight against apartheid militants. This call was also a sign of unity and often an indicator that force was to be used against people by the government and through this chant, people were encouraged to withstand the political forces. Today ‘Amandla awethu’ has retired from its association with resisting extreme political forces of the apartheid and serves as a sign of unity and signifies the political identities and the history of mostly the African people (le Roux-Kemp, 2014).

The roles played by the voices of South African artist during apartheid and the HIV/AIDS pandemic shows that music is an active ingredient in the constitution of [South African] lived experiences” (DeNora, 1995, p.295). Today, South African artists utilised the far-reaching and non-discriminatory nature of music to convey the outcry about dominant violent masculinities and the ongoing GBV pandemic. In writing about the current dominating music genre Kwaito, which has given birth to subcategories such as Afro-pop which remains influential and relevant for young South Africans, and from which this study samples, Hlasane and Peterson state “The significance and appeal of ‘kwaito’ is that it enables young black people to make sense of their lives by narrating and performing their experiences, hopes, desires and fears amidst the harsh and hostile urban landscapes… (2022, p.349)

The same advantage of popularity and influence that was used by South African artists in raising awareness, and mobilising campaigns to fight the Apartheid government and the HIV/AIDS pandemic is used by artists today in the fight against the GBV pandemic. The current populous Afro-pop music conveys a cultural message and evokes emotions about the struggles of current young women in SA. There is a new growing music movement where artists paint a clear picture of the dominant masculine ideals and their relationship to the exacerbated GBV pandemic.

3. Study aims and objectives

This study aims at understanding South African popular music depictions and understandings of the dominant hegemonic masculine ideals and the influence the ideals have on GBV.

Understanding music’s detailed depictions of dominant masculine ideals provide a simple presentation that can be understood by both scientific and non-scientific communities. This in turn provides a window to explore the:

• The true reflection of SA context-specific societal experiences of dominant masculinities and their influence on violence, particularly the GBV pandemic.

• The current SA musical response to GBV.

• Explore music as a tool for social awareness of existing critical issues tied to dominant masculine ideals.

4. Methodology

This study adopted a qualitative methodological approach, drawing from an interpretive paradigm of social sciences (Green & Throrogood, 2004; Neuman, 2014). This study sits within the case study design which aims at understanding complex phenomeon within specific contexts (Neuman, 2014). The main interest of this analysis was in dominant masculinities highlighted through music by three famous South African artists, Sjava, Mlindo the Vocalist, and Something Soweto. This study employed a theoretically informed purposive sampling method where the choice of music cases (songs) was influenced by Connell’s theory of masculinities (see theory below) (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Purposive sampling entails the researcher judiciously choosing the sample that is relevant to the purpose of the study (Green & Throrogood, 2004; Neuman, 2014). The multiple songs sampled portray fundamental masculine ideals that are crucial in understanding dominant local masculinities and how they influence GBV in SA.

Three songs from three artists, two main artist and one featured artist artists were purposively sampled with the researcher drawing from Connell’s theory of masculinity. The theoretical focus of this study is based on two global dominant masculine ideals. Firstly, financially independent with an overarching provider role where ‘real men’ are expected to hold paying jobs so they can provide for their heteronormative families (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). This ideal is best illustrated by Hobbs describing societal expectations of men, “It’s hard being a man. You die younger and you’re ill more often. But if you don’t do the things that make you ill or have the potential to kill you, [difficult manly paying jobs] you’re not considered a man” (Hobbs, 1995 in Robertson, 2008, p.3). This important theme of masculinity is also found in the song [1] eGoli (Johannesburg), by Mlindo the vocalist featuring Sjava. The second ideal depicts men as dominating women through violence rooted on hyper-heterosexual beliefs such as the provider role, found in song [2] uSbahle (a girl named Sbahle by Mlindo the Vocalist (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). The last song [3] Amagents (gentleman/men) by Something Soweto maps the societal response to GBV that often excludes the perpetrators and focus on the victims as noted by other researchers where research and interventions excluded a fundamental part of the issue which are men (Dovel et al., 2015). In these songs, language is used to highlight the context-specific everyday portrayal of SA masculinities. The music is tailored towards providing a clear picture of men’s masculine identities and further raising awareness of the current GBV pandemic through narrating stories of negative masculine intersections with GBV (Table 1).

Table 1. Sampled artist’s evidence of popularity.

Artists	Featured Artist	Album	Sampled song	Year of release	Awards.
Something Soweto	–	Single	Amagents	2022	Sportify- Best SA album, 2019. Top Apple Music SA and Regional (Southern Africa) 2021. Top 100 SA songs -Apple Music, 2022.
Mlindo the vocalist	–	Emakhaya	uSbahle eGoli	2018	Sportify- Best SA album, 2019. Apple Music- Best SA Album 2021 Apple Music -Best regional album in Southern Africa, 2021 South African Music Award for Best-Selling Artist
	Sjava	Emakhaya	eGoli	2018	Sportify- Most Streamed SA artist, 2019.

4.1. Selected artist’s influence

This study sampled music by widely influential three South African black artists involved in the recent development and currently, a famous wing of Kwaito Music called Afro-Pop (Hlasane & Peterson, 2022). Working within the same genre, the artists have collaborated and enjoyed wide acceptance from young South Africans, particularly Africans (Hlasane & Peterson, 2022). To highlight the wide influence of Mlindo the vocalist, Sjava and Something Soweto, statistics from two competing streaming services, Apple music and Spotify from 2019–2021 were studied. Since the year 2019, the three artists have maintained constant high streaming of Apple Music in SA, with the trio obtaining Apple music’s top SA albums in 2019 (Shumba, 2019). Sjava and Mlindo maintained their best SA album titles in 2021 and expanded to obtain the best regional album in Southern Africa (Shumba, 2021). Something Soweto also acquired both top Apple music local (SA) and regional (Southern Africa) songs for the year 2021, with his recently released single ‘amagents’ topping the chats of the top 100 South African music on Apple music (Shumba, 2021; Apple Music, 2022). On Spotify in 2019, the trio obtained the best album titles in South Africa, with Sjava named the most streamed artist in SA (Channel24,24, 2019; NowInSA, 2021). In addition to streaming as an indicator of winning listeners’ hearts, these three artists have received numerous music awards to recognise their talent, and most importantly since their songs are in the widely spoken African Language, isiZulu, the SA masses vote for them in those awards.

The variety in the sampled songs provides this study with a triangulated data source which strengthens the credibility of the study findings (Green & Throrogood, 2004; Neuman, 2014). All the sampled songs were written and sung in isiZulu, all lyrics of the songs were obtained from Spotify and translated by the researcher and later checked by a master’s graduate student working as a transcriber and an isiZulu-transcription Translator. Before the lyric’s translation process, the researcher listened to the songs repeatedly and during the translation process, the researcher read and re-read the lyrics to capture nuanced meanings and fine understandings of cultural messages sent through the lyrics. The translation checker was also familiar with the songs and listen to the song and read the lyrics. This allowed the researcher a prolonged engagement with data, which improves the study’s trustworthiness (Babbie & Mouton, 2001).

4.2. Analytic tool (CDA)

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was employed to demystify meanings carried by phrases, and figures of speech expressed in the lyrics of the selected songs. This study is concerned with dominant masculine ideals portrayed through music and how they influence GBV. The main interest of the CDA is ­understanding social issues (Van Dijuk, 1993; Bloor & Bloor, 2007). This analytical framework deals with understanding text, social communication, and practices in order to understand social problems and their effects (Bloor & Bloor, 2007). The CDA focus on the relationship between text, context-specific social conditions, and power relations which can be explored under three levels, (a) text, (b) discursive ­practices, and (c) social practices (Bloor & Bloor, 2007). This study focuses on social practices of masculinities highlighted in the social practices of selected music. Researchers concerned with the meanings of music such as Shumba and Meyer-Weitz have used this tool to understand messages portrayed by the artists through the language used in lyrics (2019).

4.3. Theoretical framework-based sample: integrating theory with music

This study draws on the Connellian theory of masculinities to understand highlighted masculine ideals and their relationship to GBV. Connell has been influential in global literature of masculinities (Carlson, 2009; Jewkes & Abrahams, 2002). The hegemonic masculinities theory provides lenses through which masculinities can be inspected, understood, and scrutinized. Connell describes hegemonic masculinities as social norms that legitimise the hierarchy where hegemonic masculine men dominate other men and over women (Connell, 2005; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). These social norms are embedded in patriarchal norms that view men as industrious, independent, lacking nurturing emotions, and aggressively competitive.

The Cornellian theory like others is not without criticism. This theory has been criticized for its western understanding of masculinities. In response to this major critique, Connell suggests that the theory provides a framework for masculinities and that there is a need for context-specific masculinities to be explored (Connell, 1995, 2005; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Hegemonic masculinities theory remains a useful lens in understanding the global and regional understandings and practices of masculinities, which has been largely influenced by the west through colonisation, media, and transnational business (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). In local societies, men who do not fit in the global masculine narrative reinvent new ways of upholding their dominance. This study zooms on the social practices of masculinities on the local level.

4.3.1. Sample

4.3.1.1. eGoli [Johannesburg] by Mlindo the Vocalist & Sjava, (2018)

This song was composed by Mlindo the vocalist, featuring Sjava. In this song, the artist echoes Connell’s theory of masculinity on global masculine ideals by introducing the importance of financial independence as men which is directly linked to their need to provide (Connell, 1995, 2005; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). In this song, the artists send messages to their mothers, telling them that they were on their way to Johannesburg in search of employment. They express that their main goal is to find a job and build their mother’s home, adding that they are the only hope for their mothers. In recognising their mothers as important features in their lives, the artists promise that whatever their mothers needed, they will provide . In this song, the artists declare that they won’t sleep at home nor come back without finding a job in their quest for financial indipendance. In the same song, the artists present the current state of SA unemployment and the plight of young South Africans, especially young men which makes the main ideals of manhood unreachable . This narrative is crucial as it encompasses the main critiques of Connell’s theory that it initially did not include context-specific issues, where global masculine ideals such as the need to provide are unreachable and substituted by other behaviours that makes men remain dominant which Connell termed ‘protest masculinities’ defined as “a pattern of masculinit constructed in local working-class settings, sometimes among ethnically marginalized men, which embodies the claim to power typical of regional hegemonic masculinities in Western countries, but which lacks the economic resources and institutional authority that underpins the regional and global patterns” (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005, p 848). This song was released on Mlindo the vocalist’s emakhaya [at home] album in 2018, won SA music best afro-pop and best-produced album in 2019. Through this album, Mlindo the vocalist won the best newcomer of the year and currently holds the award for the bestselling artist in SA.

4.3.1.2. usbahle [a girl named Sbahle] by Mlindo the Vocalist (2018)

In the same album, emakhaya, Mlindo the vocalist introduces a girl named ‘Sbahle’ which becomes the centre of context-specific ‘protest masculinities’. The narrative song ‘Sbahle’ tells a story of a young beautiful South African girl who ends up pregnant and forced to abort a child by a ‘stranger’ man she met at a club. The artist narrates that this beautiful young woman would go to clubs to enjoy dances and alcohol bought for her by men she meets during the night, allowing men to practice their ‘provider role’. In the incident narrated by the artist, Sbahle and her friend goes to a club as usual and meet men who ‘blessed’ them with alcohol, As the night grows old, the artist states that the men bought the girls expensive drinks and spent money on them until their money was all spent. The notion of ‘blessers’ has long been written about in SA where older men prey on young men and provide them with expensive gifts in the face of poverty in exchange for sex (Adams, 2016). These cases often result in unwanted pregnancies as witnessed in the song. More importantly, these relations are characterised by men dominating women and taking sexual decisions such as how, and when sex is done (Toska et al., 2015) as portrayed by the song. In this song, the powerful man’s character tells ‘Sbahle’ and her friends about his short temper and that they wouldn’t drink his alcohol or spend his money and then leave him. The angry men then demand that Sbahle stays, telling her that he would sleep with her and instructing her to tell her friends that they cannot go home either. The artist understands that ‘they’ men buy alcohol and make ‘Sbahle’ drinks so they ‘they’ can have sex with her.

The song continues with the artist showing his confusion about Sbahle’s lack of dispute when forced to stay and told that the man who’s a stranger would sleep with her. This shows the power of the men and also the societal response which tends to focus on the victim (Dovel et al., 2015).The artist lambasts the girls stating ‘Nani mantombazane anizihloniphi [you [too] girls do not have self-respect]’ [Usbahle, line 40]. The artist confesses that he would have liked to date Sbahle, however, she wouldn’t have paid him any attention as he was uneducated, unemployed and without any money to buy her alcohol, which links men’s financial ability or inability as central to their identities and even on their dating lives as theorised by Connell, (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). When Sbahle resurfaces, the artist states that she was pregnant, and the ‘stranger’ who impregnated her did not want the child and gave her Sbahle an ultimatum of aborting the child or leaving and never seeing him again. The artist state that the girl aborts the pregnancy and expresses beliefs that ‘Sbahle’ was a prostitute in her behaviour, indicating victim blaming centiments and the decision-making power that men yield from these unequal relations (Toska et al., 2015).

4.3.1.3. amagents [gentleman/men] by Something Soweto (2022)

The most recent release sampled is the single ‘amagents’. This song joins some parts of ‘uSbahle’ that emulate a context-specific societal response to GBV in SA. In this song Something Soweto warns his daughter of the dangers of men. He informs his daughter to listen carefully as he narrates what he deems everyday manifestations of South African men’s behaviour. He tells the daughter that men will compliment her and want to date her, if she dares decline their attempts, they will immediately turn hostile and tell her that she thinks she is better for not wanting to date them. The artist states that this is a wide problem seen every day and that it’s the conditions people live under in SA where it’s rough and not safe for women. The artists assert that the majority of men are the same even though he can’t explain their homogeneity or the reasons for negative and hostile behaviour towards women which Connell summarises as context-specific ‘protest masculinities’ (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Something Soweto warns his daughter that even those who seem nice will eventually surprise her as they turn and do harm to women. The artist acknowledges that there are harmless men, and adds that however, one cannot tell at face value which one would and which wouldn’t harm women. Something Soweto expresses his concerns about his daughter’s safety in a hostile everyday environment for women in SA. In closing, the artist includes himself in the narrative, stating that while he cries for his daughter’s safety, he is also a man. In the song, the artist portrays a picture of the uncontrollable negative behaviours of men and focuses on moulding the behaviour of women to adapt and live with the unacceptable behaviours of men. In this song, the artist paints a clear picture of societal response to negative masculine ideals, and a lack of focus on changing men’s behaviour, with a focus invested in programming women to co-exist with the violent behaviours of men (Dovel et al., 2015).

5. Discussion

Consistent evidence of global dominant masculine ideals that uphold economic independence and heteronormative behaviour where men are dominant over women are noted as aspirant ideals throughout the music. However, with most men unable to reach economic independence due to context-specific issues such as high unemployment in SA Men adopt new forms of masculine dominance that include both attempts to dominate through financial means and through violence and coercion. Studies elsewhere have reported similar findings where SA men adopt context-specific masculine ideals that are often negative, self-destructive, and mostly based on violence (Selikow et al., 2009; Lynch et al., 2010; Govender, 2011; Stern et al., 2015; m Klaas et al., 2018). Similar ideals are detailed through music in songs sampled in this study. Evidence suggests that violence-based masculine ideals are detrimental to women’s safety and exacerbate GBV (Maharaj & Munthree, 2007; Panday et al., 2009; Bhana, 2015; Richter et al., 2015; Toska et al., 2015). Artists such Something Soweto, Sjava and Mlindo the vocalist amongst others have documented negative masculine ideals held by SA men, and through songs such as uSbahle artists have gone even further to show the influence of these negative ideals on the worsening GBV pandemic. In this article, the important role of masculine identities such as provider is discussed followed by the consequences of not being able to play such roles where new masculine ideals representing ‘protest masculinities’ emerge (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005).

5.1. The dream: a provider role

In eGoli, Mlindo the vocalist and Sjava details a dream of finding a job to reach financial indipendance. In this song, the artist introduces their life struggles to find employment. The artists suggest that they had been unemployed and looking for employment for extended time (Mlindo The Vocalist & Sjava, 2018). The main goal expressed by the artists was to build their father’s homesteads and provide for their families. This song uses language familiar to South Africans, particularly black people, a man is culturally expected to work, build a home, provide for his family and carry his father’s name (Chili & Maharaj, 2015). The longing to fulfil the ‘provider role’ emerges in the song eGoli, and uSbahle (Mlindo The Vocalist & Sjava, 2018; Mlindo the Vocalist, 2018). In the former, eGoli, the artists suggest the importance of the provider role by promising their mothers that they will find jobs and provide for their families (Mlindo The Vocalist & Sjava, 2018).

In eGoli, the provider role is presented as the ultimate goal for the artist through which their manhood is realised, reaffirmed, and respect is gained (Mlindo The Vocalist & Sjava, 2018). In this song and in uSbahle, manhood is closely associated with money, whether providing for families as expressed in eGoli or as a tool to attracting and provide for girls in a club as shown in uSbahle. Financial dependency and the ability to provide remains an important part of masculine identities affirmed through the provider role. (Mlindo The Vocalist & Sjava, 2018; Mlindo the Vocalist, 2018). As noted in the Connellian theory the ability to secure financial stability is a global expectation of manhood (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Similarly, studies in SA show that men without money and men who cannot afford their needs and luxury are perceived as less of men (Govender, 2011; Gibbs et al., 2014, p. 5). Through lyrics, the artists makes it clear that they are societally expected to play a provider role in their families, in the eGoli song, the artists share that they are their parent’s hope to change the trajectory of their family’s lives (Mlindo The Vocalist & Sjava, 2018).

The provider role is a common expectation of men around the world as argued in the hegemonic masculine theory (Connell, 2005). While in this case, the nature of the family structure might be different, as most black South Africans tend to provide for their parents, siblings and even extended families as found by studies such as Chili and Maharaj (2015) and Ngcobo (2018) which is different from most western societies where families are often nuclear (Macionis & Plummer, 2008). Nonetheless, men in western and most non-western regions are expected to rise to the provider role. The music shows that the core of Connell’s hegemonic masculinities ideals, where men are expected to be industrious and providers for their families are relevant in understanding masculinities in SA even though they remain a dream for the majority of men experiencing unemployment (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005; StatsSA, 2022; QLFS, 2022). Financial stability and provider role are crucial characteristics of masculine identities as they provide men with the economic and structural power and authority which is the basis of the regional and global patterns of masculinities (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005, p 848).

5.1.1. Current state: an impossible dream

The provider role remains an important ideal that some men cannot attain. In eGoli, Mlindo the vocalist and Sjava provide an understanding of the hardships one has to face to attain the dream of employment and financial stability (Mlindo the vocalist & Sjava, 2018). The hardship in attaining employment can effectively kill the ability to fulfill the ‘provider role’ and thus damages masculine identities for men who fail to realise the dream as shown by Mlindo the Vocalist in uSbahle complaining that the manin reason he would not be afforded a chance to date uSbahle was that he was uneducated and unemployed without money. SA is home to over 10 million young people aged between 15–54 years, of these people, 25% are either working or actively looking for employment, and an alarming 75% (77 Million +) are discouraged and have lost all hopes in finding a Job of their skills (StatsSA, 2022). Graduate unemployment currently stands at 33% for young graduates aged 15–24, and 22% for those aged between 25–34 years (StatsSA, 2022; QLFS, 2022). The country is currently experiencing an unprecedented and an unacceptably high unemployment rate of 34.5% (QLFS, 2022). This suggests that most men will not fulfil the provider role as expected by society.

According to Connell, there are consequences for not being able to attain the financially based provider role where men feel the need to hold on to social power prescribed to them by the patriarchal norms and social structures, thus new ways are invented to hold on to this power (Connell, 1995, 2005; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). The new identities formed in response to the inability to attain global and regional hegemonic masculine ideals based on financial power, are local and context-specific protest masculinities described as alternative masculine ideals adopted to substitute for a lack of financial dominance which often include violence and hyper-heteronomative behaviors such as homophobia, hypersexuality through multiple sexual patners (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). These re-invested identities aimed at conserving men’s ‘superiority’ afforded to them by global patriarchal structures can pose dire consequences for the social environment in which they manifest.

5.2. The impact of the ‘impossible dream’

5.2.1. Psycho-emotional stress

The decision of Mlindo the vocalist and Sjava to migrate to another province can be stressful even if they find the jobs they are looking for, as they leave their families and social capital behind in a quest to find jobs so they can re-gain respect as a man. Studies investigating men’s stress due to the ‘provider role’ expectation argue that whether the provider role is met or unmet, men face inevitable physical health and psychological stress due to the high expectations (Pleck, 1995). Pleck argues that men internalise the socio-cultural norms and expectations and punishments for those who cannot fulfil expected roles (1995). In describing the stress faced by men, Hobbs state “It’s hard being a man. You die younger and you’re ill more often. But if you don’t do the things that make you ill or have the potential to kill you, you’re not considered a man” (Hobbs, 1995 in Robertson, 2008, p.3). On one hand, the artists sacrificing social systems and family support to find livelihoods can result in great distress and loneliness, this is noted by reseachers where men have to sacrifice their social wellbeing in order to fullful the expected masculine norms (Robertson, 2008; Coon & Mitter, 2010). On the other hand, despite the noted sacrifices, when all hopes of finding employment are gone it can result in psycho-emotional, stress, feelings of being a failure and questioning of one’s purpose for existing as expressed in eGoli (Pleck, 1995; Robertson, 2008; Mahalik et al., 2007; Sjava, 2018).

5.2.2. Migration and a traumatic past

Studies have documented the negative impact of the provider role expectation, stating that when the financial role is not met, men can suffer prolonged stress (Pleck, 1995; Robertson, 2008). Through the music, the artists highlight the pressure and stress to find employment, singing “Namhlanje mama angeke ng’lale ekhaya [Today mother I won’t sleep at home], Namhlanje mama angeke ng’buye ekhaya [Today mother I won’t come back home]” [eGoli: Line 4 & 5] (Mlindo The Vocalist & Sjava, 2018). This expresses the pressure the artist felt to get a job, build a home and provide for the family, highlighting the pressure enforced by expectations that the artists as ‘men’ of their households were culturally expected to fulfil these roles. In response to the pressure, the artist decides not to sleep at home and heard to Johannesburg in search of work.

The expression of migrating to Johannesburg in search of jobs in eGoli is a historical trauma for SA men. The symbolic expression of leaving home to find work in Johannesburg expressed by Mlindo the vocalist and Sjava (2018) is entrenched in the South African migratory past enforced by the Apartheid government where black people were placed furthest from economic hub cities such as Johannesburg, “…Many blacks are concentrated in rural areas consisting of broken, rugged country. Most whites live in or near the port city of Durban or elsewhere along the coast…” (Auggustyn, 2022, p.1). Only men were allowed to migrate to Johannesburg in search of work in the mines (Coupe, 1995). With this expression came several after effects such as black children growing up without present fathers, and the spread of HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) as men who went to Johannesburg would find girlfriends in their place of work as wives re left behind, have unprotected sex and come back HIV positive to their wives in KZN (Fassin & Schneider, 2003).

5.2.3. Diminished confience in dating and loss of dignity

The lack of employment and money affects several parts of men’s identities, as shown in uSbahle, where the artist confesses that he liked a beautiful woman and was not paid any attention because he was unemployed, uneducated and without money, (Nlindo the Vocalist, 2018). Similar findings have been unveiled by other studies where financial independence was found to be crucial when men described their identities (Ragnarsson et al., 2009; Ragnarsson et al., 2010; Lynch et al., 2010; Govender, 2011; Klaas et al., 2018). Affording luxury and flashy items such as a car was associated with attracting women (Govender, 2011) and similar sentiments are found in uSbahle, where only men who afford to buy her alcohol were given a chance of dating her, with the girl not paying any attention to people like the artist who were uneducated, unemployed and without money (Mlindo the Vocalist, 2018).

In a South African study of men’s dignity at an informal settlement, a 23-year-old man describes how a man who can fulfil expected roles such as providing for the family is perceived “They view him as a useless man. Like someone, you cannot depend on or look up to. They would ignore him, not take him seriously and look down upon him, or as someone that does not exist in the community” (Gibbs et al., 2014, p. 5). Feelings of hopelessness are expressed by Mlindo the vocalist and Sjava when they were unemployed, showing the stress they faced during this period. Evidence suggests that men lose their dignity when they fail to fulfil the provider role and secure finances that aid their independence (Gibbs et al., 2014). This reinforces the need for some men to reinvent ways of re-attaining their dignity through alternative masculinities or protest masculinities as suggested by Connell’s theory (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005).

5.3. Reinvented dominant masculine ideals: Violence, women and sex

The selected songs provide interrelated protest masculine ideals adopted by South African men. The uSbahle and amagents portray a picture of violent men who are shown to attract women through money and engage in extreme GBV and public violence. Identities of these men are centred around money, power, heteronomative relationship with women, and sex. In eGoli and amagents the artists present various intersections of masculine ideals while recognising the presence of a few non-violent masculinities and ideals.

5.3.1. Women, sex, and Gender-Based violence

In a song by Mlindo the Vocalist, uSbahle, the artists introduced a financially disparate relationship between ‘uSbahle’ the girl, and a man she met at a club (Mlindo the Vocalist, 2018). In this relationship, a man spends money on uSbahle and her friend in a club and in exchange demands to sleep with uSbahle, threatening violence by telling her that he was a short-tempered man, and no girl would drink his alcohol and leave. Studies have documented varying terminologies such as sugar-daddies, and blessers to describe this wild spread phenomenon in SA where older affording men use money to lure and abuse young girls (Toska et al., 2015; Adams, 2016). Evidence shows that in these power-skewed relationships, men often decide when and how sex is done, Consequently, these relationships often result in unplanned pregnancies to HIV infections shown in study tittled ‘From sugar daddies to sugar babies’ signifying the complexities of the GBV pandemic (Toska et al., 2015). This is shown in uSbahle where her pregnancy suggests unprotected sex, and in addition, the men decide if the pregnancy is kept or not which adds to the current GBV pandemic in SA (Maharaj & Munthree, 2007; Panday et al., 2009; Bhana, 2015; Richter et al., 2015; Toska et al., 2015).

In amagents, Something Soweto (2022), expresses that abuse of women such as that described in uSbahle is commonplace adding that these issues are observed every day in SA. This is why SA continues to hold a “…shameful distinction of being one of the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman” (NSP, 2020, p.2). The fluidity of masculine ideals in a continuum as understood through Connell’s theory presents itself in uSbahle. A man who affords as a financial provider uses his power to attract and provide for women. The same men later overpower women through threats of violence, as he forces uSbahle to sleep with him for buying her alcohol, impregnates her which suggests a lack of condom use and later demands that she aborts the pregnancy, or she would be abandoned. This shows the continuum presentation and interplay of masculine ideals, where violence is not only an outcome of not being able to afford financially but can be intertwined with financial power (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005).

5.4. Alternative ideals: kind masculinities

The dominant narratives of SA masculinities are that of hostile and violent masculinities adopted to reinstate masculine power structures (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). This is evident in both recent general crime, gender-based violence statistics, songs such as uSbahle and amagents (Mlindo the vocalist & Sjava 2018; Bhekisisa Team, 2021; Ndenze, 2021; Something Soweto, 2022). However, through the voices of Mlindo the vocalist, Sjava and Something Soweto, traces of kind masculinities are evident, even though not dominant. In eGoli Mlindo the vocalis and Sjava demonstrate kind masculine ideals in their wait and praying to God that their lives change instead of adopting the hostile criminal ‘gangster and badass’ identities to attain money (Sjava, 2018; Mlindo & Sjava, 2018; Morey, 2018). In amagents, the artist makes it clear that while dominant narratives of masculinities are violent and mostly lead to GBV, better men exist but are hard to identify, stating through the verse “Yebo abahlukile bakhona [yes there are different men] [line 25] Kodwa akulula ukubabona [but it’s hard to distinguish them from the rest]” [amagents, Line 25& 26] (Something Soweto, 2022). The artists make it clear that kind masculinities remain a minority amongst South African men.

5.5. Societal response to dominant masculine ideals

Similar to the government strategies and responses to GBV, artists have failed to hold men accountable and incorporate men to reconstruct their understanding of masculinities (Dovel et al., 2015). Government framework on GBV such as the strategic plan neglects men as a vital part of the GBV issue (NSP. 2012 ;NSP, 2020). The strategic plan on GBV invest in ensuring that there is improved access to care services and justice for GBV victims and aims at preventing GBV by focusing on changing women’s behaviours, such as encouraging reporting of GBV and accessing facilities that would help prevent GBV (NSP., 2012,NSP, 2020).

Evidence suggests that artists have adopted a similar outlook and response that focuses on victims and disregard the opportunity to change men’s behavior. Mlindo the vocalist and Something Soweto advise a change in the victim’s behaviour to prevent GBV. For example, Mlindo the Vocalist (2018) blamed uSbahle for her experiences of GBV through the hands of a powerful men who provided financial assistance to her in the face of poverty. The artist even declares that girls do not respect themselves through the line Nani mantombazane anizihloniphi [you [too] girls do not have self-respect]” [Usbahle, line 40]. In this song the artist blames the victims for her experiences. Studies have shown that women become powerless in decisions when in unequal relationships and men dictate womens actions pertaining sexual activities as shown in Sbahle’s case (Maharaj & Munthree, 2007; Panday et al., 2009; Bhana, 2015; Richter et al., 2015; Toska et al., 2015).

Similary, In amagents, Something Soweto advises her daughter to be aware of all the negative things men will try to do to her (2022). The artist gives potentially life-saving advice to young girls that when approached and complimented by men, showing signs of total rejection to men can lead to them responding with hostility and violence towards women (Something Soweto, 2022). This victim-blaming artist’s stance suggests that the girl child must adapt to the men’s world and avoid showing her disapproval of men. Yet, men are not encouraged to change their aggressive behaviors. The artist acknowledges men’s aggression as natural stating that it is ‘just how men are’ adding that it was common for him to observe hostile behaviours from men to women when rejected by women (Something Soweto, 2022). This response blames the victim for men’s behaviour and fails to address the root of the problems which remain negative masculine ideals.

6. Connell’s theory applicability

The theory of masculinities is relevant in understanding South African men, it serves as a tool to understand global masculine ideal that are reached by a few due to poverty, inequality, and unemployment in SA. It also serves as an explanatory theory of current dominant masculinities based on violence. Connell’s theory asserts that masculinity is a continuum in which men find themselves, and a struggle for power within men and between men and women (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). The discussion has shown how men use different methods to attain power within men and between men and women. Money, power, and the ability to provide remain the core of masculine identities in both developed and developing nations. Restricted emotions and financial independence identified in the theory as a characteristic of hegemonic men are also observed in the lyrics of South African artists, showing that these ideals are broader and remain an important global perceptions of men (Connell, 2005; Sjava, 2018; Mlindo the Vocalist, 2018; and Something Soweto, 2022). As suggested by the notion of protest masculinities, SA men are shown through music to have constructed their identities around the need to fulfill the provider role and the inability to attain this role is followed by the formation of alternative identities based on, power, money, violence, women, and sex. As suggested by Connell (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). The masculine ideals presented about SA men are interconnected, complex, and reinforce one another thus cannot be understood in isolation (Connell, 2005). Through the phenomena of continuum understanding of masculinities, it is clear that while violent masculinities dominate, less violent and kind masculinities are also present (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005).

7. Recommendations

Research, policies, and Music have pinpointed negative masculine ideals as one of the the underlying causes of GBV in SA (Maharaj & Munthree, 2007; Panday et al., 2009; Bhana, 2015; Richter et al., 2015; Toska et al., 2015; Mlindo the vocalist & Sjava, 2018; Mlindo the vocalist, 2019; NSP, 2020; Something Soweto, 202). There is a need for evidence-based interventions that target and address these masculine ideals. There is also a need for artists to call out the influence of negative masculine ideals on the current GBV pandemic and condemn these ideals. For example, listers of amagents may feel legitimised in responding with hostility when rejected by women because of their idol, Something Soweto emphasises that hostile behaviour is an everyday occurrence “Lez’ into zakhona [these are normal occurrences], Esizibona imihla yonke [that we see every day]” [amagents, line 21 & 22] without condemning them (Something Soweto, 2022). This suggests the normalisation of extremely toxic behaviours towards women. Artists need to denounce and discourage these behaviours that are seen every day and lead by example to their listeners.

8. Conclusion

Arts and Media have played a role in bringing attention to the plight of South African women and marginalised groups experiencing GBV. Through the artists’ popularity amongst young people, particularly young men, it’s safe to assume that through music, awareness about issues such as GBV can be raised and that through articles such as these, a dialogue can be hashed between researchers, artists, and their listeners about GBV pandemic in SA. Music continues to play a role in raising awareness about dominant violence-based masculine ideals found within South African men. Music has incorporated and produced exemplary portraits of these ideals in songs discussed in this article. However, the artist’s social justice movement mimics government response, as it fails to address the need for reconstructing masculine ideals and changing behaviours. Yet, women as victims are blamed for men’s behaviours, lobbied to be careful and adapt with man’s violent behaviours to repel GBV. There is a need to change the narrative about masculine identities as part of an intervention effort to curb GBV in SA.

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest to be disclosed.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Seluleko Eric Ngcobo

Seluleko Eric Ngcobo is a dedicated oncoming researcher, focusing on masculinities and Gender-Based Violence within South African prisons. With a passion for social justice, Seluleko’s research aims to shed light on marginalized voices and contribute to a safer and more equitable society.