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This article examines how male soldiers perceive masculinity and its impact on their attitudes towards sexual violence and women.

July 3, 2026Open Access

Male soldiers' constructions of masculinity, sexuality and sexual violence

Key Points

This article examines how male soldiers perceive masculinity and its impact on their attitudes towards sexual violence and women.
Discourse analysis of individual interview transcripts from 14 male soldiers aged 23-33 from the South African National Defence Force.
Focus on thematic contradictions between human rights discourse and traditional masculine norms regarding sexual practices.
Identified a conflict between acknowledging women's rights to refuse sex and men's perceptions of such refusals.
Highlighted traditional masculine norms that contribute to coercive and violent sexual practices.

Abstract

This article explores soldiers' constructions of masculinity, sexual practices and gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence towards women. Fourteen male soldiers in the South African National Defence Force between the ages of 23 and 33 years old participated. A discourse analysis was carried out on the individual interview transcripts. This analysis highlights the pervasiveness of contradictory discourses in which men articulate a human rights discourse that women have a right to refuse sex with their male partners, while on the other hand, women's refusals raise questions for men. Tackling sexual violence involves the examination of dominant constructions of masculinity, in particular discourses prescribing traditional male sexual practices that inadvertently facilitate coercive and violent sexual practices.

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