The master’s thesis explores the experience of masculinity among adolescent boys attending primary school with a lower educational standard. It builds on the ideas of poststructuralist scholars who interpret gender as performative behaviors shaped by societal norms, expectations, conventions, and sanctions, and view masculinities as diverse configurations of gender practices emerging within the existing gender order. While research on masculinity is well-developed in North America, Europe, and Australia, and increasingly gaining ground in the local context, studies focusing on first-person experiences of masculinity among individuals remain scarce. The empirical part of the thesis aims to shed light on the first-person experiences of masculinity among adolescents attending primary school with a lower educational standard, with an additional focus on the intersectionality of various aspects of their lives. The research's goal is to create space for a complex understanding of adolescents' life experiences and the structural factors that play a role in the formation of their masculinity. Through qualitative research, the study addresses the diversity of experiences within a heterogeneous group of adolescents who perceive gender as a central element in shaping their identities. Moreover, it examines systemic barriers – such as the entrenchment of individuals and institutions in the existing gender order, the binary understanding of gender, and social inequality – that influence the formation of masculinities and adolescents' identities. The thesis also proposes pathways for individuals and social institutions to create alternative life trajectories (e.g., through education about the existing social and gender order, individual empowerment, and emphasizing the importance of community), aiming to achieve greater social justice for all.
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