The concept of masculinity is used loosely here—starting from the idea of masculinity as achieved—a set of practices (Wetherall and Edley 1999 Wetherell, M and Edley, N. 1999. Negotiating Hegemonic Masculinity: Imaginary and Psycho–Discursive Practices.. Feminism and Psychology, 9: 335–356. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), performative acts (Butler 1990 Butler J 1990 Gender Trouble Cambridge Polity  [Google Scholar]) or ways of ‘doing gender’ which are related to the social environments in which they occur. Or, as Connell (1995 Connell RW 1995 Masculinities Cambridge Polity  [Google Scholar]) suggests, masculinity is accomplished through the exploitation of available cultural resources such as the ideologies prevalent in particular societies (Frosh et al. 2002 Frosh S Phoenix A Pattman R 2002 Young Masculinities Basingstoke Palgrave [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]).

Alexandra Township is an old (established in 1912) very impoverished township, densely populated and characterized by high levels of violence.

For an excellent discussion on masculinities and their history in South Africa, see Morrell (2001 Morrell R(ed.) 2001 Changing Men in Southern Africa London Zed Books  [Google Scholar]).

‘Sub‐Saharan Africa is now home to 29.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Approximately 3.5 million new infections occurred (in the region) in 2002, while the epidemic claimed the lives of an estimated 2.4 million Africans in the past year’ (UNAIDS 2002 UNAIDS 2002 The global HIV/AIDS epidemic 2002–2003, UNAIDS 2002.05CD Geneva UNAIDS  [Google Scholar]).

The names of all interviewees have been changed to protect their identity.

I am not in a position to assess if this violence has ceased. I have not conducted interviews with their partners or family members. All these interviewees were receiving counseling through MFC.