title: Tanzanian adolescent boys' transitions through puberty: the importance of context.
abstract: We explored the masculinity norms shaping transitions through puberty in rural and urban Tanzania and how these norms and their social-ecological context contribute to high-risk health behaviors. We conducted a qualitative case study of adolescent boys in and out of school in 2011 and 2012. Tanzania's social and economic development is reshaping the transition into young manhood. Adolescent boys are losing traditional mechanisms of pubertal guidance, and new meanings of manhood are arising from globalization. Traditional masculinity norms, including pressures to demonstrate virility and fertility, remain strong. Adolescent boys in modernizing Tanzania receive inadequate guidance on their burgeoning sexuality. Contradictory masculinity norms from family and society are shaping their sexual expectations, with implications for their engagement in unsafe sexual behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Marni Sommer is with the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Samuel Likindikoki is with the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, and Sylvia Kaaya is with the School of Medicine, Muhimibili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Marni
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Likindikoki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaaya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D057228:Masculinity; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*; D012922:Social Change; D012931:Social Environment; D013636:Tanzania