This article documents the authors' efforts to listen to Nicaraguan men and to explore with them the foundations of their sexual behavior and masculinities. In 1999 and 2000, the authors conducted focus groups involving ninety men from the Pacific side of Nicaragua. From analysis of the text of these interviews, five discourses were identified: a traditional patriarchal discourse (machismo), a Catholic discourse, a Western progressive (liberal feminist) discourse, a pro-feminist discourse, and a medical discourse. The authors argue that these discourses construct a series of tensions within Nicaraguan masculinities that greatly affect Nicaraguan men's ability to play a role in change and suggest strategies through which the men may be helped to resolve these tensions and therefore play an active role in the social and political changes that are profoundly affecting the positions of both women and men in Nicaraguan society.
Alvarado, J.L.1997. Religión, poder y genéro en Nicaragua: Diagnóstico preliminary [Religion, power, and gender in Nicaragua, preliminary research] . Report to Centro Ecuménico Antonio Valdivieso, Managua, Nicaragua.
2.
Barker, G.1996. The misunderstood gender: Male involvement in the family and reproductive and sexual health in Latin America and the Caribbean . Chicago: John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation .
3.
Berer, M.1996. Men. Reproductive Health Matters7:7-10.
4.
Brah, A.1991. Questions of difference and international feminism . In Out of the margins: Women's studies in the nineties, edited by J. Aaron and S. Walby, pp. 25-43. London: Falmer.
5.
Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica. 1992. Trans. P. Sternberg. San José, Costa Rica: Impresora Católica .
6.
Connell, R.W.1995. Masculinities. Berkeley: University of California.
7.
---. 1996. The politics of changing men. Australian humanities review, www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-Dec-1996/connell.html (accessed February 2005 ).
8.
Cornwall, A., and S.C. White.2000. Men, masculinities and development: Politics, policies and practice. IDS Bulletin31 (2): 1-6.
9.
Deveaux, M.1994. Feminism and empowerment: A critical reading of Foucault . Feminist Studies20 (2): 223-243.
10.
Engle, P.L.1995. Men in families. Report of a consultation on the role of males and fathers in achieving gender equality. New York: United Nations' Children's Fund.
11.
Foucault, M.1980. Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings. 1972-1977. Trans. C. Gordon. Brighton, UK: Harvester.
12.
Grupo de Hombres Contra la Violencia .1997. Responsibilidad masculina en salud sexual y reproductiva. Managua, Nicaragua: Author.
13.
Glaser, B., and A. Strauss.1967. The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.
14.
González, V.1995. La historia del feminismo en Nicaragua: 1837-1956 . La Boletina22:7-15.
15.
Grieg, A., M. Kimmel, and J. Lang.2000. Men, masculinities and development: Broadening on work on gender equality. Gender and development monograph, series No. 10, UNDP , www.undp.org/gender/programs/men/UNDP (accessed October 2001).
16.
Gutmann, M.C.1996. The meanings of macho: Being a man in Mexico City . Berkeley: University of California Press.
17.
Holland, J., and C. Ramazamoglu.1994. Coming to conclusions: Power and interpretation in researching young women's sexuality. In Researching women's lives from a feminist perspective, edited by M. Maynard and J. Rurvis, 125-148. London : Taylor and Francis.
18.
Houtart, F., and G. Lemercinier.1993. La mujer urbana en Nicaragua: Visión del mundo, religión y dimensión ético-politica [The urban woman in Nicaragua: World vision, religion, and ethno-political dimension]. Managua, Nicaragua: Nicarao.
19.
Interagency Gender Working Group. (2003) Reaching men to improve reproductive health for all. International conference, Dulles, Virginia, September 15-18, 2003, report and presentations. Interagency Gender Working Group of USAID and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs , Baltimore, http://www.jhuccp.org/igwg/ .
20.
Lagarde, M.1992. Identidad y subjetividad feminina [Identity and feminine subjectivity] Grupo de Hombres Contra la Violencia. Managua, Nicaragua: Puntos de Encuentro.
21.
Lancaster, R.N.1992. Life is hard: Machismo, danger and the intimacy of power in Nicaragua. Berkeley: University of California Press.
22.
Linkogle, S.1998. The revolution and the Virgin Mary: Popular religion and social change in Nicaragua, www.socresonline.org.uk/socresonline/3/2/8.html (accessed August 1999).
23.
Lothrop, S.K.1998. Vol. 1 of Culturas indigenas de Nicaragua [Indigenous cultures of Nicaragua]. Managua, Nicaragua: Hispamer.
24.
Martín-Baró, I.1988. Acción e ideología: Psicología social de Centroamérica [Action and ideology: Social pyschology of Central America]. San Salvador, El Salvador: University of Central America .
25.
Martinez, M., and R. Meyer.1999. Todo hombre es bandido . . . conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas de varones sobre salud sexual y reproductiva [Every man is a thief: Knowldege, attitudes, and practices of men about sexual and reproductive health]. Managua, Nicaragua: PROSIM/GTZ (German Development Corporation).
26.
McNay, L.1992. Foucault and feminism: Power, gender and the self . Cambridge, UK: Polity.
27.
Molyneaux, M.1985. Mobilization without emancipation? Women's interests, state and revolution in Nicaragua. Feminist Studies11 (2): 227-254.
28.
Miles, M.B., and A.M. Huberman.1994. Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
29.
Montenegro, S.2000. La cultura sexual en Nicaragua [The sexual culture of Nigaragua]. Managua, Nicaragua: Centro de Investigaciones de la Communicación.
30.
Myers, W.1993. AIDS in Nicaragua: Coming home to die. Master's thesis, New York Medical College.
31.
Pizarro, A.1996. A tu salud [To your health]. Managua Nicaragua: SI Mujer.
32.
Richardson, D.1996. Contradictions in discourse: Gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS . In Sex, sensibility and the gendered body, edited by J. Holland and L. Adhus.Basingstoke, England: Macmillan.
33.
Schwalbe, M., and M. Wolkomir.2001. The masculine self: A problem and resource in interview studies of men. Men and Masculinities4 (1): 90-103.
34.
Siria, C.I.1999. Las mujeres y la politica [Women and politics] . Encuentro48:102-110.
35.
Sternberg, P.2000. Challenging machismo to promote sexual and reproductive health: Working with Nicaraguan men. In Men's involvement in gender and development policy and practice: Beyond rhetoric, edited by S. Sweetman, 63-67. Oxford, UK: Oxfam.
36.
Sternberg, P., and J. Hubley.2004. Evaluating men's involvement as a strategy in sexual and reproductive health promotion. Health Promotion International19 (3): 389-396.
37.
Sweetman, C., ed. 2000. Gender in the 21st century. Oxford, England: Oxfam.
38.
Valdés, T., and J. Olavarria.1997. Ser hombre en Santiago de Chile: A pesar de todo, un mismo modelo [Being a man in Santiago de Chile: The same model despite everything]. In Masculinidades y eguidad de género en América latina, edited by T. Valdés and J. Olavarria, 12-31. Santiago , Chile: FLASCO/UNFPA.
39.
Van Wichen, H., M. Largespada, H. Ormel, and A. Monesdeoca.1995. Es tiempo de actuar: La situaccion de VIH/SIDA en Nicaragua [It's time to act: The HIV/AIDS situation in Nicaragua] . Managua, Nicaragua: SNV/OMS .
40.
Vargas, O.R.1999. El síndrome de pedrarías, Managua, Nicaragua: CEREN.
41.
Walley, J., J. Wright, and J. Hubley.2001. Public health: An action guide to improving health in developing countries. Oxford, England: Oxford University.
42.
Weeks, J.1989. Sexuality and its discontents: Meanings, myths and modern sexuality. London: Routledge .
43.
Wegner, M., E. Landry, D. Wilkinson, and J. Tzanis.1998. Men as partners in reproductive health: From issues to action. International Family Planning Perspectivas24 (1): 38-42.
44.
West, M., and M. Fernandez.1997. Como ayudar a una mujer maltratada-guia para mujeres y hombres en sus iglesias [How to help an abused woman: Guide for church men and women]. Managua, Nicaragua: La Comisión de las Mujeres de Fe de la Red de Mujeres contra la violencia .
45.
White, S.C.2000. Did the earth move? The hazards of bringing men and masculinities into gender and development. IDS Bulletin31 (2): 33-41.
46.
Wilton, T.1994. Feminism and erotics of health promotion. In Women and AIDS: Setting a feminist agenda, edited by L. Doyal, J. Naidoo, and T. Wilton, 80-94. London: Taylor and Francis.
