Trauma and Masculinities: How Adverse Experiences Shape Gender Construction Among Young Men in Mexico City

This study explores how adverse life experiences and trauma relate to the socialization and construction of masculinities among 12 young adult men (aged 24 to 28) from middle and middle-upper socioeconomic backgrounds in Mexico City. Using one-hour semi-structured interviews analyzed from a social-constructivist and feminist perspective, findings (using a thematic analysis approach) showed that adversity is not only a consequence of hegemonic masculinity’s mandates, but it is also a constitutive element of its socialization. Men often learned the mandates of masculinity through adverse and traumatic experiences, including repression, exclusion, and through the reception or enaction of violence. Being socially positioned as insiders or outsiders to the culturally dominant masculinity ideology shaped the types of adversities and traumatic experiences they faced as a result. Exclusion led to feelings of inferiority and social repression or violence. Adherence provided temporary rewards, but also demanded constant policing of oneself and others, including pressure to enact or avoid violence. Coping strategies included emotional disconnection, attempts at conforming as self-protection, and the renegotiation and redefinition of adversities, masculinities, and the self. Participants reported finding growth through agency, self-determination, exposure to new ideas or by adopting multifaceted and flexible identities. Overall, masculinity in Mexico City appeared deeply intertwined with adversity and trauma, prompting a redefinition and questioning of the hegemonic masculine model.