Vulnérabilités masculines dans les couples au Cameroun : cas de l’arrondissement de Soa

Abstract

“Male vulnerabilities in couples in Cameroon: Case of the district of Soa”, such is the title of this research work. Based on exploratory observations made on the dynamics of social gender relations within families in general and in couples in particular, this research work raises the problem of the conjugal marginalization of the masculine. The objective of this research is to understand the phenomenon of masculine vulnerabilities within the Cameroonian couple in general and in the district of Soa in particular. The general question that guided this research is to know what are the mechanisms of construction, structuring and socio-conjugal impacts of masculine vulnerabilities within couples in the district of Soa? The provisional answer given to this question was as follows: male vulnerabilities are built on the basis of social dynamics, are structured into different categories through a set of psychosocial and strategic impacts on both marital cohesion and social cohesion. The conduct of this research employed both the dynamist and critical theory of Georges BALANDIER and that of the structuralism constructivism of Pierre BOURDIEU. The empirical phase used several data collection techniques, namely direct observation, documentary review, semi-structured interview, focus group discussion and life story. The data collection phase made it possible to interview a total of 38 people and to consult 135 documents, both physical and digital. The main results obtained specify that the understanding of this phenomenon proceeds through external dynamics: colonization, the promotion of women's rights and the promotion of equality between the sexes; dynamics from within: the forced empowerment of women, the increasing schooling of girls and the female desire to command and a dynamic both from outside and from within which is socialization. The categories of male conjugal vulnerabilities observed are of five orders, namely, economic vulnerabilities, magico-religious vulnerabilities, sexual vulnerabilities, physical vulnerabilities and health vulnerabilities. The incidences noted are diverse and varied and depend on the strategies developed by the actors within the couple. These strategies are both offensive and defensive, displacement, palliative and adaptation. Each of these strategies employed induces general consequences. First in the family unit, starting from the psychological distress on each member of the conjugal family, to the break-up of the couple through the economic and psychological destabilization of the conjugal couple. Subsequently, the consequences were observed both in the national and international spheres, thus affecting social cohesion and the strategic actions of both ministerial departments (MINAS and MINPROFF) and UN organizations (UN Women and UNICEF).