ABSTRACT
Although much has been written about the patriarchal nature of lobolo, there is less commentary about the gender and power dynamics that occur between differently positioned men within the process of lobolo. In this chapter, I argue that lobolo has been, and continues to be, a practice that serves to establish and maintain hierarchies between men. By reviewing historical and contemporary practices of lobolo, I show the ways in which lobolo can be used as an apparatus and platform for the construction and negotiation of masculinities. Historically, the practices of lobolo set-up and maintained hierarchies between younger and older men. The transition from cattle to a cash economy changed not only how lobolo was paid but also who was responsible for providing lobolo, in some ways altering the male hierarchy within families. Nowadays, although men may not need financial support from their families for their lobolo, their need for social support remains. Because potential grooms do not physically participate in the lobolo negotiation, their male representatives play a significant role in the process of grooms becoming men through lobolo. I argue that lobolo serves to position the grooms as well as the fathers and other male relatives from both the groom’s and bride’s sides in particular ways, which allows them to negotiate various masculine positions.
