The church, missionaries, and the construction of black masculinities in Eastern Zimbabwe, in the first half of the 20th century

This chapter explores the processes of inventing black male identities – masculinities, manhood, manliness, and men’s roles – and the role played by missionaries and black converts. It reveals how men talked about themselves in the process of striving for superior performative manliness. In doing so, the chapter avoids the historical blind spot of focusing on what men did to women rather than the actions of both male and female figures in shaping masculine identities. Instead, it argues that both women and men were ‘engendered and gendering subjects.’ The paper is based on the AMEC publications targeting the black converts, especially the African church magazine Umbowo WeHuKritsu.