Violence and masculinity: A narrative approach toward the problem of violence against male teenagers

Presented in this article are different constructions of masculinity produced by male teenagers who have suffered physical violence, specifically in cases in which the perpetrators were male adults who embody a model of masculinity in Chilean society. In addition, the maintenance of the partriarchal structure of society through violence is explored. When violence is practised against teenagers some form of dominant practices become explicit. These open forms of violence answer to legitimized ideas about subordination and power. Male teenagers who are subjected to violence are situated as subordinated forms of masculinity, hence the analysis of the constructions of masculinity in this context are relevant to account for the relationships between power and resistance in a patriarchal society, between hegemonic and non-hegemonic forms of masculinity.