Masculinity scripts and abstinence-related beliefs of rural Nigerian male youth.

The Problem

Concern with adolescent sexual activity and its consequences continues to spur interventions to reduce sexual activity among young people globally (UNAIDS 2005). In Nigeria, where research for the current paper was conducted, the abstinence-until-marriage policy has emerged as a priority method for promoting sexual and reproductive health among young people. Nigeria is currently one of the largest beneficiaries of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The program clearly stipulates that "abstinence-only until marriage" should be presented as the sole reproductive option for adolescents. Largely due to this, both Nigeria's official HIV/AIDS Policy (Federal Government of Nigeria [FGN], 2003) and the reviewed National Strategic Framework (2005) endorse abstinence as the best protection against HIV/AIDS among unmarried young people (National Action Committee on HIV and AIDS [NACA], 2005). As recently as 2005, a National Abstinence Leadership Training Workshop, whose publicly enunciated goal was "to build abstinence lifestyle onto the national HIV/AIDS prevention agenda in Nigeria," was held in Lagos. Hosted by the Nigeria Abstinence Coalition, the workshop was fully funded by the Nigerian government and relied on what was termed the "No Apology Abstinence Curriculum" as the training guide (AbstinenceAfrica, 2005).

The curriculum conceptualized abstinence among young people to mean delaying sexual activity until marriage. It noted that sexual activity in and of itself is wrong if the persons are not married and that young people need to hear a single unambiguous message, which is that sex outside marriage is dangerous and often results in negative outcomes. The curriculum depicted adolescent sexual expression as dangerous and framed abstention as the only reliable risk-reduction strategy for preventing the spread of HIV among young people, and as natural, healthy, and biologically, socially, and psychologically beneficial for all young people. It also explained the continuing high incidence of involvement in sexual activity and low rate of uptake of sexual abstinence among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa as evidence that young people do not appreciate the place of sexual abstinence in their lives and well-being. Currently however, little exists in the literature regarding young people's direct views on abstinence and where it fits in their lives and well-being. The current article is a take on this gap in the literature.

The Literature

The important role of abstinence as a behavioral strategy for preventing the negative outcomes of adolescent sexual activity is not contested. Sexual transmission of infections often is tied to unprotected sex. Jemmott and Collegues (1998) write that there are two approaches to reducing the risk of having unprotected sex among young people. One is the abstinence strategy that focuses on reducing the frequency of sexual intercourse and the other is the safer-sex strategy that focuses on increasing the frequency of condom use. The appeal of the abstinence approach lies in the claim that adolescents often lack good judgment and knowledge to make informed decisions to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or pregnancies, or to grapple with the adverse consequences of unprotected sex. Santelli and collegues (2006a,b) maintain that there is broad support for abstinence as a necessary and appropriate part of sexuality education for young people, but that controversy often arises when abstinence is provided as a sole choice and where information on other choices is restricted or misrepresented.

The bulk of previous research on abstinence has addressed the efficacy of abstinence and abstinence-only interventions as a reproductive health strategy. The common refrain has been that although it is theoretically fully effective, in actual practice, abstinence and abstinence-only education fail to protect against pregnancy and STIs, and is therefore scientifically and ethically problematic. For instance, based on an in-depth evaluation of abstinence-only adolescent programs, Roosa & Christopher (1990) argue that none of the desired changes in attitudes and behavior occurred for the target sample as a whole and especially for the subgroup who were virgins. A randomized controlled trial of abstinence and HIV risk reduction interventions among African American adolescents by Jemmott and colleagues (1998) also arrived at similar conclusions. While noting that abstinence can, like safer-sex interventions, reduce HIV risk practices especially in the short run, they conclude that the efficacy of abstinence until marriage programs as a sustainable strategy for addressing reproductive risk and vulnerability among young people is inconclusive. Santelli and colleagues (2006a, 2006b) conducted a review of abstinence and abstinence-only education programs in the United States, which showed that they undermine more comprehensive sexuality education, threaten the goal of promoting adolescent reproductive health and wellbeing, lead to the withholding of information, and promote questionable and inaccurate opinions. They argue that while representing a healthy choice for teenagers, abstinence is in practice hardly maintained.

A critical evaluation of U.S. abstinence programs (Success Express, Project Taking Charge, Sex Respect, Teen Aid, Values and Choices, Facts and Feelings, Reducing the Risk, Postponing Sexual Involvement, Project Education Now, and Babies Later) by Thomas (2000) showed that while they may positively influence sexual attitudes among adolescents, their impact on sexual behavior is neither often sustainable nor significant. Thomas suggested the exploration of new approaches to address teen pregnancy and the increasing incidence of STIs among adolescents. Kirby's (2001) analysis of programs to reduce teen pregnancy in the United States and Canada reached the conclusion that, overall, abstinence-only programs do not positively affect sexual behavior. This finding also resonates in the recently released Mathematica Report on Abstinence Education (Mathematica Policy Research, 2007). The report maintains that youth in abstinence-only programs do not appear more likely than their counterparts receiving other forms of sexuality programs to abstain from sex. Sexually active youth in abstinence-only and other programs had similar numbers of sexual partners and also initiated sex at the same age. Also, both the consequences of teen sex for youth and the likelihood that youth will engage in unprotected sex did not significantly vary on the basis of type of sex education program to which they have been exposed.

In "What's Wrong With Abstinence-Only Sexuality Education Programs?", Haffner (1997) makes the point that abstinence programs sometimes deliver negative results, as exemplified in a $5 million abstinence-only initiative in California, which actually increased the number of young people engaging in sexual intercourse. Haffner contends that the view that abstinence is "the only certain way to avoid" such "health problems" as pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) gives the impression that condoms and other contraceptives are ineffective. Other studies or reviews that have recognized the limitations of the abstinence-only strategy include those by O'Reilly, Medley, Dennison, and Sweat (2006); Manlove, Pappillio, & Ikramullah (2004); Haignere (1999); Underwood, Hachonda, Serlemitsos, & Kumar and Bharath (2006); Brfickner & Bearman (2005); Denny, Young, Rausch, & Spear (2002); Doniger, Adams, Utter & Riley (2001); Borawski, Trapl, Lovegreen, Colabianchi, & Block (2005); Arnold, Smith, Harrison, & Springer (1999); Goodson & Edmundson (1994); Underhill, Montgomery, & Operario (2007); Fortenberry (2005); and Cabezon, Vigil, Rojas, Leiva, Riquelme, Aranda, & Garcia (2005).

Attitudes toward abstinence and the impact of sexual health interventions on them also have been extensively interrogated in the literature (see Carter-Jessop, Franklin, Heath, Jimenez-Irizarry, & Peace, 2000; Olsen, Weed, Ritz, & Jensen, 1991; Smith, Steen, Schwendinger, Spaulding-Givens, & Brooks, 2005). The literature on this, however, also is very inconclusive. Sather & Zinn (2002) analyzed the values and attitudes of two groups of seventh and eighth grade adolescents toward premarital sexual activity (one group received state-funded, abstinence-only education, while the other group did not receive that education) and found that abstinence-only education did not significantly change adolescents' values and attitudes about premarital sexual activity, nor their intentions to engage in premarital sexual activity. They argue that there is very little evidence for the view that abstinence-only programs hold much promise in the fight to promote adolescent sexual health. Agha & Rossem's (2004) study in Zambia confirmed that while positive attitudes toward abstinence can be fostered through peer-led sexuality education, there is usually no guarantee of any sustainable long-term effect regarding these, suggesting the danger in touting abstinence as a sole choice and of withholding, restricting, and misrepresenting information on other choices. Kaljee and colleagues (2007) arrived at similar conclusions in Vietnam where they investigated sexual stigma, sexual behavior, and abstinence relying on in-depth individual qualitative interviews with 159 adolescents living in Hanoi, Nha Trang City, and Ninh Hoa District and a survey of 886 adolescents in these same three sites. Their work suggests that while the promotion of abstinence as a policy may encourage positive ideals and values, it often hinders the ability of adolescents to obtain accurate information about sexuality, HIV, and STIs and to engage in safe sex. Research by Shuey, Babishangire, Omiat, & Bagarukayo (1999) in Uganda however, showed how aprimary school based abstinence-only education program succeeded in increasing sexual abstinence among in-school adolescents by emphasizing a rational decision-making model rather than a punishment model.

Based on a quantitative survey in Nepal, Iiryama, and colleagues (2007) gauged intentions for abstinence among young people, focusing on the role of perceived susceptibility and severity, and noted that many young people share the ideal of abstinence and agree with abstinence intention. Their data show, however, that young people's abstinence intentions tend to be more positively influenced by perceived severity of the risk of HIV infection than by perceived susceptibility. Other issues that have been investigated in the available literature include why abstinent adolescents refuse to have sex (Binn-Pike, 1999); views of directors, participants, and instructors in selected abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (Bowden, Lanning, Pippin, & Tanner Jr., 2003; Goodson, Suther, Pruitt, & Wilson, 2003); and definitions of what constitutes abstinence (Haglund, 2003; Horan, Phillips, & Hagan, 1998; Kantor & Bacon, 2002; Ott, Pfeiffer, & Fortenberry, 2006; Remez, 2000). Representations of sexual abstinence among adolescents also have been investigated. Izugbara's (2007) study in Nigeria shows that abstinence occupies a variable position in the lives and minds of youth, and beliefs about sexual abstinence being moral and healthy and signifying decency, propriety, and decorum existed alongside narratives depicting it both as dangerous and unhealthy and also as an imposition and a sign of disempowerment and powerlessness. Studies also exist on the ethical issues and questions that abstinence-only education raises (Wiley, 2002), lay evaluations and perceptions of the content of abstinence-only programs (Wilson, Goodson, Pruitt, Buhi, & Davis-Gunnels, 2005), and on the perceived benefits of abstinence-only programs for young people (Epstein, 2006; Santelli et al., 2006b). Researchers such as Marindo, Pearson, & Casterline (2003) also have investigated patterns of uptake of abstinence among young people.

Judging by the review presented above, a great deal of abstinence research (whether conducted in the global north or in the south--two regions marked by contrasting adolescent cultures, HIV incidence and prevalence rates, abstinence programming strategies, and levels of access to sexual health resources) has tended to occur in relation to social norms that stigmatize sexual activity in young people and in the context of efforts to ensure young people's adherence to abstinence until marriage. Very little attention has been paid to young people's own views of, reactions to, and struggles with abstinence as a reproductive health promotion strategy. In the present study, we interrogate the direct perspectives of male youth in rural Nigeria on the preventive practice of "abstinence until marriage," focusing primarily on their views of where it fits in their lives and well-being as young men. Building on an earlier work that spoke to the fluctuating, situational nature of adolescent Nigerian males' beliefs about abstinence, we examine talk about the pros and cons of abstinence for adolescent males. In the main, we show how norms of masculinity suffuse young males' narratives and views regarding the pros and cons of practicing abstinence. The current article thus contributes to the literature by calling attention to the implications of notions of maleness for adolescent males' abstinence-related beliefs and attitudes, and by extension for the abstinence-only intervention strategy.

Why Focus on Young Males?

The importance of work with younger males, particularly in the fields of reproductive health and sexuality, increasingly is being recognized and hailed (Izugbara, 2001; Mundigo, 1998; Social Science and Reproductive Health Research Network [SSRHRN], 1999, 2001; United Nations Population Fund, 1995; Wainerman, 1998). Such work is viewed as critical to the creation of enlightenment and the promotion of self-actualization and positive thinking among male youth. It also has been noted that emic (insider) perspectives of male adolescents on sexual health issues is not only crucial to the creation of policies that will suit their needs, but also can furnish insights on the basis of which some of the world's most pressing health concerns, including HIV, can be sustainably addressed. Unless young peoples' own views of sexual matters are understood and properly mainstreamed into interventions, argue Sharpe and Thompson (2005), such efforts, no matter how well intentioned, will fail to deliver their expected impact. Whatley and Henken (2001) also contend that by exploring young people's views on sexual matters, researchers can glean useful insights into the belief systems of youth and provide important entry points both for understanding young people better and for extricating them from the sea of half-truths, myths, and prejudices about sex and sexuality circulating among them. Scholars (such as Izugbara, 2007; Mills, 2001; Swain, 2006) agree that insights developed from the study of young males could provide important entry points for addressing the reproductive health needs of others, especially women. Similarly, contemporary adolescent sexuality research continues to bemoan the neglect of young men's sexual concerns and predicaments; a neglect necessitated as Izugbara & Undie (2007) argue by doubtful assumptions that men are both less gendered and less vulnerable than women.

Study Setting

This study was conducted among the Ngwa who live in southeastern Nigeria. They number over 2 million people and are reportedly the single largest clan in Southeastern Nigeria. The Ngwa homeland is an area of 1313 [km.sup.2], situated between latitudes 50.30[degrees]N and longitudes 90[degrees] and 70.30[degrees]E. The origin of the Ngwa, like their parent Igbo ethnic stock, has been debated passionately for decades. Whereas some historians have given up the search for Ngwa origin, contending that it may never be known, and only can be speculated upon, there is still much evidence that the Ngwa have a recognizable history. Popular Ngwa orature holds that until a few thousand years ago, the Ngwa together with other Igbo clans lived in Amaigbo (estate of the Igbo), a village currently in Nkwerreland, Imo State, Nigeria.

Izugbara (2007) and Izugbara & Modo (2007) write that cultural socialization into gender and sex roles among the Ngwa historically has been institutionalized, through a series of gender-based initiation activities where young males and females develop strong and distinct senses of masculinity and femininity. Young Ngwa men or women often belong to a number of gender and age-specific groups in which they interact, and learn from peers. Very early on, Ngwa males are socialized to see themselves as heads of households, breadwinners, and "owners" of their wives and children. On the other hand, the cultural socialization of females aims largely at training them to accept male domination or control, and stay faithful, loving, and subservient to their male partners. Okanta (1999) notes that in mainstream Ngwa traditional narratives, the ideal man is framed as ruthless, gallant, adventurous, strong, hard, unyielding, resolute, aggressive, tough, stout-hearted, sexually virile, and hardworking. He also often is expected to show little or no respect for the views, idle chatters, and childish emotions of women and girls (Okanta, 1999). Male sexual dominance, genital activity, and heterosexuality also are cherished male qualities among the Ngwa. Failure to exhibit these characteristics often exposes Ngwa men to derogatory remarks and comments. The Ngwa themselves say, "Ihe Nwoke la ajoghi bu di alili," (What men dread most is to be unmanned). Ngwa culture also permits men to have several sexual partners and supports men divorcing their wives on suspicions or because of infidelity and unfaithfulness (Izugbara, 2005).

In traditional adult- and culture-driven Ngwa discourse, adolescent sexual expressions and activities are stigmatized and framed in terms of deviance. They also usually are associated with ill health, diseases, and danger, and viewed as signs of moral decay, crime, disrespect, and psychological disorder. Prevailing Ngwa norms of childhood and adolescence encourage and expect young people not only to be sexually abstemious but also ignorant and innocent about sexual matters. As several recent authoritative sources indicate, however, this expectation is increasingly difficult for young people to meet. Izugbara (2004, 2005, 2007) and Izugbara & Modo (2007) suggest that several Ngwa adolescents are not only sexually active and experienced but also very knowledgeable about matters of sexuality.

Method and Materials

The present article draws on data from a recent ethnographic study of ideas, expectancies, and informal cultures of sex, sexuality, relationships, and sexual risk. The study was conducted among unmarried rural adolescent males ages 11-21. These participants, numbering 120, were recruited from eight rural Ngwa communities in Obi-Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria, through a multistage sampling method. We initially clustered the households in the sampled villages and then employed the fishbowl sampling technique (Enoh, 1997; Ibanga, 1997) to identify the specific households from which respondents were to be sampled. While only one male respondent was recruited from each sampled household, the number of boys recruited from each cluster depended on the number of clusters relative to the aggregate number of participants to be recruited from each study site. In using the fishbowl approach, unique identification numbers were assigned to households in a cluster. The presence of at least one unmarried male member in the age range of 11 through 21 was the major criterion for including a household in a cluster. Each household's identity number was written on a piece of paper that then was folded and dropped inside a bowl. Households were drawn at random from the bowl. The oldest adolescent male in the sampled household was targeted for interviewing. Where he was not available, we interviewed any other male in the household in the age range mentioned above. Oral consent to the interviews and to the audio recording of their responses was obtained from all interviewees.

Two open-ended research instruments--an individual and a focus group interviewing schedule--administered by eight Ngwa-speaking male undergraduates recruited from a Nigerian university, were used to collect data for the study. Sections of the two instruments specifically sought to establish what respondents knew and thought about sexual abstinence, whether respondents were currently abstaining from sex and why, whether respondents ever had practiced sexual abstinence and why, respondents' experiences with sexual abstinence, what respondents considered to be the pros and cons of sexual abstinence, and so on. Altogether, 16 focus group discussion sessions (FGDS), comprising between 6 to 10 participants, were held. These provided an important space for the collective discussion and exploration of information already collected at the individual interview level.

The ethical and field protocols for this study were approved by the Research and Publications Committee of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Uyo, Nigeria. The difficulties in enlisting participation in studies that focus on sexuality, desire, and sexual behavior, especially among local people, were minimized by inviting local religious and cultural leaders, parents, and teachers in the community to a sensitization workshop on the research project. During this meeting, their verbal permission for the interviewing of their children and wards was obtained. This forestalled the likelihood of misunderstandings, social tensions, and outright oppositions, and reduced objections by building rapport with the communities. Recognizing the capacity of young people for lay authorships through language and the ethical importance and scientific salience of listening to young people and believing their accounts and narratives (Evans, 2004), we deliberately favored an approach that consciously encouraged openness among them. In addition to convincing participants that interviewers were learning from them and not testing their knowledge, they also were encouraged to choose the setting for their interviews and to also ask the interviewers questions. The interviews also were held in locations and spaces free of the watchful eyes, threat of sanctions, and influence of nonparticipating onlookers and gatekeepers (Izugbara, 2005). Our efforts at rapport building and promoting acceptance for the study appeared to have paid off. Only about 2% of the parents of participating males refused to grant permission for the participation of their wards in the study. An equally insignificant 1% of the sample male youth refused to participate in the study. The data have been thoroughly anonymized through the use of pseudonyms.

Data Analysis

All interviews occurred in the local language and were audiotaped, and then later they were transcribed into English with the help of field assistants. "Immersion in the data" (Burnard, 1991) was achieved by reading transcribed texts over and over again. Following these readings, memos were developed on themes arising from the data. Contents of the memos developed from the data were analyzed relying on grounded theory, with four linked stages. The initial stage entailed a process of horizontalizing the data, which involved identifying and regarding every horizon or statement relevant to the topic and question as having equal value (Moustakas, 1994; Waskul, Vannini, & Weisen, 2007). This was achieved by distinguishing the themes emerging from key sentiments captured in the expressions, responses, ideas, and words used by the responding adolescents. This process continued until all ideas had been absorbed into themes. The second phase involved clustering units of meaning from the horizontalized data into common themes, thereby removing overlaps and repetitions. During this phase, themes and connections between them were elaborated in order to identify cross-cutting ideas, issues, and scripts. The categories that emerged then were contrasted with one another to guarantee the mutual exclusivity and specificity of their properties. The third phase involved the description of experiences and narratives, based on clusters of meaning units and around the core issues of young males' beliefs and views about HIV, sex and reproductive health, and the hazards and benefits of abstention. The final stage involved integrating the textual descriptions into the meanings and epiphanies--empirical and theoretical--of the phenomena under investigation. In many instances, verbatim quotations are used to illustrate young peoples' responses on relevant issues and themes. Finally, it is important to acknowledge some of the drawbacks of the present study. In particular, it is possible that the focus group setting may have created a situation in which young men are tempted to talk of their sexual activity in a way that impresses other males and use their stories to exert certain male youth identities. It is also not unlikely that the focus group setting may under-represent some of the more positive views of abstinence. Since we made efforts to ensure that respondents spoke frankly and liberally in the individual interviews, however, there is a lot of room for assuming that the information we received from them can, to a large extent, be trusted.

Respondents: Sociodemography and Reproductive Health Knowledge

Respondents' ages ranged between 11 and 21 years, averaging 17. The majority had secondary-and primary-level education. Only a very small number of them lacked formal education. The average length of formal schooling among the study participants stood roughly at 9 years. Most of the adolescents lived with both or either of their biological parents. There also were those who lived with grandparents, foster parents, uncles, and aunts, and soon. Many of them were sexually experienced, with about 79% of them admitting to having initiated (hetero) sexual intercourse (79%). A larger number also admitted to having experienced sexual touching or kissing or both. All participating males self-reported attraction to girls and none to same sex, and mostly described sexual activity in heterosexual terms. Awareness of the existence of homosexuality was high, but the prevailing beliefs associated it with immorality, ill health, spiritism, and witchcraft and less frequently with nature. There also were frequent admissions of having engaged in transactional sex (defined in the study as sex in exchange for gifts or favors). Data indicate that cases of transactional sex occurred with local girls and female schoolmates as well as with female sex workers in the nearby town of Aba. Judging by the available evidence, a significant proportion of sexual relationships involving the adolescents in the study were also age discrepant, involving both older and younger women and girls.

Data do not indicate that safe sex was a popular practice among the respondents. In fact, 72% of those who admitted engaging in transactional sex in the last year did not use condoms. Respondents tended to view STIs, including HIV, as less likely to occur and rarer than pregnancies. They also were more likely to bother about getting girls pregnant than about transmitting and contracting infections. Driving this point home, Kenneth (age 18) who demonstrated high HIV-related knowledge, told us that he did not feel at risk. All of his three current girlfriends were village based, not living in the town. Kenneth strongly believed that town girls were the ones infected with HIV. He said "Girls here (that is, in the villages) are not all that promiscuous. They do not mess around so much and as such do not have those ... diseases. They are more likely to become pregnant, because unlike town girls they do not know anything."

Knowledge related to HIV/AIDS and other STIs was very high among the interviewees. Responding male youth spoke knowledgeably about HIV and its different transmission and prevention routes. HIV transmission routes known to the respondents included sharing of body piercing objects, unprotected sex especially with sex workers and wayward women, homosexual relations, and mother-child transmissions. Witchcraft, fate, and bad luck also frequently were mentioned as causes of HIV infection. An FGD participant averred, "Well, I also believe that luck plays a role in who gets infected. Some people have sex ... but do not get infected; others just get infected because they are unlucky." Participants in this particular FGD session agreed on this. Self-perceived vulnerability to STDs was very low among the participants, and there was a tendency to attribute higher risks and vulnerability to youth living in big cities, sex workers, older men who use money to lure women, and wayward women and girls.

Condom use, abstinence, and avoiding contact with infected objects were the frontline prevention measures identified by the informants. Other prevention measures known to and used by them included chewing bitter kola nuts immediately before or and after sex, having sex only with partners who are not wayward, urinating immediately after sex, protective charms, and faith in God. The available narratives acknowledged the incurability of HIV by formal medicine. Several respondents maintained that traditional medicine and powerful prayers, however, may be effective against the disease. Reports of people infected with HIV and AIDS who have received spiritual healing pervaded the narratives, with many respondents believing these to be true. Although names of spiritual healers that have healed people of HIV and AIDS were remembered with ease, no respondent admitted personal knowledge of or contact with anyone who had benefited from such cures. On the other hand, nearly all the respondents personally knew or have heard about people who were infected with or had died of AIDS.

The belief of the participants was that most people, including adolescents, were very aware of condoms and HIV/AIDS. Parents, peers, teachers, siblings, radios, and TV were the key sources of HIV-related information. Newspapers, books, handbills, magazines, and community public health educators were other frequently mentioned sources of HIV and reproductive health knowledge. A respondent said,

   We know about HIV/AIDS and we also know about
   condoms. Some people normally come around to teach
   about HIV and condoms to young people. I think it is
   the government that sends them. We are not ignorant
   of HIV and condoms.... We can even teach people
   about AIDS and condoms.

The other STDs mentioned included syphilis, painful urination, discharge of pus or blood or both from the penis or vagina, gonorrhea, genital warts, pubic rashes, lice, and so on. Weakness of the penis, elephantiasis of the scrotum, and poor erection also were sometimes classified as STIs. The desire for correct and adequate information on reproductive health issues, including infections, reproductive biology, and prevention strategies, was very high in the sample. It was noted that the sexuality information available from teachers, magazines, television, radio, parents, and peers were sometimes contradictory, inadequate, and faulty. One respondent revealed having been told by his parent and elder brothers that condoms caused male infertility. Reports of having been told lies about sex, condoms, HIV, and pregnancy by peers were frequent as exemplified by an 18-year-old respondent who reported that he contracted gonorrhea despite heeding his friend's advice that eating bitter kola just before sex protected against infections and prevented males from impregnating girls. Judging by the narratives elicited, participating males tended to be more distrustful of sexuality information from their parents than information elicited from peers, teachers, and the electronic and print media. A major reason given for distrusting sexuality information from parents was the belief that "parents sometimes add salt and pepper (a local way of saying that a story is blown out of proportion) when talking about issues about sex to their children.... They do it to protect us and maybe scare us.... but often you get the truth elsewhere."

Conceptualizations of Abstinence

Interview data showed that awareness of the abstinence policy as one of the pillars of HIV prevention was high among the participants. They frequently mentioned government, parents, health workers, guardians, mass media, church, and schools as the key supporters and champions of the abstinence strategy. Ken (19) recalls having heard about abstinence in settings as wide ranging as the home and hospital. He said, "At school, church, and home ... everywhere we are told to abstain from sex until we are married. Even in the hospitals, nurses and others tell you to stay chaste if you don't want to contract dangerous diseases and so on." Ken noted that most of the time the issue of abstention is implied rather than clearly stated by adults.

No direct local term existed for describing sexual abstinence among the youth studied. Rather, it was framed using indirect phrases that strongly reflected conservative social norms and values about sexuality. Such phrases regularly included inwe ndidi, to have patience; ichere du mgbe iluru di/nwanyi, to wait until one gets married; ino la enweghi mmeko, to stay without (sexual) relations; I no la emeghi ihe asoghi anya, to stay away from indecent (sexual) actvity. It is significant, however, that the actual behavior of the majority of male youth in the study stood in contrast to the conservative ways they described abstinence. At the time of fieldwork, only 18% of the participants self-reported as sexually abstinent. These included secondary abstainers as well as persons who self reported as primary abstainers. Adolescents in the study do not equate sexual abstinence with virginity status; to be abstinent one must be resisting opportunities to have sex. The real abstainers, informants agreed, were those who have the opportunities to have sex but resist such opportunities. Eighteen-year-old Ogadi noted, "The way I see the whole issue is that sexual abstinence does not just mean that you are abstaining because you don't have the opportunity to have sex, but that you resist to have sex which you have the opportunity to have." He added, "This is why young males find abstinence very difficult to observe, ... because they (young males) have strong desire for sex.... They are not like girls. If the opportunity to have sex presents to a boy, I doubt if he can resist. It has to do with the nature of males."

While respondents (including those who self-identified as sexually abstinent) stated that it was an effective strategy against HIV and other STDs, many of the respondents were unequivocal in acknowledging that a major barrier to the observance of abstinence was the belligerent and defiant nature of the sexual urge in males, which as several participants admitted, often put them under pressure to have sex. In narratives that clearly demonstrated the influence of masculine gender scripts, several respondents maintained that an invariable trait of all authentic males was their naturally high sexual urge, a biological drive that widely was held to be either nonexistent or found only in small measure in women and girls. Hinging their arguments primarily on the belief that males naturally are imbued with strong sexual urges, respondents agreed that delaying sex until marriage could be very difficult for male youth. Reflecting on his own struggles with abstinence, Boma, 18, owned up that that he suffered frustrations as he tried to remain sexually abstinent while his friends were freely having sex. Boma reported that he regularly felt unhappy with himself. He also often dreamt of sex and suffered from sleeplessness during the period. Not all of the respondents, however, shared this view. In what constituted a reconstruction of the traditional view of male sexuality as aggressive and naturally dominant, a number of the participating males vigorously challenged the belief that the sexual urge in males was uncontrollable and a barrier to the observance of abstinence. They noted that the hallmark of maleness is the ability to exercise self-control even in matters of sexuality, and that proper masculinity comprises among other thing in being able to "hold oneself' and control one's urges. Adherents of this view presented abstinence as a marker of real manliness, a signifier of maturity, and an indicator of self-control. Emeka clearly made the point during an FGD session:

   For me, I don't believe that boys can't control their sexual
   urge. I feel that it is immature boys that go about
   having sex because it shows they can't control themselves.
   If a boy can say I am not going to have sex until
   I marry and stick to it, then he is a real man because it
   shows he is strong-minded, he can make decisions and
   stick to them. Men are strong-willed are able to control
   themselves.... I am not one of those boys who can't
   control myself.

Emeka, like a few other respondents, also vehemently challenged the view of majority of the participants that sexual abstinence was not suitable and practicable for young males who already have initiated sex. Their own point was that it is all a question of self-control, maturity, and "the ability to hold oneself" to paraphrase one of the participants. The few participating males who shared Emeka's belief noted that the difficulties boys experienced in practicing secondary abstinence resulted not from their biological makeup or because of the sweetness of sex, but largely because of immaturity and lack of self-control, which to a very large extent evinces the invocation of the masculine gender script of emotional control, a script that, according to Cochran & Rabinowitz (2000), Mahalik and colleagues (2003), and Burns & Mahalik (2007), frames proper maleness in terms of self-control and stoicism. As a masculine script, emotional control suggests that men should be in charge of their emotions and never reveal themselves as irrational in any situation. As a result, behaviors that show lack of comportment are viewed as symptomatic of weakness and should be avoided. One respondent observed that it was maturity and self-control that differentiated boys from men, noting that proper men, unlike boys, make decisions and abide religiously by them. He said, "Those who say you can't become abstinent after you have had sex are just talking.... They say this because they are still small boys. They are not yet mature and can't control their sex drive. A real grownup can decide how he wants to live his life. He can say, 'Okay, as from today I won't have sex again' and he would stand by it." To Emeka and his colleagues, therefore, the major barrier to (secondary) abstinence was lack of manliness, which, according to them, is epitomized in the inability to control one's sexual impulses. This view, however, paralleled the thinking of the majority of participants in the study who doubted the practicability and suitability of abstinence for boys who have initiated or begun sexual activity. One respondent thus noted,

   Once a boy has begun having sex, it is difficult for him
   to abstain.... because you will always have the desire
   for it. Asking people who have tried sex to begin to
   abstain may not work. It is better to tell them to be careful
   with whom they have sex and to use condoms.

It is also important that support for the belief in the impracticability of abstinence after sex has been initiated also hinged largely on notions of masculinity, especially the view that real males are by nature possessors and exhibitors of insatiable sexual desire. Characterized as the male sexual potency masculine script by scholars (including Burns and Mahalik, 2007; Helgeson & Lepore, 1997; Martino & Pallotta-Chiarolli, 2003), this emphasizes the importance of male sexuality as a central indicator of masculinity. Edgar (1997) notes that the sexual potency script often frames powerful, prestigious, and competent men as sexually achieved and active. This clearly is demonstrated in the narrative of one respondent, Sam, who admitted to several personal unsuccessful attempts to practice secondary abstinence. In words that showed that he blamed his failures on his nature as a real male, Sam said, "Personally, I have tried many times unsuccessfully to stop having sex, but I will always want to have it again and again. If I begin to abstain at this point, I know I will have problems.... It is difficult for boys to control their sexual urges.... It has to do with our nature.... It is not easy, you will never be happy.... You will always be frustrated."

Penetrative sex as the defining essence of sex resonated clearly in the narratives gathered with several participants describing abstinence in terms of the avoidance of penetrative heterosexual contact. They noted that sexual abstinence does not preclude having a nonsexual romantic relationship with the opposite sex or that one would not hug, kiss, pet, and hold their girl friends or boy friends. For instance, Soma noted that "Sexual abstinence does not mean that one can't have a girlfriend or lover. It does not mean you can't hold, kiss, hug, or be seen alone with her.... I think the thing is that one is able to resist the temptation to have sex ... until you have married her." Respondents agreed that having or keeping romantic relationships with people of the opposite sex could increase the risk of having sex, however, and the key reason given for this centered on the nature of males as possessors of aggressive sexual urges. Jote's view regarding this is that "If you have a girlfriend that you hug and kiss and stay alone with, it is only natural that as a male you would want to have sex with her before long." He believes that boys who want to practice abstinence should avoid very close and intimate relationships with the opposite sex, saying, "I am a boy and I know how boys feel when they are alone with girls." Although Jote's point resonated clearly in most of the other narratives elicited, not every respondent shared it. There were indeed clearly resistive voices, associating the inability of most boys to have nonsexual romantic relationships with girls with lack of maturity and self-control, which suggested inadequate masculinity. One of the respondents thus observed. "The problem is not just with the fact that boys have high sexual urge. I think the issue is that most boys are immature, and so can only think of sex when they see girls. Some of them also lack self-control, but they blame it on other things. Immature boys only think of sex when they see girls."

Participating males associated abstinence with many reproductive health implications. In the narratives, abstention was described as both beneficial and dangerous for male youth. In the sections that follow, we discuss respondents' views regarding the place of abstention in their lives and well-being as male youth, teasing out how notions of maleness suffuse these narratives and provide the main grid upon which young males articulate the benefits and disadvantages of abstention.

Abstinence--The Pros

Respondents noted that abstinence protected boys against STDs and ill health, enabling them to grow into healthy, strong, and confident males. A striking commonality in the narratives associating abstinence with good health was that they derived largely from notions of masculinity. Perhaps no other respondent made this point clearer than Anayo (age, 20), who maintained, "A boy has to be strong and fit. HIV and other diseases get people sick and very weak all the time ... the benefit of abstinence is that you will remain a strong and healthy person. You are sure of yourself and you are not afraid of anything." Anayo argued that diseases weaken people, and "If it is AIDS, you are certain to die; you end up becoming unwell all the time and cannot even act strong. You lose your strength."

Associating abstinence with strength and confidence is important and has particular resonance. It powerfully evinces the masculinity ideology of staying tough and competitive, which encourages men and boys to place emphasis on their physical strength and psychological stability (Kimmel, 1996). Participating males commonly suggested that good health and wellness enhanced their sense of self-confidence, strength, and fearlessness, maintaining that the major benefit derived by boys from abstention was that they lived without feeling vulnerable. Further confirmation of the influence of the masculine ideology of being competitive and tough on the perceptions of young boys regarding the benefits of abstention emerges clearly in the narratives of Peter (age 20), who self-identified as a secondary abstainer. Peter told us that he resorted to abstinence at age 18 subsequent to an HIV test that showed he was not infected. His father had forced all of them to have this test following deaths of a number of young people in the community (including one of Peter's own cousins) from AIDS-related diseases. Peter said that the key advantage he enjoys is that he will not become infected with HIV and that he lives fearlessly and sure-footedly as real men do. In his words, "I feel stronger and manlier because I live with confidence and I am sure of myself. I have no fears about HIV. If I am sick today, it will be malaria or other treatable diseases. But if I engage in sex now, even with condoms, I will lose my confidence because anything can happen'. He added,

   Condoms are not bad.... but they are also not fully protective.
   I have heard that most condoms in the country
   (Nigeria) are not good.... Many boys here (village) have
   never even seen a condom and do not even know how to
   use them. There is this story of a boy who cut off the tip
   of a condom before using it; it was his first time.... If
   you have sex with the same girls that these boys have
   sex with, ... are you not finished? You will live with fear.
   But me, I don't want to live in fear and regrets. I live
   confidently.

Peter hopes to persevere even though he acknowledges that the aggressive nature of his sexuality as a male continues to bring him under pressure to engage in sex. Peter's main motivation in remaining sexually abstemious until he is ready to marry is very instructive and further reveals the particular impact of the gender script that expects men to remain strong, competitive, and tough (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Courteney, 2000; Mahalik, Good, & Englar-Carlson, 2003). He says, "I don't want to live in fear.... I want to stay strong, fit, and healthy. I want to remain sure of myself." Responses from Grant, another interviewee, also drive this point further home. From what he told us, Grant became abstemious after suffering an STI, which he contracted during his sexual debut at age 14. Alarmed when he started discharging pus through his penis, he informed his elder brother, who bought medicines for him and after a few days, he was well again. Following this experience, Grant says he resolved to abstain "for the time being because he was scared and almost died." Grant recalls that what he hated most during the period of his travails was the fear, uncertainty, and the sense of powerlessness that he suffered. He said, "I thought I was a strong person, but I was so fearful.... I hated myself; I thought I would die and couldn't do anything about it. I wasn't sure what it was." Just like Peter, he averred that the "basic benefit of abstinence is that you live confidently ... without fear of ill-health, uncertainty, or death. Abstinence helps you to live fearlessly."

Further confirmation of the powerful influence of masculine gender scripts on adolescent males' beliefs about abstinence comes from their consistent disclosure that sexual abstinence was beneficial in saving their strength, virility, and fertility until marriage. This, to a large extent, also derives from the value placed by participating males on sustained sexual virility and potency to their image and identity as males. By claiming that abstention preserves their fertility until when it matters most, male youth in the study demonstrated their concern with sustained sexual functioning. While betraying the framing of the value abstention in light of the male sexual potency script, it also indicates a belief in the gender norm that holds that sexual nonactivity, low sexual desire, poor erectile capacity, and inability to impregnate women as unmasculine. Many of the respondents noted that early involvement in sexual activity could exhaust the sexual prowess, fertility, and reproductive capacity of males. They noted that boys who begin having sex very early often end up exhausting the energies and fertility and may be unable to produce (healthy) children and lead sexually satisfactory lives when ultimately marry they. Some young males in the study reported knowing men in their community who (they have been told, usually by their parents and guardians) led very active sexual lives as younger men as a result of which they are currently unable to impregnate their wives. Wives of such men have to rely on other men to get them pregnant. Participating males regularly affirmed that loss of fertility and virility was one of the greatest calamities that can befall any man, noting that it brings shame, disrespect, and humiliation. One respondent admitted,

   The way I see it is that abstinence could preserve my
   strength till when I am married. It is better not to use
   up my strength now and become unable to get my wife
   pregnant. I will be very hurt. When your wife has to
   meet other men to have children for you then you are
   no longer a man. You have become a woman. Everybody
   will be calling you names in the village, and you
   will never have respect as a man. Abstinence preserves
   your fertility so that you can retain your strength and
   be a real man ... and father your own children. If you
   enjoy now, you may suffer humiliation or become the
   laughingstock of everybody in the community.

Gini (18) put it this way:

   Abstaining from sex is good for one's health. It keeps
   you free from infections and keeps you body till you
   are ready to have children. Besides helping you avoid
   sexually transmitted infections, it also saves your
   strength and energy till marriage so you can have
   healthy children.

And to a self-identified abstinent Uzo (16),

   Sexual activity is not healthy for young people. They
   may think they are enjoying or that they are smart boys,
   but often they merely end up hurting and killing themselves.
   Some get themselves infected, and ... become
   sterile.

Several respondents also maintained that abstention could facilitate the development of self-discipline and self-control, helping boys to concentrate or focus on their studies. Participating respondents frequently observed that self-discipline and self-control were traits that distinguished men from boys. Sexual abstinence thus was viewed as one of the critical practices that could imbue boys with the virtues of patience, self-discipline, and self-control, which they need to effectively play the role of men. Sexual abstinence also was associated with good academic performance, while sexual activity was spoken of as a behavior at odds with being a good student or achieving high academic performance. Participating informants frequently viewed sexual activity as potentially destructive to academic achievement. They depicted it as having the potential to demotivate young males from concentrating on their studies and focusing on their education. The end results of this, as many informants noted, included poor academic performance as well as lowered life chances. Boys in the study noted that they needed to concentrate on their studies so as to become well-to-do and respectable members of the society. The reasons participants gave for needing to do well in school consistently betrayed their grounding in ideologies that associate maleness with control, power, and leadership. Respondents frequently maintained that good academic performance would improve their livelihood prospects, ultimately translating into improved chances of enjoying respect and recognition, even marrying beautiful women and being able to effectively cater to one's family and so on.

Akolam (age 19) very aptly demonstrated this point when he maintained that one of the benefits of abstinence was that it could help a boy to take his studies seriously, with the ultimate goal of becoming a successful and respectable man able to exercise control and influence:

   Another good thing about abstinence is that you are
   able to concentrate on your academic work. If you don't
   think about girls and sex and you concentrate on your
   studies, you definitely will do well in school and become
   a big and rich man. Then everybody will respect you....
   With your money, you will even marry the prettiest
   women ... and you will also have little problem taking
   care of your family.

Abstinence--The Cons

Abstention also sometimes was associated with many negative consequences. And it is important that explanations of the negative consequences of abstinence also frequently invoked masculine ideologies. A commonly mentioned negative aspect of being sexually abstinent was that it could endanger the sexual and reproductive health of young males. Judging from the narratives available, this belief tended to stem largely from the assumption that male sexuality and sexual desires naturally were aggressive, steadily needing release. Abstinence thus often was depicted as a practice that resulted in ill health; the blockage, death, malfunctioning, or and malformation of the penis; even madness and homosexuality. Sexual activity emerged as crucial to the health and well-being of young males, as it not only sustained male virility but also kept the penis alive in the long run. During an FGD session, one respondent noted that he had heard that not having sex stunts the growth and development of the penis, while another reported that "sex was food to the male penis" and that "the penis may die or lose its power if not exercised or... fed." To another respondent, not having sex frequently could result in impotence and an inability to satisfy women sexually. Keechi, who abstained from sex on religious grounds until he was 19, demonstrated the grounding of this belief in the gendered norm that frames sexual activity as normal for males. He maintained,

   I was alarmed ... my penis was dying. My friends told
   me it was because I was not putting it to use. If a boy
   remains abstinent for a long time, it can be
   dangerous.... It is different with girls because of the
   way they are created. Maybe, if I had abstained for a
   longer time, my penis would have completely died.

The view that abstinence could endanger the sexual health and well-being of young males also was evident from the views elicited from 18-year-old Jote. His narratives dwelt long on the difficulty he had adjusting to sexual activity after a long period of abstinence. He reported that "he had to do a lot of job to get his penis working well again." Further confirmation of the impact of male ideology on beliefs surrounding abstinence and its usefulness emerged by way of regular admissions, especially by the sexually active respondents, that while sexual activity was permissible for males, it was morally and physically demeaning to females. The framing of sexual activity as normal, proper, and permissible for males and as a key component of malehood suggests the couching of the narratives within the framework of norms of gender that expect men to be sexually experienced and knowledgeable about sex (Gupta, 2000). Among many other writers, Seal & Ehrhardt, (2003) maintain that there exists a double standard with respect to the gender expectations, whereby it is more acceptable for men than women to have casual sex, one-night stands, secondary sexual partners, and to experiment with sex. To Eyre and colleagues (2002) and Sternberg (2000), the ideology of double standard supports the framing of sexually experienced and knowledgeable females as irresponsible and wayward and of similar men as exemplary and achieved. Participants' tendency to argue that abstinence was both easier for and more beneficial to women powerfully evinces this critical norm of double standard. In the study, interlocutors habitually invoked this ideology and belief in defense of the view that abstinence was disadvantageous to men. The following comments aptly illustrate this point:

   Well, boys are different from girls.... It is natural. Boys
   may be able to stay without having sex. But sexual
   activity is bad and dangerous for girls.... No body will
   want to marry a spoilt and wayward girl. It is good for
   girls to be chaste.

It was also noted,

   I think it is the girls who should abstain from sex
   because it is dangerous for them. They can become pregnant,
   and no man will want to marry them again. It is
   not just good for a girl to be wayward, because girls
   should be reserved.

There also is little doubt that the sexual potency syndrome (Burns & Mahalik, 2007), the belief that male sexuality was naturally governed by aggressive desires and instincts that needed steady release, clearly provided the raison d'etre for the belief of many participants that sexually abstemious male youth risked suffering emotional and psychological frustration. They noted that abstention meant that the ultimate outlet for sexual release will elude young people as it forced them to repress desires that they would ordinarily satisfy through sexual activity. Nnamdi (21), who abstained from sex until he was nearly 20, brought this issue into bold relief while narrating his experience of growing up under strict, no-nonsense parents who coerced him into abstention:

   For a long period my parents made me to stay abstinent.
   They never allowed me breathing space to do anything.
   All my friends were having sex and telling me about
   their experiences.... I often felt very frustrated and
   unhappy. It is dangerous for a boy to practice abstinence
   because boys have strong sexual desires. Asking a boy
   not to have sex will therefore cause him problems.

Another participant admitted that during the period he was sexually abstinent he felt caged, miserable, and unhappy. An 18-year-old Boma also confessed to suffering emotional problems as an abstainer among friends who were freely having sex. He said, "I felt unhappy.... I felt frustrated and often dreamed of sex. There were times I could not sleep at night. If you abstain from sex from a long time, you can go mad.... Having sex ... is good for a young man." Boma concluded philosophically: "Perhaps, the problem is with having too much sex, having sex indiscriminately, or having sex with wayward girls."

It also is important that one of the frequently mentioned disadvantages of sexual abstinence among the sample was that it could cause young males disrespect, ridicule, and disdain among peers. Associating abstinence with the risk of ridicule and peer disrespect powerfully evinces the salience of norms of gender in the narratives collected. It clearly resonates with the male sexual potency syndrome, which emphasizes sexual activity as a central marker of masculinity. Scholars (such as Gupta, 2000; Izugbara, 2007; Izugbara & Undie, 2007; Kaler, 2003, 2004; Martin, 1996; Seal & Ehrhardt, 2003; Sternberg, 2000) have noted that as a result of prevailing gender norms that equate proper masculinity with robust heterosexual experience, young males tend to view sexual inactivity as unmasculine. One of the respondents noted that when he was sexually inexperienced, his peers taunted him, referring to him as a "small boy." He observed that the ridicule and derision ceased when his peers learned that he had initiated sexual activity. "Boys here (i.e., in the community)," he continued "sometimes boast to each other over how many girlfriends they have (had sex with), and if you tell them you are abstaining, they will definitely laugh at you .... They would start spreading rumors that you are not normal, that there is something wrong with you." Sexually activity was depicted largely as a behavior most young males would naturally and normally desire. Boys who abstain from sex consequently tended to be described as likely to be those who do not have these desires in their proper measure or who, due often to certain inadequacies, are unable to access sex.

A final disadvantage of sexual abstinence identified by the respondents was that it prevented young males from developing the skills needed in relationships with women. Respondents emphasized the importance of these skills for boys, frequently noting that they were critical in preparing young males for their future roles as fathers, husbands, household heads, and breadwinners, indicating the strong belief in the natural role of men as providers and defenders of their household (Bem, 1993). If you don't "have a girlfriend as a young man, how will you know how to manage a real marriage?" asked Ekene (20), who maintained that sexual abstinence may have the negative consequence of robbing a young boy of the requisite early experiences and learning that he needs to undertake these tasks later in life. Respondents in the study also associated successful adult male life with adequate exposure during adolescence to women and sex, highlighting their belief in the norm that expects high sexual knowledge and experience among men. Another 20-year-old respondent pointed out, "If you stay abstinent until you marry, you may not know how to live with your wife.... You may not even know how to have sex. Women are difficult to live with, and men need experience to do it." In the longer narrative, this respondent observed that he believes that it was proper for a young man to be sexually experienced during adolescence if he is to grow into a perfect adult male. The perfect adult male, from the narratives elicited, was primarily defined in terms of sexual virility and the ability to fend for the family. A respondent thus maintained that "a man that begins to learn about sex and relationships when he is married will definitely have a difficult time. He wouldn't make a good husband.... That will be learning at the wrong time."

Discussions and Conclusion

In seeking to come to terms with male adolescents' views regarding abstention, this study qualitatively documented young people's views of the pros and cons of postponing sexual relations until marriage. The data suggest that in the imaginations of young males, abstinence is a two-sided coin. Abstinence was viewed as protective against STDs and ill health and a behavior that could help young males grow into healthy, strong, and confident males. It also was seen as beneficial in conserving their strength, virility, and fertility until marriage. At the same time, participants noted that abstinence also could endanger their sexual and reproductive health, affect their virility, and cause them frustration. They were persuaded that having girlfriends and having sex were critical in socializing young males on their future roles as fathers, husbands, and breadwinners. Abstention was therefore viewed as likely to rob male youth of the requisite early experiences and learning they need to undertake these tasks later in life. Furthermore, since having sex was viewed as a marker of full manhood, abstention was associated with the capacity to cause young males disrespect, ridicule, and disdain among their peers.

Taken together, the benefits and dangers of abstention identified by the respondents are critical and raise wide-ranging social and cultural issues that connect with gender, health, risk, resistance, and identity. Most of the advantages of abstention identified by young people suggest a positive understanding, among young males, of the connections between responsible sexuality and socioeconomic and psychological well-being. In pointing to definite sociocultural, moral, and psychological benefits of abstention and in connecting their sexual behavior to important outcomes such as educational attainment and future respectability, young people exhibited an awareness of the central role of their sexual behaviors in their development and transition to responsible adulthood, which powerfully challenges the discourse of adolescents as ignorant and blithe, unaware of where their sexual behaviors fit in their lives and development (Fine, 2003; Tolman, 1994). The negative aspects of abstention identified by the respondents also are critical, as they call attention to youthful subjectivities that have hitherto been unprivileged in the debate on abstinence. They suggest how issues of sexual and gender identity can be very central to young people. Recent literature on sexuality (Hulton, Cullen, & Khalokho, 2000) increasingly has pointed to the tendency, especially among young males, to rely on sexual activity to assert adulthood, negotiate peer acceptance and respectability, mark their malehood, and validate their masculinity. In line with this, Samuelsen (2006) observed that adolescence is a critical period during which various pressures weigh on young people to prove and show who they are sexually.

A striking feature of male youth narratives surrounding abstinence and its relevance to their lives generally tended to be their couching within the context of norms of masculinity, particularly those that frame sexual activity as a central marker of malehood, view male sexuality as naturally dominant and aggressive, celebrate male sexual potency, associate maleness with power and leadership, and portray sexual activity as normal, proper, and permissible for males. Whether young males said that abstinence was protective against STDs and ill health could help them grow into healthy, strong, and confident males and preserved their strength, virility, and fertility until marriage or that it could endanger their virility, cause them frustration, rob them the requisite early experiences and learning they need to undertake these tasks later in life, and expose them to disrespect, ridicule, and disdain among their peers, their framing of these in terms of certain key gender values clearly was evident. Yet, there is very little evidence in the literature that implementers of sexual health interventions for young people, especially abstinence-only interventions, consider gender scripts while planning or delivering their programs. Rather, as Bhana (2005) noted, hegemonic versions of adolescence that do not recognize that youth may have their own unique views of issues and that tend to view sexual activity as risky for all young people and sexual knowledge as signaling guilt and waywardness, provide the basis on which most sexual interventions targeting young people are constructed. Yet, sexual activity and sexuality hold very critical sociocultural meanings among young people, and these meanings have implications for the success of programs. The present study shows that one of the issues that may foreground meanings of sexual activity (and abstention) circulating among young people may be norms of gender.

The plural nature of the socially available meanings of abstention among young people in the study is also critical, as it suggests the fecklessness of trying to reach all young people with one type of public health message. In the present study, it emerges that for many male youth, sexual activity is central to their identity as males, while for a significant number of others, abstention is a marker of proper manliness. Differences and flexibility in the enactment and invocation of gender scripts indicate how adaptive these scripts are to male youth. Kiesler (1994) and Burns & Mahalik (2007) have argued that masculine gender scripts do not resonate universally among all men, suggesting a danger in delivering one standard sexual heath message to all males. Against this background, we may argue that the touting of abstention as a sole choice for sexual health among unmarried adolescents and the framing of sexual activity in ways that are essentially negative, by abstinence-only interventions, may be doing more harm than good. These not only naturally lead to the withholding, restricting, and misrepresenting of information on other choices, but also tend to alienate and stigmatize young people who cannot abstain or who think that postponing sexual relations until marriage is impractical or negatively will affect them. In their study of sexual stigma, sexual behavior, and abstinence among adolescents in Vietnam and colleagues (2007) noted that the promotion of abstinence as a policy often hinders the ability of adolescents to obtain accurate information about sexuality, condoms, HIV, and STIs and to engage in safe sex, often with disastrous consequences. It also has been suggested that casting abstinence as compulsory and practicable for all young people and depicting sexual experience and the search for pleasure as negative, dangerous, and irresponsible ultimately mute the positive role of desire, intimacy, and pleasure in the early development of reciprocal and respectful relationships among young people (Izugbara, 2007).

In conclusion, there is hardly any doubt that that the goal of current sexual health interventions targeting young people is to ensure that they are all fully protected from the negative effects of sexual behavior. As the present study suggests, however, the wider contexts of the lives of young people, especially the norms and scripts that organize and shape their behavior and beliefs, are important and may have serious implications for their receptivity and adherence to the key messages prescribed by sexual health interventions that emphasize abstinence.

My sincere gratitude goes to the male youth who provided information for this study. They gave me a rare opportunity to learn. The University of Uyo, Nigeria, and Ministry of Youth Affairs, Abia State, Nigeria, granted me research clearance, and GAHEPI provided some logistical and financial support. My intellectual collaborators for over a decade, Joe Ukwayi and Aniekan Brown, receive commendations for their engaging insights and for provoking me to think more deeply about the data. The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya, provided the work environment.

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Chimaraoke Otutubikey Izugbara

African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

Correspondence should be addressed to Chimaraoke Otutubikey lzugbara, African Population and Health Research Centre, 2nd Fir. Shelter Afrique, Longonut Rd., Upper Hill, Box 10787, Nairobi, 0100 Kenya. E-mail: [e-mail]