Abstract

MENJIVAR, Mauricio. Boys who become men: Male identity conformation in Costa Rica farmers. Rev.latinoam.cienc.soc.niñez juv [online]. 2010, vol.8, n.2, pp.995-1012. ISSN 1692-715X.

In this paper I analyze the construction of male identity in children from farmers' families from the Central Valley of Costa Rica and the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste (1912-1960). There are four objectives to this study: to analyze the rite of passage social mechanisms from childhood into adulthood, to analyze women's contribution to such construction, to discuss the factors that account for the inexistence of adolescence, and to contrast the identity construction process of male children to that one of female children. To do this, the present study is based on the biographic approach. The findings of the present study suggest that in the rite of passage from childhood into manhood the following factors are key elements: work performance, survival family strategies and gender criteria.

Keywords : childhood; masculinity; agricultural workers; Costa Rica; History XX century.

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