The boy child is being left behind.

Reimagining Love as a Structural, Cultural, and Political Force

Minister Gwarube made commentary on Monday, the 13th of January, claiming that the boy child is being left behind. “The boy child is being left behind and is less likely than the girl to return.” The News24 Instagram comment section was flooded with comments like “Who ‘s leaving them?”, “Are they not sitting in the same classes?”, and “Being left behind by whom?” Similar discourse arose on platforms like TikTok and X ; however, this sentiment’s popularity does not reflect the nuance of the matter.

Firstly, it assumes, in a similar sense to respectability politics, that the problem is an individual and value composition error rather than a structural and socialisation quagmire. It shifts the blame off masculinity and its relationship with race and class and rather onto victims themselves. It tells young boys, predominantly of colour, that their failure is their own fault and that they acted with agency. The rebuttal that conventionally arises is a remark on how young women, particularly those who are poor or of colour, are able to succeed in education despite barriers too. The flaw in calculus here is that it ignores how socialisation is different and often how nicety lies in gender. This is NOT to say that being a poor young woman of colour is easy or easier than being a poor man of colour; it is simply to say that a difference exists, particularly in attitudes toward education. Masculinity establishes social currency, wealth, and the ability to provide as desirables, but it does not attribute any of these things to education. In fact, where masculinity is most intense, it directly detracts from educational aims. Bell Hooks, in her book “We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity,” explains, “And even when that right was gained, the immediate need for material survival often disrupted the efforts of black males to acquire education. Nowadays, in the imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchal culture, most boys from poor and underprivileged classes are socialized via mass media and class-biased education to believe that all that is required for their survival is the ability to do physical labor. Black boys, disproportionately numbered among the poor, have been socialized to believe that physical strength and stamina are all that really matter. “ Furthermore, class and masculinity struggles mean young boys of colour are more than likely to be forced or incentivised to drop out , pushed into either blue-collar work or crime in order to “man up” and provide. Gwarube notes the disproportionate rate at which boys drop out between grades ten and twelve, and yet no structural or sociological explanation is offered. Even in the instance where young boys of colour are genuinely disinterested in education, one must ask why this disinterest exists. Bell Hooks said, “Oftentimes separate schools for black boys are presented as the best educational alternative because of their emphasis on strict discipline instead of learning. Yet often it is not the strictness that leads boys to do well in these schools ; rather, it is the fact that they are cared about, given attention, and perceived to be learners who can excel academically.” When a paradigm exists placing a group’s mediocrity and failure as justified, the result is one where that group’s failure is not only justified but expected as the norm. Only in these manufactured bubbles where the catalyst factor is care, love, and attention do the results change; yet , in a refusal to challenge masculinity, societies wrongly conflate better results to strictness, discipline, or the “take no shit” older mentors.

The difficulty in defeating masculinity lies in the refusal to place men, and particularly men of colour, as victims too . It is often the reluctance of Black men and boys to see themselves as vulnerable or weak and also the rest of society’s discomfort at the inability to antagonise them. If we want better outcomes, we must learn to love and seek deeper understanding. “Everywhere we learn that love is important, and yet we are bombarded by its failure. In the realm of the political, among the religious, in our families, and in our romantic lives, we see little indication that love informs decisions, strengthens our understanding of community, or keeps us together. This bleak picture in no way alters the nature of our longing. We still hope that love will prevail. We still believe in love’s promise.” Bell Hooks explains that in our hearts, despite how seemingly improbable its existence is, we still long for love because perhaps , in the deepest region of our souls, we know that love is cultural, systemic, and above all, revolutionary.