Masculinity, Honour, and Verbal Aggression among Gikuyu Men in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine male-to-male insulting as a culturally embedded communicative practice through which masculinity, honour, and social status are negotiated among Gikuyu men in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study addresses a gap in scholarship on masculinity and language in African contexts, particularly the limited attention given to how insults are culturally embedded and employed in negotiating masculine identities and social relations within specific Bantu communities in Kenya. The participants were 20 adult Gikuyu men, and data were collected through participant observation, face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, and naturally occurring discourse. Data were analysed thematically and interpreted using Speech Act Theory and Social Identity Theory. The findings indicate that Gikuyu verbal insults have less to do with verbal aggression than with pragmatic practices used to challenge courage and responsibility, assert authority, and reinforce culturally significant notions of manhood. Their meanings are largely shaped by shared cultural knowledge, social identity, and the communicative context. Although insults may appear offensive, they can function as mechanisms for regulating social behaviour, correcting conduct, asserting social authority, and renegotiating masculine identities. The study contributes to African socio-pragmatics and gender linguistics by demonstrating how language functions as a resource through which masculinity is constructed, challenged, and negotiated in everyday interactions among members of the Gikuyu community.