the life of a teenage boy in Senegal

So on the flip side the life of an average teenage boy in Senegal. Senegal culture is male dominate and I am not going to lie there is spousal abuse, as well as a lot of harassment. Boys grow up thinking that they should have at least have two wives if not four and if they don’t it is an insult to your manhood. Men view themselves as the providers and in most village settings they are the ones who “go out to seek money” then give what they want to their wives.  In this society you can do anything you want as a male and nobody will care, minus the obvious religious laws that you should not break. Of course with great power comes great responsibility, one that most men in this country abuse. Growing up you look at you’re elders sitting under a tree drinking atttya and doing nothing all day you start to think that it is acceptable. Of course since you are higher on the food chain this means you can assert your dominance over anyone younger and all females.  I have known several instances were younger males will just sit around and in the hot part of the day, then go play soccer when it cools off.  Through in some catcalling and discussions about music and who has the biggest butt in the village and you got a day. Also another disturbing aspect of this culture that I have found out is the conceptions that if you have trouble with your wife you don’t work it out you get a new wife.  Add to this trying to study by flash light and if someone needs the light then they will take it from you leaving you to study in the dark.  All of this puts a lot of demands on the boys to fit into the society’s norm and to study really hard in school.  Like I said before humans are diverse. My brothers will sweep their room, do laundry, ect. As well as my village has a very equal guy and women’s work.  Men take care of the animals, make fences; make huts, do home repair, go fishing, prepare the fields, and plant the fields. Women do the rest of the work mention in the former post. There is not giant movement to facilitate change among the boys in Senegal because everyone is focused on girl’s education. For me my work in this area is very informal. Most of the time the boys in my village will ask me why I don’t have a wife this opens the door for discussions on how you could help your feature wife, for example collecting fire wood for the day. We talk about some traditions you should break and the others that don’t really matter. At the end of the day, just like with all my work, you cast your idea into the moment in time. All you can do is hope that the ripples will catch on something or be noticed when they wash up on the shore.