Negotiating the ‘Kiwi Bloke’: accessing mosaic masculinities through Afro-Brazilian sport in New Zealand/Aotearoa

Abstract

The ‘kiwi bloke’ – practical, tough, and unemotional – is a national archetype of masculinity based on a colonial settler history in New Zealand/Aotearoa. Such nationally specific masculinities, however, are always created in relation to international forces. This study reveals the ways men negotiate the ‘kiwi bloke’ identity through their participation in an Afro-Brazilian martial art: capoeira. On one hand, Capoeira in New Zealand/Aotearoa offers participants access to alternative masculinities, including promoting collectivity, learning physical proximity, singing, and dancing. On the other hand, the congruence of Afro-Brazilian machismo and dominant white-settler masculinities in New Zealand/Aotearoa means that the ‘kiwi bloke’ is ever-present among capoeira practitioners. Coles (Coles, T., 2008. Finding space in the field of masculinity. Journal of sociology, 44(3), 233–248) concept of ‘mosaic masculinities’ helps to capture how men who play capoeira negotiate multiple dominant and subordinate masculine characteristics while retaining their gender privilege. This article demonstrates the complexity of mosaic masculinities and the importance of understanding multiple national social constructions in understanding local performances of masculinity.