A la comunidad LGBTI se le debe hacer justicia

In the traditional society, a man is taught skills for survival. He is expected to be productive and industrious. When he is productive in life for his own survival and of his family, then he gains the respect of a man tru. In order for him to be man tru in the traditional society, he had to be a good hunter, fisherman or his had to be able to make gardens, build a house, take a stand and make decisions or be an orator or a leader. Participants in this study feel strongly about a man being responsible and capable of meeting his needs and those of his family, clan and community. Lawrence, a senior bureaucrat in the public service, points out how a man negotiates his masculinity:

Where I grew up, a man was somebody who was able to fend for his children, his wife and his tribe or his clan. This means that he is a good fisherman, he knows how to make gardens, make sago and he knows how to attend to customary rituals and things.

The men in this study talk about man tru who is able to take care of his self, his immediate and the extended family. This means more that just providing for them; it means that he shares his resources, time and energy to care and protect them. All these entail continued life-long responsibilities towards self, family and

relations. Bill who is a senior bureaucrat in his late forties, expresses this aspect of being man tru:

One perspective of being a ‘man tru’ is fulfilling your obligations that are particular to a man who is able to take car eo fhis own life. If he is a married man, he is able to take care of his wife, the family and the responsibilities bestowed upon a man, particularly from his relatives and his immediate family members. That I relate more to the way we are brought up in our traditional societies. How is a man capable of looking after himself and if hi is able to take care of the home chores he is able to look after himself, participate

meaningfully in whatever traditional that he is called upon to do, and take care of his family. To me, a man tru is a man who is able to take care of himself, his family and show respect that the society calls for.

It is obvious that in order to provide for family and community, a man has to have both knowledge and skill to produce what he needs for their consumption. Felix is an academic in his fifties. He comes from a matrilineal family and shares that even in that social setting; a man must be a man and do what is expected of him. If he is married, then he must work hard to be able to cater for his wife’s family:

A man must be a man. So a good fisherman where I come from would be regarded as a man. The one who brings home enough fish not only to feed his family, but the whole community as well. He is also a good gardener and good hunter; those who hunt for meat to feed their families. He is also a good distributor of wealth in the family level and the community level. These are things that make a man a real man or man tru. Men are thought to be outgoing and good at organizing and ensuring that the wife’s people are well accommodated if he is a family man.

A lot is expected of the man who seeks to make his identity known as a provider. He not only provides for his immediate family, he also contributes to his

community as Danny who is an academic in his 40s shares what all the participants have also expressed:

In the traditional context, a real man should be a man who is capable enough in terms of will, in terms of ability, in terms of resources and in terms of relationships to shoulder burdens of his family, clan and his community. So what I am saying here is that, a real man in the traditional PNG context is someone whom his family, clan and community can look upon not just to lead, but someone whom his family and community can turn to him so he can be of help. He can be of use to his family, to the clan and to the community in which he lives.

As PNG is a communitarian society, the men here speak of a man tru not as an individual, but as an individual in relation to his family and community. One test for a man tru is how well he can function as a productive man in his society. His

man tru status is recognized and acknowledged as he works hard to produce resources, then shares these with his family and members of his community. He must contribute to the community hence from this he can gain the community’s appreciation and stand as man tru in their eyes.