Between recklessness and responsibility. Masculinity, violence risk and mortality in the mountains of Sonora

Abstract

This article presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative piece of research the object of which was to explore the hypothetical articulation between masculinity, risk behavior and mortality through violence in rural communities in the Sonora mountains throughout the 20th Century. Its aim was to find empirical clues that help recognize if the forms of being a man in the Sonora mountains predispose toward rash behavior that conditions mortality due to accidents and other causes of violence among males in that region. To achieve the objective the author uses ethnographic, historical and statistical methodology. The results of this research contribute to problematize and nuance the proposals made from the studies of different types of masculinity with regard to the connection between masculinity, risk behavior and mortality.