In South Africa there are few male teachers in the Foundation Phase (FP) of schooling, where children are aged between five and nine. FP teaching is traditionally considered to be a 'woman's job' and essentialist gender discourses play a central role in impeding men's participation in the profession. These discourses are based on polarised differences between men and women that reinforce notions of care work as women's work. Challenging gender binaries is vital if work options for both men and women are to be improved. Drawing on fieldwork with a group of South African primary school teachers, we demonstrate how feminised facets of FP teaching are contested by addressing flexible notions of gender which associate men with caring and gender equitable versions of masculinity. This recognition of men is especially important within a violent South African landscape in order to improve social relations amongst men, women and children.