Dude You’re A Fag: Masulinity and Sexuality in High School written by C.J. Pascoe takes readers into a high school in California to analyze fag discourse in this setting. Pascoe interviews and observations look into different social settings within the high school where masculinity effects many of the day to day activities and conversations of the students. This book takes into account social settings like proms, drama clubs, and social circles where depending on the social setting different gender roles were put in place. Many of the students referred to Pascoe’s research as a book on the boys in the high school, but this book also explores how masculinity and gender roles effect girls at the school as well.
The book begins with an analysis
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of the heterosexuality and masculinity that is enforced at river high. This happens at the Mr. Cougar contest and is also policed probably unknowingly by many of the teachers at River high. The analysis also looks at the term “fag” and how often it was used especially by the male students at the school. This term was what students used to describe someone who was weak or uncool. Many of the boy in the school said being called and being known as a fag was the worst name to be called. It was interesting to look at the juxtaposition between the day to day name calling of fag in the school setting and the lack of the word within the drama club setting. Many of these boys who used to word fag did not use the word when they were participating in the drama club. In this setting it was okay to do things like wear makeup and dance, which caused other people on a day to day basis to be called a fag. It was interesting to see how different institutions caused these boys to act differently. If the start of the play who was a one of these masculine males had put make up on in the school hallway, everyone would have called him a fag. But since he was in an institution (drama club), where this was acceptable. Race also played a huge role within River High. Many white males would call other white males who enjoyed dancing fags, yet for black men dancing was a part of their culture. Yet black men were also seen as hypersexual. Black students both males and females were often banned from dancing at school events. There were many times white students would perform just as sexual if not more sexual dance moves, but those moves were allowed because of their race. From the research this seems to be an underlying theme in my school systems across America, but just River High. Black students, especially black males were seen as threatening when they took part in sexual dances or behaviors. On the other hand white students were seen as typical teenagers with hormones. There was also the old “boys will be boys” excuse for the white boys at River High, but there was never an explanation for the actions of the black students. It would have been interesting to see this theme of race elaborated on further, but it would probably have required a whole other novel. In a book entitled Dude you’re a fag, it was interesting to see the roles female students played in this high school.
Many of the female students were constantly being verbally sexually harassed. There were also constant sexual gestures being made by the male students at female students. In this book there was never any discussion of punishment for these actions, not were there any ways the administration tried to prevent it. The lack of punishment leads the reader to believe that these male students were being allowed to get away with this sexual harassment. One would hope this was not the case, but since it was never featured in the book it is assumed to be that way. It a point in the novel I felt was …show more content…
missing. Although the novel was focused on masculinity, the effects of masculinity on the female students who were openly lesbians was a very interesting dynamic.
Jessie the popular homecoming queen and class president and Rebecca the younger basketball girl who both identified as lesbians were respected by their classmates and rarely made fun of unlike their classmate Ricky who was openly gay. Yet these two girls were constantly still being policed by gender roles when they worse dresses to the school dance, or when Rebecca was called a stud since she would get all the girls. A stud would usually be a term granted to a male who gets all the girls, but because Rebecca was a lesbian and also dresses and acted in a masculine manner her peers saw her this way as well. If a straight girl was getting with a lot of guys she would be called a hoe. We have seen this dynamic constantly within our society with straight women. It was interesting to see how a lesbian girl takes on this level of masculinity because of her sexual
preferences. Overall I do believe this book is an accurate description of what happens in high school. Masculinity and heteronormativity are constantly being enforced, but I do not think many teachers or school administrators realize that it’s happening. Teachers and school administrators could benefit from reading this book. Since these people are in this setting every day I don’t believe they realize they are actually enforcing these gendered and race roles. Since this book gives an inside look from an outside perspective it can be very eye-opening. Even as a reader myself reflecting back on my time in high school while reading this book, many of the themes in this novel happened in my high school that I didn’t realize at the time were enforcing heteronormativity. At my high school before the students head off prom, they participate in the grand march. During the grand march the gym is decorated and the couples walk around the gym with their dates to show off for parents, friends, students, and the rest of the town. At my prom there were some lesbian couples who were allowed to walk in this ceremony, but chose not to. I really didn’t understand why until I got to college and even more so after reading this book. The grand march although it was inclusive was also exclusive since it was designed to reinforce heteronormativity. This was a tradition built around straight couples and at this time seems outdates and extremely exclusive. I would recommend this book to anyone who had a similar high school experience like I did. This book was very eye opening and makes you realize how limiting high school can be to those who do not fit into heterosexual roles as well as how little is done to break down heteronormative walls built by our society.
In the article “Dude You’re a Fag: Adolescent Homophobia” the author uses pathos and logos to convey the audience the main point of her article. Rhetorical modes such as exemplification and description are used. C.J. Pascoe is trying to argue that the word “fag” or “faggot is not mainly used as a homophobic slur within high school boys, but more commonly used to describe unmasculinity.
In Kimmel’s essay “’Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code” he argues that the influence of society on masculinity is equal to or greater than biological influences on masculinity. In the essay, Kimmel uses various surveys and interviews to validate his argument. He points to peers, coaches, and family members as the people most likely to influence the development of a man’s masculinity. When a man has his manliness questioned, he immediately makes the decision never to say or do whatever caused him to be called a wimp, or unmanly. Kimmel’s argument is somewhat effective because the readers get firsthand accounts from the interviewees but the author does not provide any statistics to support his argument.
The teenage years are especially important in the establishment of social and cultural core principles that provide the base for further growth in the future. Sociologist C.J. Pascoe links her personal experience with scholarly research in her ethnography titled, Dude, You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Pascoe’s year and a half study at a Northern California School known as River High School sheds light on how bullying, power, and sexual innuendos are all components in the makeup of social life in Americas public schools. Her analysis of these components through observational data research is centered around the subject of the challenges associated with masculinity as well as sexual inequality, and the refinement of gender
‘Dude, You’re a Fag’: Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse - C. J. Pascoe 2005
Lorrie Moore’s “You’re Ugly, Too” introduces the reader to Zoë Hendricks, a character who at first glance seems carefree and convivial, as she is known to offer her college students hot chocolate and often sings to them in class. After reading further it becomes clear that Zoë’s raw sarcasm and joking manner are in fact a defense mechanism and her only way of dealing with the situations she is presented with, ones ranging from her love life (or lack thereof) to her home life and sense of self. Zoë is restless and finds happiness and contentment to be beyond reach. Her sarcasm paired with these piled on insecurities ultimately leave her alienated from her relationships, from
According to the article, the professor was punished because “officials declared that he had violated "the spirit of" a university rule barring romantic relationships between instructors and their students”(Schmidt). At the time of the relationship, which was voluntary, the student was no longer in the class so she was not his student so the reason for which the professor is punished is invalid. Also, this case does not meet the criteria for sexual harassment because it was a voluntary relationship and neither pressed any
student is considered rape even if the student is of age due to power dynamics. The movie cites
...ve begins generating rumors for male peers who do not qualify as a stereotypical male. For instance, Olive pretends to have sex with a male peer during a popular house party (Gluck, 2010). This imaginary hook-up benefits the male peer’s bullying dilemma. Again, gender policing occurs between men when masculinity is questioned (Kimmel, 2008). “One survey found that most Americans boys would be rather be punched in the face than called gay” (Kimmel, 2000, p.77). The gender police govern Olive’s and the male peer’s status in social standings. America’s obsession with sex disregards if a girl truly sleeps around.
Kristen Firminger has a PhD at City University of New York Graduate Center. The author also is a researcher at The American Institutes for Research in North Carolina. Firminger is an expert in organizing, conducting, analyzing, and reporting results for in many types of interviews and focus groups. She has an experience of working with many research organizations on how to successfully manage a research interview. Her article “Is He Boyfriend Material? Representation of Males in Teenage Girls’ Magazines” was published in Men and Masculinities in 2006 and found in Communication Abstracts
Sexual assault and rape on college campuses is a serious public issue. Before applying to these accredited institutions most students do not look up the school 's past records of sexual assault and rape on their campus.College campuses have failed to keep students safe the system they use has failed to protect and obtain justice for those that have been victims of sexual assault. Society plays a huge part in how young adults view sexual assault. From young age girls are told “if he’s bothering you it 's because he likes you”, and boys aren 't held accountable for their actions because “boys will be boys”. At what time does it stop being a game. At what age is it not acceptable for boys to mistreat girls, when is the line drawn and, what is the punishment for when this line is crossed.
The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men. Dir. Thomas Keith. Media Education Foundation, 2011.
...male students had no problem befriending me, as well as the female students. I did know of a lot more “emotional” male students that were bullied, mainly by other male students. The main point of this article was to show that femininity is still looked at, as a bad thing because of the traits it has been given. It also brings up the fact that people are treated; whether they are male or female different, if they tend to lean more towards the feminine gender side. A persons gender is how they act and how they are but it is not what they are and that is the overall argument of this article(Shaw, Lee 126).
Given the frequent occurrence of sexual coercion, it is likely that many students accept this behavior as expected and within the boundaries of social norms (Johnson, 1980). One of the few studies to examine perceptions of sexual coercion used written vignettes to examine the impact of initiator gender and type of coercive act on interpretations of the actors and behaviors (Oswald & Russell, 2006). In that study, college students did not rate the target of the sexual coercion as experiencing high levels of victimization, no matter the aggressiveness of the coercive strategy used, nor did they view the influence strategies or the person using them as particularly aggressive. Although the study provides useful information on the perception of sexually coercive...
A number of the boys are still not in college. I agree with Fink that boys are automatically viewed as troublesome for not being able to conform to the rules of the class, but in reality the student should be approached with a different teaching strategy. This federal law prohibits discrimination based on a persons sexuality. She discussed how to equalize school sports considering the physical differences between males and females.
In “What I Learned in the Locker Room” by Steve Almond, he highlights what men have to strive for to enter “the world of men. ”Almond’s article is a description of his first experience of meeting a transgender woman while as a summer intern with the sports department of a newspaper and the strains a male has to face to be considered a man. Almond through his summer experience and with his own insecurities of manhood is able to illustrate to the reader what it really means to “be a man.” He uses sports as the “most direct and secure passage into the world of men,” but underplays the implications of having to prove masculinity enter “the world of men.” Almond first introduces the importance of proving masculinity by emphasizing the importance of securing the sports internship, stating how belonging to the sports fandom had “protected him from being labeled a weakling and a coward.”