Boys, Bodies, and Negotiated School Spaces: When Boys Fail the Litmus Test

• In Event: (Re)producing and Dismantling Heteronormative Spaces in Schools

Abstract

Two masculinities scholars provide insights into the negotiated school spaces of adolescent young men. Specifically, we address subordinated and marginalized masculinities within a school culture that supports and maintains a level of homophobia and heterosexism. The paper examines the tensions and contradictions in school spaces and practices that claim to support all students but actually further entrench and perpetuate normative masculinity. Particularly salient to this research is the body as a location for the negotiation of meanings that converge with and diverge from dominant social discourses related to masculinity. Theoretically situated in the work of Connell (1995) and Butler (1999), emergent themes include negotiating the masculine ideal, acting tough, and masculine differentiation through peer interaction.

Authors

• Jim Burns, South Dakota State University

• Michael D. Kehler, University of Western Ontario