The Language of Desire to Prevent the Mirage of Upward Mobility

• In Event: Radical Love: Preventing Violence in Our Schools

Abstract

1. Objectives
The ‘Mirage of Upward Mobility’ is the misleading perception that girls have when associating the establishment of an affective and sexual relationship (with individuals responding to a hegemonic masculinity model based on imposition and rejection) to an increase of her social status and her attractiveness, when in fact their status and attractiveness decreases. The research here presented aims to address how this experience leading to gender violence can be prevented, since it defends that knowing how to act and how to choose is decisive for overcoming the inequalities surrounding children and adolescents nowadays. It is through the use of dialogue and the language of desire that people’s desires can be transformed and thus leads to the overcoming of such mirage.

2. Theoretical framework
The theoretical contributions of Jesus Gomez regarding ‘Radical Love’ and gender violence prevention (Gomez, 2015) set the ground for later work on that field with this approach (Oliver, Soler & Flecha, 2009). The concept of ‘the mirage of the upward mobility’ was developed by Lidia Puigvert and Ramon Flecha and researched in depth by Oliver (2010- 2012). This wrong perception leads them to believe that their social status and attractiveness increase. On the contrary, when this happens their status decreases, because they become ‘easy girls’ for their peers (Rue et al, 2014). Socialization into this mirage leads to establishing relationships that may end in situations of gender violence (Tellado, Lopez-Calvo, & Alonso-Olea, 2014).

3. Methods and data
The methodological approach used is the communicative methodology (Gomez, Racionero, & Sorde, 2010) from a qualitative standpoint. Specifically the research conducted gathered data from communicative in depth interviews and communicative focus groups (Valls, & Kyriakides, 2013). For this research paper we have analyzed 6 communicative focused groups conducted with male and female adolescents of 14 to 18 years old.

4. Results
The results highlight the need to do earlier educational interventions in primary education, since the findings of this study suggest that girls victims of the mirage of the upward mobility tend to normalize gender violence situations, including humiliation, isolation, and a strong pressure to maintain sexual relationships from an early age. These girls are seduced by the desire to be the chosen-girl by the boy, who holds the role of dominant traditional model of masculinity (DTM) (Flecha, Puigvert, & Rios, 2013). They want to maintain a relationship with the DTM boys because they think they will be the ‘chosen’ one, and that will make them visible and attractive within the group of peers. Findings suggest that in order to transform this type of situations it is necessary to change the desire and that this is possible through using the ‘language of desire’.

5. Scientific significance
This research sheds light on a quite common phenomenon occurring in schools. This phenomenon is analyzed from a socialization mechanism into gender violence. Gomez’s approach to love and attraction also shows that dialogue is a critical tool to promote change in patterns of attractiveness and selection.

Authors

• Maria Padrós Cuxart, Universitat de Barcelona

• Itxaso Tellado, University of Vic