Boys, Schools, and the Reactionary Populist Politics of White Masculinities, 1969–1979

• In Event: 64.040 - Gender, Sexuality, Schooling, and the Politics of Resistance

Abstract

Since the 1990s, there has been an intensified concern expressed in discourse over the fate and fitness of boys’ masculinity in and out of schools. The debate has been fueled by the claim that boys have become ‘feminized’ and masculinity in ‘crisis.’ This position has been strengthened by an angry-white-backlash-masculinity politics.’ There are interesting points of comparison between now and 1969-1979. Between 1969 and 1979, there was a loosening of gender; yet, there was also a concern that there existed a “decline in manliness.” Examining the decade of the 1970s, the aim of the paper is to provide historical context to situate the current concerns over the ‘fate’ of masculinity, and the ongoing contemporary concerns over boys and schooling.

Author

• Christopher John Greig, University of Windsor