"Stone Cold Playa": Student Perceptions of Masculinities in an Arts Charter School

• In Event: Trans, Queer, and Nonbinary Students' Experiences With Schooling

Abstract

This project reports findings from book-study group discussions that took place at an arts charter school where student and teacher participants discussed the ethnography, Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School (Pascoe, 2007). All participants identify as male, cisgender, and heterosexual. The data reveal that these male-identifying high school students in this art-rich context strongly feel the pressures of hegemonic masculinity, while being critical of them at the same time. Additionally, within this school setting, which is entirely devoid of traditional sports, markers of masculinity that people often associated with sports in school settings become transposed to other actions and spaces. Ultimately, this research argues that arts-rich contexts may allow young men to do their masculinity differently.

Authors

• Joseph D. Sweet, University of North Carolina - Pembroke

• Alexander Casady, Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy