Unpacking the 'Boy Crisis': Research at the Intersections of Race, Gender and Sexuality

• In Event: 106 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 10. Intersectionalities

Abstract

This review paper provides a summary and research agenda related to the often termed “boy crisis” in education. Counter to popular narratives that boys are falling behind in schools due to unique forms of gender inequality, I draw on existing work to argue that boys are both advantaged and oppressed differently along lines of race, gender, and sexuality. I argue that the “invisibility” of youthful sexuality is actually a means by which society attempts to control the experience of youth and produce sexual scripts according to societal ideals. Girls and women are also subject to the socialization, desiring hegemonic male ideals as romantic partners and adding to the demand for such performances. Heterosexual desiring represents an intricate play that both produces and reproduces a hegemonic masculinity. For boys, the construction of gender and sexuality are closely intertwined to create social and psychological dependence on hegemonic ideals – ideals that can create behaviors that serve to exclude some boys from conditions favorable to their success in educational institutions.

Author

• Matthew H. Rafalow, University of California-Irvine