“It’s basically a frat house” - The Reclamation of Hegemonic Masculinity at Summer Camp

• In Event: 1163 - Gender in Cultural Contexts

Abstract

Summer camp remains a common experience for youth in the U.S.A. For many the years spent at summer camp becomes a key part of their socialisation process and a key place where their identity is formed. This article explores the constructions and reclamations of hegemonic masculinity amongst teenage boys at summer camp. I conducted 10 interviews with former campers to better understand how both men and women perceived the influence of the gender structures on them while attending summer camp. Using a combination of symbolic interactionism and feminist literature this article examines the way in which gendered interactions form and persist at camp. Through a front and backstage framework we come to see the ways in which camp culture perpetuates gender inequality and hegemonic masculinity. This study finds that despite the institutional ways in which gender inequality is reified at camp, some campers still manage to subvert the dominant discourses. However, those who experience marginalized masculinity in wider society are able to perform and reclaim hegemonic dominance in camp.

Author

• Penny Harvey, Georgia State University