Dude You Re A Fag Summary

C.J. Pascoe’s book, Dude You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School, examines masculinity and its connection with sexuality through an eighteen-month study at River High School. The goal of Pascoe’s study is to explain how teenagers, teachers, and schooling construct adolescent masculinity through idioms of sexuality. In addition, the book investigates the relationships between gender and sexuality as it relates to a major social institution. Throughout the book she asks how heteronormitive and homophobic discourses, practices, and interactions produce masculine identities through focusing on gender and sexual practices of the students, teachers, and administrators.

Society faces an issue that is not usually addressed because it is seen as the norm in today’s American culture. It is the crisis of masculinity. The notion of how men should be portrayed is not usually identified as a problem; today’s society views men’s apathetic and exasperated exterior as the orthodox behavior of everyday life. Boys at a young age are taught by the popular culture that they need to be a “real man” - strong physically and emotionally. The mask many men put up is based on the extreme idea of masculinity that emphasizes toughness, physical strength and gaining the respect of others through violence or the explicit threat of it. This front is put up by men because they do not want to stray from what is accepted, for men who

In the article “Bros before Hos: The Guy Code”, by Michael Kimmel he writes about many different standards and ideals that young men must live up to, to be accepted in today’s society. The article talks about genders, at different ages sixteen to twenty six and how it is directed towards anyone that wants to know more about genders and how it can relate to masculinity and men. It was also based off of a book that he had written in the late two- thousands. According to (Kimmel) young men must live and abide, by a set of rules known as the spectacular “Guy Code”. The “Guy Code” was created to help understand why young men feel and act the way they do, and how masculinity may be perceived in their cultures. The code has been instilled into many young men around the world by their peers, family, and media at the age of four, or maybe even when a child has developed somewhat of a understanding. Being taught how to be masculine at a very young age is important to teach your child, it helps them discover who they are as a person, and who they are supposed to be perceived as, and how to find their inner virility as a young male. Kimmel also uses exemplification to help explain how the “Guy Code” is a collection of attitudes, values, and many traits that are together to help compose what it really means to be a man. The code lets us know how men are not suppose to cry, and how they are not suppose to be or act like sissies. But how men must be very

Pascoe discusses how masculinity can function as a regulatory mechanism of gender in American adolescent boys. It has been found that the word ‘fag’ is not necessarily directed at a homosexual boy, but has taken on a new meaning in school age boys. It is being used as a disciplinary mechanism to police certain behaviors “out of fear of having the fag identity permanently” (Pascoe p.330). This kind of teasing and harassment can temporarily be place on any boy who shows signs of weakness or femininity. The high schoolers in the study told Pascoe that calling someone a fag was like telling them they were nothing or stupid (Pascoe p. 335). Boys could be called a fag for anything that he did that was opposite of masculine, even when it had nothing to do with his sexual preference. The fag discourse seemed to be just another way for the contest of masculinity to take

[The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) organization at my high school, which meets twice per month, generated a list of concerns that they shared with school administration. The focus was specifically about gender identity, the lack of support from school staff, and the daily scrutiny they face as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Through collaboration with my colleagues it was evident that there had been an increase in teacher and student referrals surrounding gender identity. The feedback from GSA clearly identified that as a school we are not meeting the needs of our LGBT students and those struggling with sexual orientation. Members of the GSA clearly feel that teachers ignore negative comments like “gay” and “faggot” when they hear them in class, that teachers may not clearly understand gender neutral language, and that our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students do not feel safe and protected in school. Students needed support advocating for their right to use a restroom, correct pronoun, etc., requiring district, community, parent, and colleague

It was only in late Stage 3 that the topic of sexuality was approached – through intensive

In the documentary, Noah, an 18 year old male to female transgender, many people in school ask question about her gender over and over again. Because of the harassment, many tend to drop out from school. “Harassment and bullying lead almost one-third of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) students to drop out of high school” (T Salazar). For most of them dropping out from school means working at a lower wage. Or even worse they became homeless. Some people argue that we should create a separate school of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. However critics say that it means of “segregation or shielding the youth from the real world.” Giving a class about LGBT people in schools might be the solution, since students then will be aware of it. Education about LGBT people teaches not only students, but also the whole generation. Therefore, schools should be the primary targets to teach the society about LGBT

Pascoe begins by pointing out ways in which the school as an institution plays a crucial role in the formation of masculinities. She often noticed teachers routinely ignored homophobic and sexist comments made by students. Students were never really punished for using words like “fag,” “gay,” or “dyke”. What are less obvious and more upsetting than the criticisms of the sex-ed program are the varied examples of the ways that “Heterosexual discourses were embedded in the physical environment of the classroom, teachers’ instructional practices, and students’ classroom behavior” (p. 39). From the pictures of boy/girl pairings on the walls, to the homophobic jokes between male students and male teachers, the schools’ complacency with heterosexism becomes undeniable. In one instance a boy and girl left the Winter Ball early, two vice principals joked “You two going to a hotel or what”? I feel that if two male students walked off that the administrators would have reacted in a different manner.

In Canadian society, there are certain things that are expected to happen. Any type of public hatred against the LGBTQ+ community, or any other cultural, or religious group, is completely not acceptable. As well as sexual education is to be taught in the school system. Beginning September of 2015, the Ontario school system implemented an upgrade to the province’s sexual health education curriculum. The updated curriculum contains a more progressive outlook than the old curriculum, which had not been updated since 1998 Today’s society is sexually explicit, and because of this, Ontario has tapered their sexual education towards this fact. This essay will explore the differences in how the curriculum has been received, and how the sexual education

The story of the Columbine shooters, particularly Eric Harris, illustrates how public schooling can serve as an example in which allowing an excessive amount of freedom can have ill effects on others around them. He was fond of writing disturbing stores in his creative writing classes, and these writings were products of his malicious, but unique, character. Had the school system enforced conformity more strongly, there may have been an opportunity to alter Harris’ course of action.

Sex and relationships are recurring themes throughout the genre and are essential elements teen narrative. Their portrayal ranges from comic interactions to serious exchanges and emotional liberation from restrictive forces. Timothy Shary explains the significance of these two thematic threads: “Romantic longing and sexual curiosity take on heightened intensity and profundity for youth in the adolescent years struggle to recognise and cope with the emotional and psychological changes”(2002). The character’s experience with sex are usually comedic and linked to sexual discovery and loss of virginity, which are continually present topics in the narrative. It is is often a determinant that shapes teen identity, as well as providing a commentary on societal questions regarding a desire of intimacy. The sexual exploits between the teen male and female investigates teen behavior and the conceptualization of feelings and emotions in their discovery of identity.

In a society plagued by misogynistic and sexist overtones and beliefs, many have fabricated preconceived ideas on the right and wrong ways a person should act depending on a socially constructed gender. In Dr. Kathleen Young’s words, “Our culture over-values men and masculinity and devalues women and femininity in ways that are destructive for us all” (“Tough Guise”). This is the story of Jax, a fictitious character whose life is used to outline the hypermasculinity and sexist ideals pressured onto boys and young men by society and the effects of these pressures on them. Note that the reactions and end result may be stressed for dramatization, but are not wholly unrealistic outcomes.

In “We must celebrate gender and sexual diversity in our schools” published in The Conversation, February 16 2016, Lucy Nicholas argues that the current commentary on the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community against schools and the SSC (Safe Schools Coalition) is extremely out of touch. Many of youths already understand their sexuality, whether it be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.

Sex and gender play a big part in american society today and are often misconstrued. These two topics have become progressive as people are starting to express their gender and sexuality in ways other than what is and has been considered the norm. Many people believe that sexuality and gender are synonymous with one another. Gender is socially constructed while sex is biologically determined. In society’s past, Americans often strayed away from discussing controversial topics, but with the rise of different ways of addressing people, it is deemed more important to understand. Along with the blurred lines of gender and sex comes sexuality, who someone is attracted to sexually. When people stray from society’s heteronormative mindset, they are often faced with many more challenges than the average hetero man or woman. People often have the preconceived notion that if something does not concern them, then they should not be involved in it. A person who could be your neighbor, co worker, or even child, may have to deal with the troubles of people confusing their gender identity with their sex. While also facing challenges that deal with the sex of the person they choose to love. Learning the difference between gender and sexuality will open the eyes of many people and see how the two are different but relate to one another very much.

There are a number of discourses surrounding women’s sexualities that make sexual agency difficult to achieve. I will discuss how sexist norms make practices of sexual assertiveness difficult in relation to the double standard of women’s sexuality, the LGBTQ community, and educational institutions. The following aspects demonstrate this: first, a double standard exists for women’s sexualities in the way that both “slutty” and chaste behaviours are judged and punished. Second, while women’s bisexuality is exploited for men, heteronormativity and a gender binary remain expected in relationships. Third, educational institutions use a number of tactics (e.g., victim blaming) to keep sexist norms in place. These pervasive sexist norms must continue to be questioned and systematically dismantled for both men and women to enjoy sexual autonomy.