Masculinity And The Fag Discourse

C. J Pascoe in his book titled “Dude You’re a Fag” answers the questions revolving around masculinity and sexuality in high school identifying the school setting as the primary site where masculinity is defined, defended, and asserted. Further, the book explores the high school daily life of male students and how they assert in terming those who fail to express their masculinity as “fags.” Through Pascoe, readers get a glimpse of how masculinity is upheld and constructed not just by the students but the institution as well thereby fostering an atmosphere of permissive sexual harassment, gay-bashing as well as homophobia. Most importantly is the fact that while the author illustrates how masculinity is constructed and upheld within the school

“Today in gym Kevin Hennessy called me a girl. I reminded him that we’re trying to stop name-calling in our school, and he said, ‘I’m not calling you a name, faggot, I’m callin you a girl, which you are’. I didn’t even bother to point out that ‘faggot’ is a name. What is the point?” (Howe, 7) Those words are said by Joseph Bunch, the main character of the book Totally Joe, by the American James Howe that is involved in Paintbrush Falls, New York and tells the story of a middle school kid that is given an English assignment: his alphabiography (that means that he has to write a chronicle of his life on chapters from A to Z).

Dude You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School was aimed to understand the relationship between gender and sexuality as they are found in many socially involved places such as schools, offices, to religious organizations. Author C.J. Pascoe wrote Dude You're a Fag as she was focusing on high school as the social institution.

It is generally accepted that when children reach adolescent, they become sometimes aggressive. This aggression can cause arguments at home with parents or bullying at school. The formation of aggressive behaviors is probably due to the fighting for more independence as the person transitions from being a child to an adult. In the article, “Dude You’re a Fag: Adolescent Discourse Masculinity and Fag Discourse” by CJ Pascoe, Pascoe explains that adolescent boys police their masculinity by increasing homophobia among themselves. Pascoe argues that development of adolescent masculinity and sexuality are directly connected and intertwined with homophobia. To prove his point Pascoe conducted a study in a high school, where he interviewed 49 (36

The concept of masculinity has been around for an eminently long time. However, the qualifications for being

“Look at the faggot! Watch out! He’ll get you!” (Pascoe, 53) this is the common response other heterosexual males have to their homosexual or suspected homosexual peers. C.J. Pascoe’s book (Dude You’re a Fag: Masculinity and sexuality in high school) goes into an average high school called River High and does a year and a half field study on homosexuality (specifically male homosexuality), masculinity and adolescence’s overall sexuality. Also, its relationship/impact on the struggles that the teenagers go through. In the academic article also written by him years later after seeing the public’s response back up how difficult it is to be an adolescence in today’s society. “The relationship between adolescent masculinity and sexuality is embedded

The word “fag” has nothing to do with sexual orientation, instead it is used as a way for other males identifying people to assert their masculinity. Pascoe explains that what is considered masculine and feminine which are, essentially, gender roles is accomplished through day to day interactions. These categorization of gender roles are perpetuated in the society and it is why cheerleading is

In the article “Dude you’re a fag; Adolescent masculinity and the fag discourse” C.J Pascoe addresses American adolescent boys learning to become masculine through the rejection of the fag identity. Masculinity and sexuality are embedded with the word faggot. This article focuses on the challenges of the relationships between homophobia and masculinity. This article points out three arguments that focus on homophobia demonstrating that the fag is not only an identity linked to homosexual boys, but an identify that can temporarily adhere to heterosexual boys as well and highlighting the radicalized nature of the fag as a disciplinary mechanism. Homophobia is usually used to describe ways that boys aggressively tease each other, girls do not harass each other this way and they often aren’t embarrassed in the same manner. Pascoe provides examples of how the fag discourse is radicalized and that failing at the masculine tasks of competence reveals weakness and femininity with sexual identity.

In Pascoe’s analysis of the word fag she interviews many boys at River High and most of them had the same response, that a boy could be called fag for exhibiting any sort of behavior defined as unmasculine such as being stupid or incompetent, to caring too much about something, or being too emotional(57). With this I analyzed the situation I always got stuck in and constantly was under fire for the word fag. At River High having a girlfriend “both protected boys from the specter of the fag and bolstered their masculinity” in certain cases (90). At El Capitan I was the guy who always had a girlfriend but I never dated girls from the same school. Even though I was adored by other girls at the school for expressing my love interest to this other girl. The guys constantly threw the word fag at me for being emotionally attached to a girl. So I was intrigued and happy to hear that in Pascoe’s one on one interviews the guys who would be calling me a fag were actually in the same situation as me but just too scared to admit their feelings publicly. All because of the social organization as Weeks explains that the peer influences within the high school put out a

In this final topic of the analysis of C.J. Pascoe’s research novel Dude You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School which is arguably the main topic of the book are sexuality, specifically sexuality in regards to being homosexual. A theory that explains sexuality is the queer theory by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, “Sexualities not just determined by sex of described by sex of desired partner, sex acts mean different things to different people, different attitudes towards importance of sex, and sex as a key to gender identity for some, not others.” (Little, et al, 387). As stated earlier, for a male especially one who is questioning their sexuality or is homosexual being called a “fag” is the most hurtful term that can be said. For that reason, if someone calls you a fag it is assumed that you are gay as well but also race has a role in

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

Both terms ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’ are very common, broad and the meaning of it differs from person to person. Eugenically the term ‘gender’ is defined to have socially composed roles, activities, behaviours, and peculiarity that a given society considers right for men and women (WHO, 2015). Whereas the term ‘sexuality’ has various meanings, it is described as feeling or having attraction or having sexual thoughts and preferences towards same sex or opposite sex (reachout.com, 2015). This essay will explore Pascoe’s (2005) article on sexualised insult ‘fag’ by American teenage boys. It will also focus on the racialized nature of this ‘fag’ discourse. As it is not the only identity related to homosexual men but can briefly associate to heterosexual men as well. Another sexualised insult ‘slut’ depicted in Attwood’s (2007) work has many meanings and has changed overtime. This will be illustrated by highlighting how the word ‘slut’ was used to define women sexually and their struggle over class, race and generation. The term ‘bitch’ explored in Crawford & Popp (2003) study share similar perspective to Attwood’s work where talking about sexuality or gender would involve making assumption about race and class. This will help present the different identities which people use to define their sexuality and gender such as gay, fag, slut and bitch in terms of race and class. This will be explored in various academics work. This implies that understanding about sexuality and gender in

For many adult males there will come a time when they begin to think back on their upbringing and everything that contributed to them being the man they are today. A specific question for some being, who or what taught them the meaning and role of masculinity in their life. These questions can be very significate to some men that are trying to discover themselves and work towards the person they want to become. This question can also be a very poignant one for those men making the decision to come out and reveal themselves as homosexual men. It can also initiate the internal struggle that comes with embracing a new identity while determining what part masculinity will play in that identity. In my paper I will discuss what I discovered in literature regarding the role of masculinity in the self-knowledge of males and the additional impact that can have on homosexual males. I will show how boys and young men are introduced to the idea of masculinity, followed by how that masculinity is expressed to each other and the rest of society and finally I will discuss how some homosexual males have adapted to the meaning of masculinity for their own self-preservation. By the end of this paper it is my hope that you will gain a different perspective on the role of masculinity in lives of all men, both heterosexual and homosexual alike.

“Be a man”, is a commonly used phrase that hold multiple assumptions about the idealized masculinity. The connotations for this phrase oozes ruggedness, toughness, and apathy. Similar themes were discussed in the article, “Masculinity as Homophobia” by Michael Kimmel. The author discusses the characterization of masculinity and its social implications.

From the minute we are born, we have our paths decided for us. We are pronounced either male or female by our doctors, and such outlines the rest of our lives. With the sex we are given, we then are forced to subscribe to either masculinity of femininity, with no room for anything in between. This is where the trouble begins. Masculinity is described as a “physical, strong, tough and intimidating” person according to the documentary produced by Jackson Katz, a quick google search of the word will tell you the same. Most importantly, it represents the opposite of feminine traits such as emotion, vulnerability and silence. However, within many cultures the idea of masculinity take a dangerous and unrealistic turn. Men are often portrayed in multimedia as violent brutes hell-bent on securing respect and envy. Othello and O are prime examples of classical and modern violent masculinity.