EDUCATION - GENDER Sexual and gender identities Flashcards
What is hegemonic masculinity?
Connell
this is a term that Bob Connell uses to explain the dominance of the heterosexual masculine identity and the subordination of female and gay identities.
DOUBLE STANDARDS
Sue Lees
Sue Lees identifies the doubles standards in sexual morals that are taught to both boys and girls.
Boys boast about sex and it makes them manly. Sexual conquest is approved of an given status by male peers and ignored by male teachers.
Girls talk about sex and it makes them a slag - especially if they ‘sleep around’ and dress in a certain way.
Double standards are a form of social control that reinforces gender inequality by keeping women subordinate to men.
VERBAL ABUSE
Connell
Bob Connell calls the ‘rich vocal of abuse’ one of the ways in which the dominant gender and their sexual identities are reinforced.
MALE GAZE
Mac an Ghaill
This is the way male pupils and teachers look girls up and down and make them seem like objects… making comments on their appearance.
This is a form of surveillance where the dominant heterosexual masculine identity is reinforced. This is one of the ways that boys can physically prove their masculinity to their friends.
Telling stories of their sexual conquests mean that boys are reiterating their heterosexuality. Not doing so means they run the risk of being labelled as gay.
MALE PEER GROUPS
Mac an Ghaill
Male peer groups use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity… boys in anti-school subcultures often label the hard-working boys as gay.
Mac an Ghaill’s study at Parnell School found how peer groups reproduce a range of class-based masculine identities.
W.C ‘macho’ lads were dismissive of the other W.C lads who worked and aspired to be M.C (‘DICKHEAD ACHIEVERS’)
The M.C ‘real Englishmen’ had an air of effortless achievement. Though, some of them actually worked hard but kept it quiet.
This shifts between secondary and sixth form as sixth form is generally more M.C, so the real Englishmen vibe is stronger and aspired to.
FEMALE PEER GROUPS - policing identity
Jessica Ringrose - conflict between being a gal and being a pick-me
Small-scale study of 13-14 year old W.C girls in South Wales found that there was tension between two identities as their culture moved from being ‘girls’ friendship’ to the ‘heterosexual dating culture’
- Idealised feminine identity - loyalty to the female peer group, being non-competitive and getting along with everybody.
- Sexualised identity - involved competition for boys in the dating culture.
FEMALE PEER GROUPS - policing identity
Currie et al - symbolic capital and shaming used as a tool
Argues that relationships with boys = symbolic capital
there is a risk however because girls who are too competitive/think they’re better than their peers end up being slut-shamed.
girls who aren’t competitive enough may be called ‘frigid’
shaming is a tool used by girls to regulate and discipline each other’s identities.
FEMALE PEER GROUPS - policing identity
Boffin Identity - Reay
For girls who want to be successful academically, they may feel they need to conform to the school’s notion of the ideal feminine pupil identity.
Consequently, boys and girls may exclude them for being ‘boffin’ (British slang for scientific expert)
FEMALE PEER GROUPS - policing identity
EVAl for the boffin identity - Francis
Francis found that M.C female boffins would respond by calling the other W.C girls chavs.
TEACHERS AND DISCIPLINE
Askew and Carol Ross - male teachers
Askew and Ross found that male teachers’ behaviour reinforces messages of gender - their protective attitude of female teachers, coming in to rescue them from the threatening pupils reinforces the idea that women cannot cope alone.
