Pupils Sexual & Gender Identities: Lesson 30

Question 1

What did Connell 1995 say about pupils experiences at school?

Answer 1

• Contributes to ‘hegemonic masculinity.’
• “the dominance of heterosexual masculine identities and the subordination and marginalisation of both feminine and homosexual identities.”

Question 2

What are ways that schools reenforce traditional sexual & gender identities?

Answer 2

• Double standards
• Verbal abuse
• The male gaze
• Male peers groups
• Female peer groups
• Teachers and discipline

Question 3

Key points on double standards

Answer 3

• Double standard on expectations girls & boys behaviour
• Lees 1993
• Radical feminists say this is a way of men enforcing control though patriarchy

Question 4

What did Lees 1993say about double standards?

Answer 4

• Boys boast about sexual activities
• Girls are labelled ‘slags’ if they do not have a steady boyfriend and if they dress/speak a particular way
• Boys sexual activities are celebrated by other boys and ignored by teachers, where as girls sexual activity is negatively labelled

Question 5

Key points on verbal abuse?

Answer 5

• Name-calling and other forms of verbal abuse used by boys to negatively label girls’ behaviour and/or dress sense if they do not conform to the gender norms
• Pupils avoid engaging in behaviours which make them the subject of verbal abuse leading to reinforcement of gender and sexual identities
• The labels applied by students to each other are done so simply to reenforce traditional gender norms and identities

Question 7

Who are the people who spoke about verbal abuse?

Answer 7

• Connell (1995): Gender and sexual identities reproduced through “rich vocabulary of abuse.”
• Lees (1986): Girls who sexually available are labelled ‘slags’ and the girls who are not are labelled ‘drags’.
• Paechter (1998): Name calling reenforces male power in schools and shapes gender identities.
  Labels, such as gay used by pupils to police each other
• Parker (1996): Boys labelled as gay for having female friends or being too friendly with female teachers

Question 8

What is the male gaze?

Answer 8

• Depicting women and the world from a heterosexual, masculine perspective, which presents women to the audience as sexual objects
• When men look at women and see them as objects for their pleasure

Question 9

What did Mac and Gahill say about the male gaze 1994?

Answer 9

• Male pupils & male teachers see girls as sexual objects & make judgements about their appearance.
• The male gaze is a form of surveillance which reenforces heterosexual hegemonic masculinity & devalues femininity
• Boys discuss their sexual conquests and ambitions to reenforce their masculinity
• Boys who do not engage in the male gaze are at risk of being labelled gay

Question 10

What are Male peer groups?

Answer 10

• Male peer groups reenforce hegemonic masculinity through verbal abuse and peer pressure
• Peer groups e.g Willis, Epstein
• Mac & Gahill 1994

Question 11

What did Mac & Gahill 1994 say about male peer groups?

Answer 11

• Schools produce a range of class-based gender identities.
• Working class boys are ‘macho lads’ & label peers who want to achieve in education as ‘dickhead achievers.’
• The middle class boys see themselves as ‘real Englishmen’ & project image of effortless achievement; they succeed with little or no effort
• Some middle class boys may put in effort in secret to both achieve & protect their masculine status within schools

Question 12

What did Redman Mac & Gahill 1997 say about male peer groups?

Answer 12

• The hegemonic definition of ‘masculinity’ is not fixed & changes between WC boys in lower schools and MC boys in sixth form.
• WC boys are ‘macho lads’ & MC boys are ‘real Englishmen’
• Shift from traditional, WC masculinity towards MC masculinity as boys move between lower schools and sixth form.
• Reflects the more MC atmosphere & approach of sixth form, where MC masculinity is based on intellectual abilities and not physical toughness

Question 13

Key points on female peer groups

Answer 13

• Girls peer pressured in to looking, speaking and behaving in a certain way
• Girls police each other’s identities and those who do not conform are negatively labelled i.e. ‘tramps’.
• Girls will conform to traditional feminine gender identities to avoid labels and verbal abuse from their peers
• Female peer groups e.g Archer et al 2010

Question 14

What did Ringrose 2013 say about female peer groups?

Answer 14

• Studied peer groups of 13 and 14 year old WC girls in schools in South Wales.
• Popularity is crucial to girls’ identity as they transition from a culture of girls friendship to a heterosexual dating culture.
• Girls face a choice between:
  ●An idealised feminine identity; loyalty to the female peer group
  ●A sexualised identity; competing for boys in the dating culture

Question 15

What did Currie et al 2007 say about female peer groups?

Answer 15

• Relationships with boys offers the girls symbolic capital, but it’s a delicate balancing act
• Girls who think they’re better than the others because they have a boyfriend are at risk of slut-shaming by the other girls.
• Girls who don’t compete for boys are at risk of frigid-shaming by the other girls.

Question 16

What did Reay 2001 say about female peer groups?

Answer 16

• Girls who wish to be successful must form a ‘boffin identity’ & conform to school’s perception of the ideal feminine pupil
• May lead to educational attainment but it also means they have to appear uninterested in boys, and other traditional feminine interests
• At risk of being excluded or shamed by other girls, and also boys

Question 17

What did Mac & Gahill 1988 say about teachers & discipline?

Answer 17

• Male teachers discipline boys for behaving ‘like girls.’
• Male teachers make fun of boys when they score lower than girls
• Teachers ignore male verbal abuse directed at the girls, & often blamed the girls for attracting the attention to begin with
• These actions reenforce traditional ideas about gender roles and gender identity

Question 18

What did Andrew & Ross 1988 say about teachers & discipline?

Answer 18

• Male teacher behaviour subtly reenforces messages about gender roles and gender identity
• Male teachers have protective attitude towards female teachers & colleagues, & will ‘come to their rescue’ to manage disruptive pupils
• Sends message to pupils women are unable to cope