This research examines the construction of masculinity among a group of working-class boys aged sixteen to nineteen in the northeast of England. Drawing on data collected from a six-week ethnography with boys in a religious (Christian) sixth form college, this study documents how only a small minority of these boys embodied the orthodox archetype of masculinity that has traditionally been associated with working-class youth. Instead, the great majority of participants adopted attitudes and behaviors that can be categorized as a set of inclusive masculinities: They espoused positive attitudes toward homosexuality, engaged in physical tactility and emotional intimacy, and used homosexually themed language without the intent to wound or marginalize other boys. These findings pose a considerable challenge to dominant narratives on working-class masculinities; narratives that must now be reconfigured to account for the proliferation of inclusive masculinities among working-class youth.
AdamsAdiAndersonEricMcCormackMark. 2010. “Establishing and Challenging Masculinity.”Journal of Language and Social Psychology29 (3): 278–300.
2.
AndersonEric. 2005. “Orthodox and Inclusive Masculinity: Competing Masculinities among Heterosexual Men in a Feminised Terrain.”Sociological Perspectives48 (3): 337–55.
3.
AndersonEric. 2009. Inclusive Masculinity: The Changing Nature of Masculinities. New York: Routledge.
4.
AndersonEric. 2011. “Inclusive Masculinities of University Soccer Players in the American Midwest.”Gender and Education23 (6): 729–44.
5.
AndersonEric. 2014. 21st Century Jocks. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
6.
AtkinsonWillRobertsSteveSavageMike, eds. 2012. Class Inequality in Austerity Britain: Power, Difference and Suffering. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
7.
BarrettTimothy. 2013. “Friendships between Men across Sexual Orientation: The Importance of (Others) Being Intolerant.”Journal of Men’s Studies21 (1): 62–77.
8.
BrymanAlan. 2012. Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9.
ClementsBenField.Clive D.2014. “Public Opinion toward Homosexuality and Gay Rights in Great Britain.”Public Opinion Quarterly78 (2): 523–47.
10.
DavidMatthewSuttonCarole. 2011. Social Research. London: Sage.
11.
EpsteinDebbie. 1997“‘Boyz’ Own Stories: Masculinities and Sexualities in Schools.”Gender and Education9 (1): 105–15.
12.
EpsteinDebbieJohnsonRichard. 1998. Schooling Sexualities. Buckingham: Open University Press.
13.
FloydKeith. 2000. “Affectionate Same-Sex Touch: The Influence of Homophobia on Observers’ Perceptions.”Journal of Social Psychology140:774–88.
14.
FrancisBecky. 1999. “Lads, Lasses, and (New) Labour.”British Journal of Sociology of Education20 (3): 355–71.
15.
FroyumCarissa. 2007. “‘At Least I’m Not Gay’: Heterosexual Identity Making among Poor Black Teens.”Sexualities10 (5): 603–22.
16.
GoodeyJo. 1997. “Boys Don’t Cry: Masculinities, Fear of Crime and Fearlessness.”British Journal of Criminology37 (3): 401–18.
17.
JacksonCarolyn. 2006. Lads and Ladettes in School: Gender and the Fear of Failure. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
18.
JeffreyBobyTromanGeoff. 2004. “Time for Ethnography.”British Educational Research Journal30 (4): 535–48.
19.
KeleherAlisonSmithEric. 2012. “Growing Support for Gay and Lesbian Equality since 1990.”Journal of Homosexuality59 (9): 1307–26.
20.
LeCompteMargaretGoetzJudith P.1982. “Problems of Reliability and Validity in Ethnographic Research.”Review of Educational Research52 (1): 31–60.
21.
LoftusJeni. 2001. “America’s Liberalization in Attitudes Toward Homosexuality, 1973 to 1998.”American Sociological Review66 (5): 762–82.
22.
LynchMichael. 2000. “Against Reflexivity as an Academic Virtue and Source of Privileged Knowledge.”Theory, Culture and Society17:26–54.
23.
LyngSelma Therese. 2009. “Is There More to ‘Antischoolishness’ Than Masculinity? On Multiple Student Styles, Gender, and Educational Self-Exclusion in Secondary School.”Men and Masculinities11 (4): 462–87.
24.
Mac an GhaillMairtin. 1994. The Making of Men: Masculinities, Sexualities and Schooling. Buckingham: Open University Press.
25.
Mac an GhaillMairtinHaywoodChris. 2011. “Schooling, Masculinity and Class Analysis: Towards an Aesthetic of Subjectivities.”British Journal of Sociology of Education32 (5): 729–44.
26.
Mac an GhaillMairtinHaywoodChris. 2012. “The Queer in Masculinity: Schooling, Boys, and Identity Formation.” In Queer Masculinities: A Critical Reader in Education, edited by LandreauJ.RodriguezN., 69–84. New York: Springer.
27.
MagrathR.2015. “The Intersection of Race, Religion and Homophobia in British Football.”International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Advance online publication. doi:1012690215597651.
28.
MagrathRoryAndersonEricRobertsSteve. 2013. “On the Door-step of Equality: Attitudes toward Gay Athletes among Academy-Level Footballers.”International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 1012690213495747.
29.
McCormackM.2011. “Mapping the Terrain of Homosexually Themed Language.”Journal of Homosexuality58 (5): 664–79.
30.
McCormackMark. 2012. The Declining Significance of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys Are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
31.
McCormackMark. 2014. “The Intersection of Youth Masculinities, Decreasing Homophobia and Class: An Ethnography.”British Journal of Sociology65 (1): 130–49.
32.
McCormackMarkAndersonEric. 2010. “‘It’s Just Not Acceptable Any More’: The Erosion of Homophobia and the Softening of Masculinity at an English Sixth Form.”Sociology44 (5): 843–59.
33.
McCormackMarkAndersonEric. 2014. “The Influence of Declining Homophobia on Men’s Gender in the United States: An Argument for the Study of Homohysteria.”Sex Roles71 (3-4): 109–20.
34.
McCormackMarkWignallLiamAndersonEric. 2015. “Identities and Identifications: Changes in Metropolitan Bisexual Men’s Attitudes and Experiences.”Journal of Bisexuality15 (1): 3–20.
35.
McDowellLinda. 2001. “Working with Young Men.”Geographical Review91 (1-2): 201–14.
36.
McDowellLinda. 2003. Redundant Masculinities: Employment Change and White Working Class Youth. London: Wiley.
37.
MorrisMaxAndersonEric. 2015. “‘Charlie Is So Cool Like’: Authenticity, Popularity and Inclusive Masculinity on YouTube.”Sociology, Advance online publication. 0038038514562852.
38.
NayakAnoop. 2003. “‘Boyz to Men’: Masculinities, Schooling and Labour Transitions in De-industrial Times.”Educational Review55 (2): 147–59.
39.
NayakAnoop. 2006. “Displaced Masculinities: Chavs, Youth and Class in the Post-industrial City.”Sociology40 (5): 813–31.
40.
NayakAnoopKehilyMary-Jane. 1996. “Playing It Straight: Masculinities, Homophobias and Schooling.”Journal of Gender Studies5 (2): 211–30.
41.
PlummerDavid. 1999. One of the Boys: Masculinity, Homophobia and Modern Manhood. New York: Harrington Park Press.
42.
ReayDiane. 2002. “Shaun’s Story: Troubling Discourses of White Working Class Masculinities.”Gender and Education14 (3): 221–34.
43.
ReayDiane. 2006. “The Zombies Stalking English Schools.”British Journal of Educational Studies54 (3): 288–307.
44.
RenoldEmma. 2001. “Learning the ‘Hard’ Way: Boys, Hegemonic Masculinity and the Negotiation of Learner Identities in the Primary School.”British Journal of Sociology of Education22 (3): 369–85.
45.
RiversIan. 2001. “The Bullying of Sexual Minorities at School.”Educational and Child Psychology18 (1): 32–46.
46.
RobardsBrady. 2012. “Leaving MySpace, Joining Facebook: ‘Growing up’ on Social Network Sites.”Continuum26 (3): 385–98.
47.
RobertsSteve. 2011. “Beyond ‘NEET’ and ‘Tidy’ Pathways: Considering the ‘Missing Middle’ of Youth Transition Studies.”Journal of Youth Studies14 (1): 21–39.
48.
RobertsSteve. 2013. “Boys Will Be Boys . . . Won’t They? Change and Continuities in Contemporary Young Working-class Masculinities.”Sociology47 (4): 671–86.
49.
RobertsSteve. 2014. Debating Modern Masculinities. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
50.
SavageMike. 2003. Review Essay: A New Class Paradigm?”British Journal of Sociology of Education24 (4): 535–41.
51.
Savin-WilliamsRitch. 2005. The New Gay Teenager. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
52.
SchwartzPepperRutterVirginia. 1998. The Gender of Sexuality. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
53.
ScoatsRyan. 2015. “Inclusive Masculinity and Facebook Photographs Among Early Emerging Adults at a British University.”Journal of Adolescent Research. 32 (3): 323–345
54.
SkeggsBevLovedayVik. 2012. “Struggles for Value: Value Practices, Injustice, Judgment, Affect and the Idea of Class.”British Journal of Sociology63 (3): 472–90.
55.
SpradleyJames. 1970. You Owe Yourself a Drunk. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
56.
ThurlowCrispin. 2001. “Naming the ‘Outsider Within’: Homophobic Pejoratives and the Verbal Abuse of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual High-School Pupils.”Journal of Adolescence24 (1): 25–38.
57.
VicarsMark. 2006. “Who Are You Calling Queer? Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones But Names Will Always Hurt Me.”British Educational Research Journal32 (3): 347–61.
58.
WalkerAlice. 2014. “Revenge of the Beta Boys: Opting Out as an Exercise in Masculinity.”McGill Journal of Education/Revue des sciences de l’éducation de McGill49 (1): 183–200.
59.
WarwickIanAggletonPeter. 2014. “Bullying, ‘Cussing’ and ‘Mucking About’: Complexities in Tackling Homophobia in Three Secondary Schools in South London, UK.”Sex Education14 (2): 159–73.
60.
WayNiobe. 2011. Deep Secrets. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
61.
WeeksJeffrey. 2007. The World We Have Won. London, England: Routledge.
62.
WightDanny. 1994. “Boys’ Thoughts and Talk about Sex in a Working Class Locality of Glasgow.”Sociological Review42 (4): 703–37.
63.
WillisPhil. 1977. Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Farnborough: Saxon House.
64.
WoodsP.1986. Inside Schools: Ethnography in Educational Research. London: Routledge.
