Driven largely by concerns over boys' education, countries worldwide have seen crisis discourses over small numbers of male teachers, particularly those teaching young children. Despite public desires and policy movements to increase their numbers, important barriers and challenges remain for male teachers. Preservice teachers' experiences, especially, might illuminate challenges to the recruitment and retention of males. Using a (pro)feminist, social interactionist framework and qualitative discourse analysis methods, this study examines discouragements from peers, family, and teacher education as faced by three male student teachers. These included gendered teasing about the ease of and “cuteness” required in education coursework, gendered objections to “wasting” their ability, and gendered suspicions of sexual predation. The analysis focuses on strategic performances the men used to cope with discouragements and persist in teaching. I argue that foregrounding such performances can disrupt barriers for males and thus increase their numbers.
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