The Declining Significance of Homophobia

How Teenage Boys Are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality
Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-0-19-999094-8
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 198 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 313 g

Research has traditionally shown high schools to be hostile environments for LGBT youth. Boys have used homophobia to prove their masculinity and distance themselves from homosexuality. Despite these findings over the last three decades, The Declining Significance of Homophobia tells a different story. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews of young men in three British high schools, Dr. Mark McCormack shows how heterosexual male students are inclusive of their gay peers and proud of their pro-gay attitudes. He finds that being gay does not negatively affect a boy's popularity, but being homophobic does.

Yet this accessible book goes beyond documenting this important shift in attitudes towards homosexuality: McCormack examines how decreased homophobia results in the expansion of gendered behaviors available to young men. In the schools he examines, boys are able to develop meaningful and loving friendships across many social groups. They replace toughness and aggression with emotional intimacy and displays of affection for their male friends. Free from the constant threat of social marginalization, boys are able to speak about once feminized activities without censure. The Declining Significance of Homophobia is essential reading for all those interested in masculinities, education, and the decline of homophobia.

Zielgruppe

Academics and graduate and undergraduate students in gender and sexuality studies

Autoren/Hrsg.

McCormack, Mark

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gewalt und Diskriminierung: Soziale Aspekte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies: Homosexualität, LGBTQ+

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- Part 1: Setting the Scene

- Chapter 1: Researching Gender and Sexuality in Schools

- Chapter 2: The Study

- Part 2: Masculinities

- Chapter 3: Sex, Gender and Power

- Chapter 4: From Hegemonic Masculinity to Inclusive Masculinities

- Chapter 5: Teenage Boys and Schooling

- Chapter 6: The Rise and Fall of Homophobia

- Part 3: The Declining Significance of Homophobia

- Chapter 7: Decreasing Homohysteria

- Chapter 8: Heterosexual Recuperation

- Chapter 9: Popularity without Oppression

- Chapter 10: Homosexually-Themed Language

- Chapter 11: Gay Friendly High Schools

Über Autor(innen)

Mark McCormack is a Lecturer in Sociology at Durham University in England. His research focuses on the changing nature of masculinities among British youth.