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Constructing dominant masculinity and negotiating the 'male gaze'

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Christine Skelton

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Abstract

One of the suggested strategies for tackling boys' underachievement is for primary schools to recruit more men teachers to provide boys with positive male role models. However, little is known of how those men teachers already working in primary schools contribute towards the construction of dominant modes of masculinity in schools or how girls engage with those dominant forms. This paper sets out to explore the ways in which two male teachers of one primary class contributed towards the development and maintenance of a particular mode of masculinity. It will be shown that male teachers' attitudes and behaviours were crucial to the construction of a mode of masculinity framed around white, middle-class values ('intelligence' and 'proficiency') and contextualized within an environment reminiscent of an exclusive men's sports club. It will further be shown how, during the course of the year, the girls devised strategies that challenged the heterosexualized behaviours of one of their male teachers by reversing the 'male gaze'.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Skelton C

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: International Journal of Inclusive Education

Year: 2002

Volume: 6

Issue: 1

Pages: 17-31

Print publication date: 01/01/2002

ISSN (print): 1360-3116

ISSN (electronic): 1464-5173

Publisher: Routledge

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/136031102753389819

DOI: 10.1080/136031102753389819

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