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High school and the difficult terrain of sexuality and gender identity are brilliantly explored in this smart, incisive ethnography. Based on eighteen months of fieldwork in a racially diverse working-class high school, Dude, You're a Fag sheds new light on masculinity both as a field of meaning and as a set of social practices. C. J. Pascoe's unorthodox approach analyzes masculinity as not only a gendered process but also a sexual one. She demonstrates how the "specter of the fag" becomes a disciplinary mechanism for regulating heterosexual as well as homosexual boys and how the "fag discourse" is as much tied to gender as it is to sexuality.
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Dude, You’re a Fag Dude, You’re a Fag Masculinity and Sexuality in High School C. J. Pascoe UNIVERSITY OF CA LIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2007 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pascoe, C. J., 1974–. Dude, you’re a fag : masculinity and sexuality in high school / C.J. Pascoe. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978–0-520–24862–5 (cloth : alk. paper), isbn-10: 0–520–24862–7 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn-13: 978–0-520–25230–1 (pbk. : alk. paper), isbn-10: 0–520–25230–6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Teenage boys—California—Social conditions. 2. High school students— California—Social conditions. 3. Masculinity. 4. Heterosexuality. 5. Gender identity. 6. Identity (Psychology) in adolescence. 7. Socialization. I. Title. HQ797.P37 2007 306.76’40835109794—dc22 2006023537 Manufactured in the United States of America 15 10 14 13 12 9 8 7 6 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 08 1 07 This book is printed on New Leaf EcoBook 50, a 100% recycled fiber of which 50% is de-inked post-consumer waste, processed chlorine-free. EcoBook 50 is acid-free and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/astm d5634–01 (Permanence of Paper). For Genevieve, Lacy, Riley, Ricky, Jessie, Rebeca, Michelle, Valerie and other youth at River High who are brave enough to teach adults a thing or two about challenging inequality CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix 1. Making Masculinity: Adolescence, Identity, and High School 1 Revenge of the Nerds 1 What Do We Mean by Masculinity? Bringing in Sexuality 6 9 Rethinking Masculinity, Sexuality, and Bodies Methodology 13 15 Organization of the Book 22 2. Becoming Mr. Cougar: Institutionalizing Heterosexuality and Masculinity at River High 25 River High’s Gender and Sexuality Curriculum 28 Pedagogy: The Unofficial Gender and Sexuality Curriculum School Rituals: Performing and Policing Gender and Sexuality 39 Gender and Sexuality Regimes 50 3. Dude, You’re a Fag: Adolescent Male Homophobia 52 What Is a Fag? Gendered Meanings Becoming a Fag: Fag Fluidity 59 55 31 viii / Contents Embodying the Fag: Ricky’s Story Racializing the Fag 65 71 Where the Fag Disappears: Drama Performances Reframing Homophobia 78 81 4. Compulsive Heterosexuality: Masculinity and Dominance 84 A Stud with the Ladies Getting Girls 87 92 Touc