Masculine identity formation during and after school

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to explore masculine identity formation in school with a goal of learning more about the forms of tactical resistance adopted by males to the limiting aspects of hegemonic identity construction. Also explored were the meanings males gave to their resistances to hegemony both at the time they occurred and as they moved into adulthood. Participants in the study consisted of adult males who attended school in the Southwest United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with eleven males who occupied a variety of masculine and socio-economic positions while in school.

Findings and Conclusions: Hegemonic masculinity was found to be organized around two primary constructions framed by support or rejection of the institution of school. Males who occupied non-hegemonic positions were described as lacking identity altogether. Violence was reported as a primary means by which males in school are sorted, and violence was described as legitimized by the school as a means of maintaining institutional discipline. The forms of resistance adopted by participants in this research while in school took on two primary forms as well. Some males utilized tactical resistance to masculine identity constructions as a means of gaining power, while others used tactics to work towards social justice. The non-hegemonic respondents used a third type of tactics during the research interviews that involved reframing themselves as stronger agents in school. As a result of this reframing non-hegemonic males positioned their student identities as more hegemonic.