The homeboy aesthetic is identifiable as an assemblage of key signifiers: clothing (baggy pants and undershirts are perhaps the most significant), hair (or, in the current moment of the aesthetic, lack of hair), bold stance, and distinct language (think "calo" mixed with hip-hop parlance), all combining to form a distinguishable cultural…

In this essay, Morwenna Griffiths considers the effect of feminization on the practices of education. She outlines a feminist theory of practice that draws critically on theories of embodiment, diversity, and structures of power to show that any practice is properly seen as fluid, leaky, and viscous. Examining different and competing…

This article offers a portrait of a young black male teacher in an urban school in South Central Los Angeles. In the portrait, the words of the subject are intertwined with the thoughts and reactions of the researcher as a way in which to capture his life history narrative and offer his reading of the world. The article discusses the participant's…

This paper examines the interplay between gender and sexuality. In particular, it looks at some reasons why mainstream society cannot bear homosexuality, or any expression of resistance to heteronormativity. The paper also considers what makes schools particularly hostile to teaching or tolerating deviance from set notions of essentialized and…

Although there is much debate about the positive effects of active sporting pursuits for the young, in reality many young people are still excluded or deterred from taking part as much as they would like. There are still particular bodily performances which are considered more suitable for taking part in mainstream sport, and invariably one of the…

This paper focuses on the resistance young men show towards consistent condom use. It is based on data generated by peer research that offer information about the distaste young men express about condoms, but also emphasise some of the physical difficulties that young men can experience when using them, which they are less willing to express. The…

The present study evaluated gender role theory as an explanation for the observed gender differences in anxiety symptoms among adolescents. Specifically, the relation between gender, gender role orientation (i.e., masculinity and femininity), self-esteem, and anxiety symptoms was examined in a community sample of 114 African Americans aged 14 to…

Information technology (IT) has been characterized as central to globalization and nation-states' competitive edge in the global economy. A highly masculinized field, IT is paradoxically characterized as gender-neutral, a field which expands opportunities for women's career and income development. For these reasons, feminist researchers regard it…

In trying to understand some of the gendered discourses that shape the management of schools as organisations in South Africa, I analyse woman principals' experiences as they try to navigate a balance between their home and work responsibilities. After their appointment as principals, some South African women face difficulties in striking the…

Raising aspirations has been identified as a key strategy for widening educational participation in lifelong learning policy. This article deconstructs the hegemonic discourse of raising aspirations through Economic and Social Research Council-funded research on men, masculinities and higher educational access and participation.The article…

This article provides a case study demonstrating the active role that 5- to 6-year-old boys in an English inner-city, multi-ethnic primary school play in the appropriation and reproduction of their masculine identities. It is argued that the emphasis on physicality, violence and racism found among the boys cannot be understood without reference to…

The authors examined how college men's conformity to an array of masculinity norms varied as a function of their vocational interests to better understand the gendered context of men's vocational development. Three hundred ten mostly Caucasian and heterosexual college men completed the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory, and their answer to…

Very few large-scale research projects involving lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth have taken place in South Africa. However, there have been several important small-scale studies. One of the major obstacles that researchers of LGB youth encounter in South Africa is the lack of access to these adolescents. There are no national networks for social…

In this paper I explore ways in which adolescent male students perceive war and violence and related gender discourses. My research is situated in a Year 10 English classroom in a private boys' school in Perth, Australia. Interviews with students and their teacher provide opportunities to explore perceptions and ideas on issues relating to war and…

The main objective of the WomEng European research project was to assess when, how and why women decide to or not to study engineering. This question was addressed through an international cross-comparison by an interdisciplinary research team in seven European countries. This article presents, in the first part, the methodological toolbox…