Introduces a special issue that is positioned against the backdrop of the current "boys in crisis" debate. It focuses on how the articles address embodied identities and material inequalities; social mobility and working class femininities; resisting individualism and rationality; power and responsibility; masculinity and the middle class; and…

Explores the use of dance in physical education as a pedagogical tool for examining heterosexual male embodiment. Discusses how dance offers the potential for disruptive, discomforting, and pleasurable experiences that illustrate how bodies carry and construct gendered meanings. Contains 50 references. (SK)

The purpose of this constructivist inquiry was to explore the impact of socially prescribed gender roles on college men's identity development. Ten white students were interviewed and data from the interviews were analyzed using hermeneutic phenomenology. Students discussed communication restrictions associated with scripted gender roles, fear of…

Examined relationship between sex-role orientation and willingness to confront existential issues in undergraduate students (N=88). Results indicated masculine men and feminine women reported the least willingness to confront existential issues; androgynous men were most receptive to facing existential issues. (Author/ABL)

Analyzed clients' (N=210) questionnaires rating willingness to see and disclose to androgynous, masculine, or feminine therapist on basis of written description. Clients rated androgynous- and masculine-oriented therapists significantly more favorably than feminine-oriented therapists. Masculine men received highest ratings and feminine men…

A boy's struggle between connection and autonomy finds different expression as he grows. Most boys have a limited emotional repertoire for managing conflict, adversity, and change. Our culture supports emotional development for girls and discourages it for boys. Developing an emotional vocabulary is a first step. (MLH)

Explores the ideas of masculinity in children's books. Highlights include how the emotions and experiences of male characters might have been shaped by the authors' and their cultures' assumptions about what it means to be male; stereotypes, of femininity and masculinity; conventional male characteristics; and traditional masculine values. (LRW)

Presents an edited version of an academic discussion that took place between the authors entirely over e-mail about literacy and masculinities. Agrees that in order to dismantle forms of hegemony in society, citizens (both men and women) need to become critical readers and thinkers. (SG)

Reflects on the direction and progress of feminist debates in education from 1995-2000, outlining this journal's extracurricular developments and analyzing the content of papers published in the journal during those years. The analysis both confirms some stereotypes of feminist scholarship relating to education and highlights the impact of…

Social psychological theories of self-worth protection may contribute important insights for understanding "laddish" behavior (first used to refer to white, working-class and anti-school boys), and self-worth theory may have important implications for strategies designed to increase boys' academic achievement. Outlines Covington's theory…

Analyzes data on boy-girl interactions in a high school drama class, problematizing the discourse of masculinity in the class. The ethnographic data collected during class showed how varied the contexts of gender production could be, even within the same roughly parallel configurations of task and location. Concludes that masculinity is above all…

In Kolb's study, 123 students completed Bem's Sex Role Inventory before and a leadership scale after participating in mixed-gender groups. Attitudes toward leadership and leadership experience were stronger predictors of leader emergence than masculine gender role was. Karau and Eagly's reaction places the study in a theoretical context. (SK)

Investigated gender differences in the gender role perceptions of Japanese college students, who rated the desirability of items on a sex role inventory. Significant gender differences occurred only on the desirability ratings of feminine items for men (men scored higher than women). Both men and women perceived that masculine and feminine…

Explores how one specific children's book, T. Wynne-Jones'"The Maestro," might be illuminated through a consideration of the ways in which it might be expressing, confirming, and possibly undermining some gender conventions. (SG)

Surveyed male and female adults to test several hypotheses about the relationship between sex, gender, personality, and social support. Overall, gender, but not sex, significantly correlated with patterns of social support. Femininity in both sexes associated with seeking and receiving emotional support, and with seeking and receiving support from…