Pupils sexual and gender identities

• Ringroses study on girls identity

  • found that being popular was crucial to the girls identity and found they could not decide between which identity to have
  • the idealised feminine identity - showing loyalty to the female peer group, being non competitive and getting along with everybody in the friendship culture
  • a sexualised identity - involved competing for boys in the dating culture
  • tells us that girls struggle to choose an identity as they cared a lot about being popular
• overview

  • Pupils' school experiences may reinforce their gender and sexual identities
  • Connell 1995 - argues that school reproduces 'hegemonic masculinity'-the dominance of heterosexual masculine identity and subordination of female and gay identities
• Double standards

  • Lees 1993 identifies a double standard of sexual morality in which boys boast about their own sexual exploits but call a girl a 'slag' if she doesnt have a steady boyfriend or if she dresses and speaks in a certain way
  • sexual conquest is approved of and given status by male peers and ignored by male teachers but 'promiscuity' among girls attracts negative labels
  • feminists argue that the double standards are an example of a patriarchal ideology that justifies male power and devalues women
  • double standards act as a form of social control to reproduce patriarchy-male domination and female subordination
• verbal abuse

  • one of the way in which dominant gender and sexual identities are reinforced
  • boys use name-calling puts girls down if they behave in certain ways
  • Lees 1986 - found that boys called girls 'slags' if they appeared to be sexually available and 'drags' if they didnt
  • Paechter sees name calling as helping to shape gender identity and maintain male power
  • the use of negative labels such as 'gay' and 'lezzie' are ways in which pupils police each others sexual identities
• the male gaze

  • The visual aspect in the way pupils control each other's identities
  • Mac an Ghaill - this is the male gaze - how male teachers/pupils look at girls, see them as sexual objects and make judgements about their appearance
  • see the male gaze as a form of surveillance where dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity is devalued
  • This is one way boys reinforce their masculinity, bragging about sexual conquests and telling stories if they don't, they risk being labelled as gay
• male peer groups

  • male peer groups also use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity
  • e.g. boys in anti-school subcultures often accuse boys who want to do well in school as being gay
  • Working-class boys 'macho lads' were dismissive of other working class boys who worked hard so called them 'dickhead achievers'
• female peer groups: policing identity

  • Working-class girls gain symbolic capital by performing a hyper-heterosexual identity
  • Female peers police this identity and girls risk being called a "tramp" if they fail to conform
  • Working-class girls faced a tension between an idealised feminine identity (loyalty to the peer group) and a sexualised identity (competing for boys)
  • 'Slut shaming' and 'frigid shaming' are social control labels with which they police each other's identities
• teachers and discipline

  • Haywood and Mac an Ghaill 1996 found that male teachers tell off boys for acting 'like girls' and tease them for getting lower marks in tests than girls
  • Teachers would also ignore boys verbally abusing girls, or would blame the girls for it
  • Askew & Ross (1988) - this shows how male teacher's behaviour subtly reinforces messages about gender