Sexual and Gender Identities

• Mac an Ghail - The Male gaze - Sexual identity 


  Dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued. Boys constantly tell and re-tell stories of sexual conquest, and boys who do not face fear as being labelled as gay
• Sue Lees - Double Standards; Slut shaming - Sexual identity 


  The double standard of sexual morality is judged in girls through the label 'slag' and rewarded in boys when they boast about sexual conquests.

  Boys gain status, while girls are judged and promiscuity attracts negative labelling .

  Double standards are a form of patriarchal control, keeping females subordinate and justifying male power.
• Mac an Ghail - Male peer groups - Sexual Identity 


  Boys in Parnell High school reproduce a range of different class-based masculine identities

  Working Class 'macho lads' were dismissive of other WC boys who worked hard and aspired to be MC careers, referring to them as dickhead achievers.

  Middle class 'Real Englishmen' projects an image of effortless achievement - succeeding without trying, while working hard on the quiet
• Sue Leeds - Verbal abuse; slag/swat - Sexual Identity 


  Boys use name calling to put down girls if they behave too sexy.

  'Slags' and 'Drags'
• Mac an Ghail - Teachers and Discipline - Sexual identity 


  Teachers reinforce dominant definitions of gender identity.

  Male teachers told boys off for behaving like girls and mocked them for getting lower marks than girls.

  Teachers did little to intervene on boys sexual abuse on girls, suggesting that the girls attracted it (Victim Blaming.)
• Sarah Evans - Working Class Girls University - Class + Gender identity 


  21 WC girls wanted to go to uni to increase earning power to help their families reinforcing the 'caring identity'

  They limit their futures by applying to unis close to home. This gender expectation limited their likelihood of getting into Russel group unis that were in big cities far away.
• Jessica Ringrose - Female Peer Groups - Sexual Identity 


  Studied 13-14 year old WC Welsh girls and found that being popular was crucial to their identity.

  As the girls moved from friendship groups to boyfriends they faced a tension between the 'idealised feminine identity' - Getting on with everyone, being non-competitive, showing loyalty to the female peer group, and a 'sexualised identity' - competing for boys and dating culture
• Louise Archer - Working Class Girls Symbolic Violence - Class + Gender Identity 


  WC girls generate status with peers in 3 ways:

  1)Hyper-heterosexual image - Looking sexy and wearing makeup avoided them from being ridiculed by peers for being a tramp

  2)Being loud - Added to negative teacher labelling

  3)Having a boyfriend - Distracted them from school work, encouraged them to opt to settle in traditional roles

  All of these created symbolic violence from teachers, deeming the girls 'not one of us' unworthy of respect and incapable of educational success