Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: fag position, fag identity, gender maneuvering, River High, African American, Basketball Girls (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

High school and the difficult terrain of sexuality and gender identity are brilliantly explored in this smart, incisive ethnography. Based on eighteen months of fieldwork in a racially diverse working-class high school, Dude, You're a Fag sheds new light on masculinity both as a field of meaning and as a set of social practices. C. J. Pascoe's unorthodox approach analyzes masculinity as not only a gendered process but also a sexual one. She demonstrates how the "specter of the fag" becomes a disciplinary mechanism for regulating heterosexual as well as homosexual boys and how the "fag discourse" is as much tied to gender as it is to sexuality.

From the Inside Flap

"Laced with evocative stories based on ethnographic observations and interviews with high school kids, Dude, You're a Fag tells gripping stories of life in high school, while helping to extend the cutting edge of scholarly theory on gender and sexualities. C.J. Pascoe has contributed a highly readable and extremely insightful book that will be required reading for students and scholars of youth and the construction of sex and gender in schools."--Michael A. Messner, author of Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports

"This is a strikingly original study of schoolboys renegotiating class, gender, and ethnicity, along with the labeling as 'fag'. Here homophobia is at work in a path breaking study, which is also a highly readable must-read."--Ken Plummer, University of Essex, and editor of Sexualities

"We know that schools are a central site for the construction of gender identity, but until C. J. Pascoe's careful and compassionate ethnography, we haven't known exactly how gender conformity is extracted from a slurry of humiliations, fears, and anxieties. Boys will not be boys unless they are made to be, by violence, real or implied. A troubling, thoughtful work."--Michael Kimmel, author of Manhood in America

"Pascoe's thoughtful analysis of the rhetorical and interactional processes that constitute the field of masculinity for young, high school men coming of age is rich and engaging. With fresh insight and careful observation, Pascoe sheds new light on the complex interplay of masculinity, homophobia, sexuality, and the body, compelling us to rethink the formation of gender identities, collective gender practices, and the reproduction of gender inequalities."--Amy L. Best, author of Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture and Fast Cars, Cool Rides: The Accelerating World of Youth and Their Cars

"In this superb ethnography of daily life in a contemporary high school, C. J. Pascoe highlights the sexualized dynamics of youthful masculinity. With vivid detail and perceptive analysis, she examines the 'fag talk' which pervades boys' conversations; the convergence of gender, sexual, and racialized practices in school rituals like the 'Mr. Cougar' contest; and the experiences of girls who display themselves as masculine. The result is a book that breaks fresh ground in masculinity and gender studies-and is a very good read!"--Barrie Thorne, author of Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520252306
• ISBN-13: 978-0520252301
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,229 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Glad I Read This, February 19, 2008

By	D. Tremblay - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a fantastic book! It's easy to read, insightful, and incredibly thought provoking. As a teacher and as a man (not that this is a requirement), I whole-heartedly recommend this book to all those interested in society and our schools' reflection of it. It's a great contribution. Thank you.

19 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Schooling, Gender and Masculinity, April 29, 2007

By	Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Pascoe, C.J. "Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School", University of California Press, 2007.

Schooling, Gender and Sexuality

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

As a professional educator (on the university level now but I paid my dues as a high school teacher), I first heard about this book and was very interested in reading it. Published by the University of California Press, this book is a serious look at our gay teenagers. The title seems, to me at least, a bit playful for such a serious subject but be that as it may, the book, "Dude, You're a Fag" has a lot of information in it that is original and valuable. As it looks at both gender studies and masculinity, it is a readable way to learn about the problems of the soon to be members of the gay community.
Now that we are older, we realize how difficult it was to deal with masculinity ad gender issues when we were young. It was different back then when I was growing up and discovering my sexuality. We had no role models, we had no organization and most of us felt that we were the only ones. C.J. Pascoe spent eighteen months in the field in a high school that is racially diverse. Her conclusions on the nature of teen masculinity and sexuality are presented here.
It is known that it is the high school that helps us gain a sense of gender identity--in fact it is the place where we, in many cases, become aware of who and what we are. We also know that high schools are places where rumors and slurs are passed out at the speed of light. It is interesting how anyone can gain gender identification in high school when teens today are humiliated so easily. Fears and anxiety also come into play in the high school of today. It is troubling to consider that boys become boys because they are abased and abashed into a masculine identity. What causes masculinity to take hold is peer pressure--we want to be like the crown so publicly we behave like everyone else---or so we did. As Bob Dylan sang, "the times they are a-changing".
A book like this should be on every student's and teacher's reading list. It is so important that we know about and understand the construction of gender and sexuality. We must not assume that because of age and experience, that schoolboys cannot discuss class, gender and ethnicity. Not only can but they do.
Pescoe looks at homophobia as well and her research s so lucid that it invites us to think about the identity of gender formation, gender practices and gender equality (or lack thereof). In using the scientific method to approach her subject, Pescoe gives us a great deal of background information a well as a hands on approach for learning how to deal with the issues. Kids are not hiding their sexuality as we did--they are open and proud--such a change from my school days. The naiveté of youth is wonderful even though it may not always be practical. To see kids today embrace their sexuality at such young ages reflects ho0w far we have come as a community. That does not mean that they youth of today are less troubled when they discover their sexual selves. They just approach the situation differently.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, isolated population of study, October 12, 2009

By	Don (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Well first off I am a currently a freshman male in college required to read this book.

Dude You're a Fag is a very interesting review of the development of masculinity and gender in high school. The author Pascoe takes an observer role in a high school for 18 months. She treads the lines between student and adult therefore she manages to build a rapport with a great number of students. This method brought a great deal of information to her study that would have been otherwise impossible if she was an authority figure.

Although I found the examination presented in this book thought provoking, it was also extreme. Having just graduated from high school, I was very surprised to not relate to very many of the behaviors the students exhibited. While the students were hormonally laden and certain behaviors are expected, I was under the impression that the administrators and teachers did not care what went on in their school besides open sex education (which they cowered in fear of). There was a point in the book when a gay student recollected the bullying he faced where I almost had to stop reading the book. I know without a doubt most of the teen behavior described would not have been allowed and would have been disciplined at my high school. Maybe public school in Wisconsin are completely different, but I was simply appalled at the content of this book. I would be eager to read the results she would find by repeating the study in my high school. Then we could tell if the school was that bad or if there was some bias introduced.

So I guess in summary, I do recommend this book but not whole-heartedly. The basic themes identified and suggestions for improvement were all great, but I would caution all readers to not base their thoughts on teens and high school from this one account.