Review of “Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School," 2012 edition with new preface, by Pascoe, C. J. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Paper. 193 pages.
A recent University of Chicago study about homeless young adults provides some important information indeed. The study reveals that in comparison to non-LGBT youth, researchers discovered that “LGBT youth had a 120% higher risk for homelessness” (Morton, 2017).
What kinds of discrimination and harassment do these youth experience? It is known that they face difficulties, challenges, and obstacles at home.
They also face difficult days in school. I recommend this book very strongly for educators at all level so they will have a better understanding of the realities of high school life. At least this setting includes a great deal of hate speech, and although sometimes the language used is not meant in a harming way and instead more jokingly, it is still hate speech. What is sad is that there are ways to better educate young people to realize what the impact of their use of hate speech is.
The information comes from a formal process: The author performs an ethnographic study with a focus on semi-structured interviews of high school males at a secondary school she calls “River High” in her research. Pascoe determines through her research that there is still just a few years ago a very lively use of the word “fag” in a high school she explores.
The number of LGBTQ students among high school dropouts is known to be high (GLSEN, 2013) and it is a general negative and toxic atmosphere faced by those students—some thought to be members of the community—plus other students who get swept into the culture of negativity.
The “fag discourse” is a strong and pervasive aspect of the high school culture the author investigates, with boys especially using the word fag to lower the status of other males in the setting. Even around the time of her research, this unfortunate hate speech was still very common. The original edition of the book was published in 2007, making the research happening slightly before that time.
The researcher discovers that male students call each other fag as a way to joke, denigrate, harass, and sometimes even play with other males. The majority of the males in the school fear being called this, so they act and dress in ways to avoid this happening. A great deal of energy is wasted on dressing in ways so as to not appear feminine—or too overly concerned about styles or clothing. Drama club is the only way to explore other options of actions or speech or clothing for the males. The males work hard to perpetuate rules about masculinity that they have learned from older males, including their elder brothers. Younger males learn to fear gay men and to fear being called fag.
In one episode, older male students repeatedly chased each new wave of younger male students entering the school by yelling that a fag “was going to get them” and scaring the boys. This establishes the fear of the gay discourse process in the younger males upon entering the school. Soon, they perpetuate the hate speech themselves.
Teachers and administrators perpetuate the social rules and the culture of dominant masculinity in the building, allowing the fag discourse to continue and even ignoring the insults and hateful speech coming from some of the students, usually male. The teachers and administrators also fail to protect students who need their assistance. These students are harassed and tortured by the other students and by some of the teachers.
Females can express themselves more openly than males can, but there are some lesbian students who face harassment at the school. While some of the lesbians are almost celebrities because they are popular and different, others are tormented because they will not follow traditional gender roles so essential to the school culture.
Just how negative is the atmosphere in this particular high school? One student, a girl who prefers to dress in masculine attire, eventually transfers out of the school. And the researcher removes her “gay pride” sticker from her car because of fear of attack while at the school, the setting being so negative.
Race enters into the discussion, as the author reveals how students not only believe that Black males have more masculinity than White ones do but are also allowed by the administration to stage skits that portray this belief. In one of the skits that form a part of the competition for the top male student to become “Mr. Cougar” at the school, White males take their females (i.e., their property) back from Black males and thereby win the hearts of the audience watching the skits.
In this edition, the author writes that she sees two young male students playing a game whereby one must admit online that he is a homosexual male. This puts the student in his place—whether he is homosexual or not—and therefore lowers him in the eyes of the type of people who would participate in such games.
Note that the researcher mentions in this newer edition that when she observes this game, she realizes the fag discourse “has now gone online” and continues in present times, assisted now by technology. In this way, the number people hearing the fag discourse is greatly multiplied, thus leading to the use of the hate speech internationally by more, not fewer, persons.
Online? There are also many good resources online, including the website “Stopbullying.gov” which provides help for parents and educators. It is important to send the message that bullying—and games like the unfortunate ones detailed above—are negative and hateful and of course unacceptable.
This is a very important book for educators to read. It is clear, direct, and revealing in the way it exposes this very negative setting for students trying to negotiate their sexuality, deal with social , manage daily living issues, and succeed in their high school courses.
The book is a “must read” in the professional library of all high school educators and staff members.
.
----------
Sources:
GLSEN: Educational Exclusion: Drop Out, Push Out, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline among LGBTQ Youth. https://www.glsen.org/research/educational-exclusion-drop-out-push-out-school-prison-pipeline#:~:text=Educational%20Exclusion%3A%20Drop%20Out%2C%20Push%20Out%2C%20and%20the%20School,into%20the%20criminal%20justice%20system.
Morton, M.H., Dworsky, A., & Samuels, G.M. (2017). “Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America: National Estimates.” Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. https://voicesofyouthcount.org/brief/national-estimates-of-youth-homelessness/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Stopbullying.gov,” (website) https://www.stopbullying.gov/