‘Sticks and stones': masculinities and conflict spaces

ABSTRACT

Drawing upon a post-structural ethnography of boys’ constructions of gendered and sexual identities in one South African high school, this paper empirically seeks to theorise how 20 Grade 8 boys, identified as The Jokers, The Achievers, The Outcasts and The Average Ou's, simultaneously seek out spaces in male peer culture to cultivate, police and challenge hegemonic notions of masculinity. The paper illustrates the construction and positioning of masculinities across spaces of conflict, more particularly, the personal and social resources reproduced by boys in the pursuit of ‘desirable’ masculinities across experiences of interpersonal conflict, punishment, friendship and play. Given the nature of these identity struggles in school boy peer culture, this paper highlights the need for fostering and maintaining peer conversational spaces where boys and girls are challenged to actively deconstruct prevailing gendered identities and work towards more expansive definitions of self.

KEYWORDS:

• Masculinities
• school
• early adolescence
• conflict
• violence
• South Africa

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge and value the comments of the reviewers’ in challenging and refining the theoretical and conceptual arguments presented in the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The article features ‘race’ as a category of identification; however, it is important to clarify that ‘race’ does not ascribe innate characteristics or ‘truths’ but rather an availability of cultural meanings that are open to negotiation (Dolby 2001).

2. Under Apartheid rule, separate educational departments and resources were allocated to different racial groups. For example, the House of Representatives and Department of Education and Training focused on Coloured and Black learners, respectively, while White learners attended Model C schools. Although these departmental divisions no longer exist, it is argued that many former Model C schools maintain better infrastructure and facilities than their counterparts.

3.

Table

4. Pseudonyms for the purpose of this paper have been chosen by the authors to protect the identity of the site and participants while also reflecting the cultural features of the speakers.

5. A slang expression in South African meaning ‘guys’.

6. Premenstrual Syndrome.