(Re)theorising laddish masculinities in higher education

ABSTRACT

In the context of renewed debates and interest in this area, this paper reframes the theoretical agenda around laddish masculinities in UK higher education, and similar masculinities overseas. These can be contextualised within consumerist neoliberal rationalities, the neoconservative backlash against feminism and other social justice movements, and the postfeminist belief that women are winning the ‘battle of the sexes’. Contemporary discussions of ‘lad culture’ have rightly centred sexism and men's violence against women: however, we need a more intersectional analysis. In the UK a key intersecting category is social class, and there is evidence that while working-class articulations of laddism proceed from being dominated within alienating education systems, middle-class and elite versions are a reaction to feeling dominated due to a loss of gender, class and race privilege. These are important differences, and we need to know more about the conditions which shape and produce particular performances of laddism, in interaction with masculinities articulated by other social groups. It is perhaps unhelpful, therefore, to collapse these social positions and identities under the banner of ‘lad culture’, as has been done in the past.

KEYWORDS:

• Laddism
• masculinities
• higher education
• social class
• intersectionality
• sexual violence

Notes

1. ‘Eve teasing’ is a euphemism for street harassment, ‘bro culture’ often refers to the subculture of US fraternities, and a ‘hookup culture’ is one which accepts/encourages casual sexual encounters (and has been particularly associated with students).

2. The article uses the terms ‘lad’, ‘laddism’ and ‘laddish’ interchangeably, and makes reference to contemporary discussions of ‘lad culture’ (although the latter is problematic – see also Phipps and Young 2015b). These terms are also sometimes used as a proxy for similar forms of masculinity in other countries, although it is understood that these identities and behaviours, and how they are framed, may differ.

3. Outside the West, the idea (and reality) of plural or multiple genders has a long history – see Nanda 2014.

4. Some contemporary work on laddism has cited the significance of homophobia to the articulation of such behaviours (see, e.g. Jackson, Dempster, and Pollard 2015; Phipps and Young 2015b): however, there is a need for fuller exploration of how sexualities shape these identity performances in the current context. Other factors, for instance disability (especially given the links between contemporary laddism and sporting cultures), would also be potentially fruitful grounds for analysis.

5. This latter category refers to, for example, some trans men and non-binary people.

6. Willis’ work is also particularly pertinent given the contemporary context of socio-economic austerity.

7. Research conducted by Jackson and Sundaram (2015) found that classroom laddism was more common in universities with lower entry grades, which tend to be those with a more diverse class intake (Sutton Trust 2011).

8. There is an established body of literature showing how sexism and sexual-harassment function to preserve power and space for men through making women feel inadequate, uncomfortable, unwelcome or unsafe (Bennett 2009; McLaughlin, Uggen, and Blackstone 2012).