Fighting Boys and Fantasy Play
The construction of masculinity in the early years of school
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12232144 |
|---|---|
| Authors | E Jordan (0000-0003-1477-3904, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 69-86 |
| Publication date | 1995-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Gender and Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0954-0253 • E-ISSN: 1360-0516 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/713668458 |
| OpenAlex | W2127076776 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 51 |
Using a post-structural framework, the paper analyses the dynamics of the process by which little boys adopt a definition of masculinity as avoiding whatever is done by girls. It is argued that this is a response to the fact that the 'fighting boys' who resist the school's demands have appropriated the role of hero in the warrior narratives of little boys' fantasy games, casting the 'good boys' who conform to the requirements of the school as despised 'wimps' and 'sissies'. This leads the 'good boys' to adopt an alternative definition of masculinity as 'not female', and in many cases leads also to the scorn and rejection being redirected to girls as a group. It is suggested that teachers should intervene in this cycle by explicitly discussing the character of the hero in these warrior narratives and showing that it ought not to be equated with the classroom and playground behaviour of the 'fighting boys
Art · Character (mathematics · Fantasy · HERO · Literature · Masculinity · Narrative · Sociology · Early Childhood Education and Development · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis
Mandingas da infância
Play Fighting in Boys
Peer group cultures and social identity
Comprehensive Sexuality Education as a Primary Prevention Strategy for Sexual Violence Perpetration
‘ The boys ’ present… Hegemonic masculinity
Barbie princesses and dinosaur dragons
He said he said
Lads and Laughter
Pedagogies and critical reflection
Sharing the same world
But I want to fly too
When Science is Strangely Alluring
Other’ boys
Gender discourse about an ethic of care
Verbal abuse in school. Constructions of gender among 14‐ to 15‐year‐olds
Ye've got to ‘ave balls to play this game sir!’ Boys, peers and fears
Coming out
The process of integration of newcomers at school
The Color of Children’s Gender Stereotypes
Push-Ups Versus Clean-Up
Constructing Difference
The Socialization of Gender-Based Aggression
Learning masculinities and femininities
How Young Schoolboys Become Somebody
Normative cruelties and gender deviants
Not Just ‘Once’ upon a Time
In the thick of it
Men becoming fighters
Barbie princesses and Star Wars clones
Who do these boys think they are? An investigation into the construction of masculinities in a primary classroom
All They've Got on Their Brains is Football.’ Sport, Masculinity and the Gendered Practices of Playground Relations
The role of sport in the construction of masculinities in an English independent junior school
Patriarchal Consciousness
Disintegration conflicts and the restructuring of masculinity
Becoming a woman
Issues of language and gender in second and foreign language education
Discussing Discrimination
Primary Boys and Hegemonic Masculinities
Six packs and big muscles, and stuff like that’. Primary school‐aged South African boys, black 1 and white, on sport
Cool Boys', 'Party Animals', 'Squids' and 'Poofters
Games of subversion and sabotage
Single‐sex classes in co‐educational schools
Producing Contradictory Masculine Subject Positions
Neoliberalism and Masculinity
The normalization of fear
Playing it straight
Gênero como possibilidade ou limite da ação social
Bodyhood and Fatherhood
Measuring the knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and behaviors of Filipino Teacher education students toward sustainability during the pandemic
How to be Masculine in the Block Area
Girls hit!' Constructing and negotiating violent African femininities in a working-class primary school
| Unique citing works | 51 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,7 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2025 (30) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 50 |