‘Dude, You’re a Fag’: Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse

Abstract

This article argues that American adolescent boys become masculine through the continual repudiation of a ‘fag’ identity. Using insights from sociologists of interaction and post-structural theorists of sexuality this article demonstrates that the fag insult has multiple meanings which are primarily gendered but also sexualized and raced. This article builds on prior analyses of adolescent homophobia by (1) pointing to the limits of an argument that focuses centrally on homophobia, (2) demonstrating that the fag is not only an identity linked to homosexual boys but an identity that can temporarily adhere to heterosexual boys as well and (3) highlighting the racialized nature of this fag discourse.

Inclusive Masculinity in a Fraternal Setting

“…Carlos (also from another fraternity) said, "They are always talking about what's gay or who is gay." However, just as Smith (1998), Pascoe (2005), and Anderson (2005aAnderson ( , 2005b have shown, these closeted gay informants do not always judge homophobic discourse as conveying antigay sentiment. Instead, they suggest that the phrase that's so gay is utilized as a general, nonspecific expression of dissatisfaction and that the word fag is used as an expression of antifemininity, not homophobia.…”

“…Accordingly, fraternities have been described as organizational settings that are almost totally intolerant of homosexuality (Sanday 1990;Yeung and Stombler 2000). Taken together with antifemininity, this culture may help these men deny themselves as gay in a culture in which sexuality constitutes gender (Anderson 2005b, forthcoming;Adams, Wright, and Lohr 1996;Pascoe 2005;Swain 2003;Willer 2005). Accordingly, the presence of openly gay men in the mainstream fraternal system is rare, and when gay men have come out, their stigmatized sexuality often brings homosexual suspicion to other fraternity members (Windmeyer and Freeman 1998).…”

Gendered Homophobia and the Contradictions of Workplace Discrimination for Women in the Building Trades

“…It is common, in the male-dominated trades and elsewhere, for men to distance themselves-through homophobic jokes and the use of derogatory terms like "gay" and "faggot"-from homosexuality as a way of affirming their masculinity (Seidman 2010). C. J. Pascoe describes as "gendered homophobia" high school boys' use of the terms "gay" and especially "fag" to police behavior considered insufficiently masculine on the part of other boys (Pascoe 2005). Pascoe argues that fag discourse is targeted specifically at boys, rather than girls, and is as much about policing masculinity as sexuality (Pascoe 2005).…”

La délicatesse nécessaire à l’intervention en matière d’orientation sexuelle : récits de pratiques d’enseignantes et d’enseignants du secondaire

“…Pascoe (2005Pascoe ( , 2007 et Plummer (2001) estiment toutefois que qualifier d'homophobe l'utilisation de termes comme « fag » et « poofter » équivaut à en réduire drastiquement la signification pour en nier la nature genrée. Pascoe suggère que les élèves rencontrés dans le cadre de sa recherche ethnographique dans une école secondaire de Californie utilisent inlassablement ce type de termes, mais n'en ont pas moins intériorisé l'idée selon laquelle l'homophobie est une attitude désapprouvée socialement.…”