Masculine Theory

Some Background
From Fighting Ruben
Wolfe
Miffy:
Miffy, for Gods sake. What a name. Hes a
Pomeranian and hes a dead-set embarassment to
walk. So we wait until it gets darkthe fluffy
embarrassment machine comes prancing towards us
like a damned ballerina. I promise you when were
walking that dog and see someone we know, we pull
our hoods over our heads and look the other way..
(Zuzak, 2000, p. 26)
Why is this important?
We believe schools should be sites of inquiry into
forms of social difference (gender, race, ethnicity,
etc.) with the goal of expanding human freedom
and potential within the bounds of a democratic
society (Bean & Harper, 2007).
Challenging essentialized masculinity is important
because:
Acting outside these norms can result in name-
calling, missing school due to psychosomatic illness,
bullying, and suicide
What is masculine
theory?
Like feminist theory, examines how gender is
scripted in life and texts
Key elements (from Blackburn & Smith, 2010;
Dutro, 2003):
Performative social practices (e.g. football)
Who has power (e.g. high school jocks)
Is relational (e.g. what it means to be: a girl, guy, gay,
etc.)
Disrupts hegemonic masculinity (power issues)
Disrupts fixed sets of attributes that define
masculinity
Young Adult Novels
Font shifts (often to cursive) signal safe spaces for
jettisoning tough guy positioning, Cameron asks
his brother prior to an illegal boxing match:
Are you scared, Rube?
Yeah.
Theres no point lying. Im scared as hell. Scared
crazy. Im asylum scared. Straightjacket scared.
Yes, I think its pretty much decided. Im scared
(p. 85)
Steve in jail in Monster
The best time to cry is at night, when the lights
are out and someone is being beaten up and
screaming for help. That way even if you sniffle a
little they wont hear you. If anybody knows that
you are crying, theyll start talking about it and
soon it will be your turn to get beat up (Myers,
1999, p. 1)
Research in Masculine
Theory
Directions:
A transformative pedagogy aimed at opening up
spaces for students to read against the grain of
traditional masculinity
Scholars: Wayne Martino, Michael Kehler, Hightower,
Dutro, and others
Using young adult novels and critical questions of
character and reader positioning (see Bean & Harper,
2007 for a longer list of needed research)
View masculinity as a topic so that students could
deconstruct and interrogate it as a way to accomplish
the goals of social justice
References
Bean, T. W., & Harper, H. J. (2007). Reading men
differently: Alternative portrayals of masculinity in
contemporary young adult fiction. Reading Psychology, 28,
(1), 11-30.
Blackburn, M. V., & Smith, J. M. (2010). Moving beyond the
inclusion of LGBT-themed literature in English Language
Arts classrooms: Interrogating heteronormativity and
exploring intersectionality. Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, 53, (8), 625-634.
Dutro, E. (2003). Us boys like to read football and boy
stuff. Reading masculinities, performing boyhood. Journal
of Literacy Research, 34, 465-500.
Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York: HarperCollins.

Ruben Wolfe
Zusak, M. (2000). Fighting Ruben Wolfe. NY:
Scholastic.