Reasserting masculinity in Australian schools

Abstract

This paper draws on empirical studies and on the literature on masculinity to explore the ways in which many men and boys respond when feminist teachers undertake the work of feminist reform in schools. It shows how such work poses challenges to certain masculinities and identifies the different strategies that boys and men adopt in order to reassert their "superiority" and control. It seeks to understand male responses to feminism in schools through a feminist reading of the masculinity literature and concludes by looking at the implications of those responses for feminist pedagogy.