Successful Boys and Literacy: Are “Literate Boys” Challenging or Repackaging Hegemonic Masculinity?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Successful Boys and Literacy

T2 - Are “Literate Boys” Challenging or Repackaging Hegemonic Masculinity?

AU - Skelton, Christine

AU - Francis, Becky

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - The National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics show that boys are underachieving in literacy compared to girls. Attempts to redress the problem in various Global North countries and particularly Australia and the United Kingdom have failed to make any impact. However, there are boys who are doing well in literacy. The aim of this article is to explore how high-status constructions of masculinity are maintained alongside “successfully literate” identities. Using existing studies of successfully literate boys and data collected from an investigation into high achievers and popularity, the article will show how a “real boy” construction of masculinity is being reworked by some groups of academically successful boys to produce “Renaissance Masculinity.” The argument here is that tackling the gender gap in literacy requires attention to social success and aesthetic factors as much as to the structural variables of gender, social class and “race.”

AB - The National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics show that boys are underachieving in literacy compared to girls. Attempts to redress the problem in various Global North countries and particularly Australia and the United Kingdom have failed to make any impact. However, there are boys who are doing well in literacy. The aim of this article is to explore how high-status constructions of masculinity are maintained alongside “successfully literate” identities. Using existing studies of successfully literate boys and data collected from an investigation into high achievers and popularity, the article will show how a “real boy” construction of masculinity is being reworked by some groups of academically successful boys to produce “Renaissance Masculinity.” The argument here is that tackling the gender gap in literacy requires attention to social success and aesthetic factors as much as to the structural variables of gender, social class and “race.”

U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-873X.2011.00559.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1467-873X.2011.00559.x

M3 - Article

SN - 0362-6784

VL - 41

SP - 456

EP - 479

JO - CURRICULUM INQUIRY

JF - CURRICULUM INQUIRY

IS - 4

ER -