Dude, You’re a Fag by C.J. Pascoe dives into an often ignored aspect of teenage development and sexuality. Experts, bloggers and anyone with a Facebook account write about the pressures on teenage girls to be sexual and fit certain roles in society, the feelings and roles of young men are often overlooked or considered self induced. As someone interested in sex education and working with high school students, I personally feel that the needs and feelings of teenage boys must be addressed more and more, but the way that Pascoe describes the schools inclusion in the problem is not completely in line with my own thought processes. I feel we cannot place blame on the school’s traditions and on goings without looking at greater societal issues.
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The vivid descriptions of the Mr. Cougar Pageant are confusing and almost upsetting, but the author takes this a step further representing the exchange between mother and son in an almost sexual way and illustrating the pageant as akin to a wedding. Although the nature of the pageant does seem unnecessary because it in no way enriches the learning environment and holds outdated ideas of adulthood and success I do not find it to be the overly sexual and inappropriate event that the author paints it as. While there is no need for this type of programming in a high school setting, and the pressure it places on the young men is silly, I do not think that it alone has that much of an effect on the development and since of self of those students. The outside world has already created most of the feelings these young men have about sexuality and what it means to be a …show more content…
Describing how some things that the white teenagers would see as feminizing was to the black teens actually quite manly, such as shoes and fashion was really interesting and furthered the “proof” that there are many ways to be masculine. In a similar way, the interviews that the author did with non-gender conforming students helped paint a picture of what it means to be a teenager today. Each person has the ability to create their own sense of self and representations of gender, and while that is a huge component of the book it isn’t said right out as much as I felt it should
The vivid descriptions of the Mr. Cougar Pageant are confusing and almost upsetting, but the author takes this a step further representing the exchange between mother and son in an almost sexual way and illustrating the pageant as akin to a wedding. Although the nature of the pageant does seem unnecessary because it in no way enriches the learning environment and holds outdated ideas of adulthood and success I do not find it to be the overly sexual and inappropriate event that the author paints it as. While there is no need for this type of programming in a high school setting, and the pressure it places on the young men is silly, I do not think that it alone has that much of an effect on the development and since of self of those students. The outside world has already created most of the feelings these young men have about sexuality and what it means to be a …show more content…
Describing how some things that the white teenagers would see as feminizing was to the black teens actually quite manly, such as shoes and fashion was really interesting and furthered the “proof” that there are many ways to be masculine. In a similar way, the interviews that the author did with non-gender conforming students helped paint a picture of what it means to be a teenager today. Each person has the ability to create their own sense of self and representations of gender, and while that is a huge component of the book it isn’t said right out as much as I felt it should