Young Latina Women In Los Angeles

This is also an issue for boys, body performance in particular is crucial to their ability to maintain a hegemonic masculine identity (Mac an Ghaill 1996). Similarly, dis- identification with other male students becomes the norm otherwise their masculine identities can be questioned and may be called a ‘poof’. Hyams (2000) demonstrates the highly gendered character of school cultures in her study of young Latina women in Los Angeles, she demonstrates the integral relationship between their gender and sexual identities, in terms of victimisation and their historically low academic achievement.
It is evident that the school is not really a safe space when it comes to expressing a non- heteronormative identity. Mowl and Towner (1995) argue that