The Power of Hormones

Teenage boys are generally thought to be largely made up of raging hormones. It would come as no surprise to anyone then that sex and girls are favorite topics among groups of high school-aged males. What may not be obvious, however, is that through this type of “shop talk”, boys are constantly reminding themselves and their friends how they “should” act: masculine and straight.
In “Dude You’re A Fag”, C.J. Pascoe spends time observing and interviewing students at one high school. While the conversations that take place among groups of boys in locker rooms and shop classes don’t seem out of the ordinary, Pascoe shows how these constant discussions of wild sexual adventures and “getting girls” are the tools teenage boys use to demonstrate power to each other. By painting themselves as sexually experienced and in-control, boys prove to each other that they are dominant over females, which leads to being thought of as masculine.
It seems to be irrelevant whether the stories told by these boys are true or not; the important part is that in publicly discussing sex and girls, boys maintain an image of being able to control a female’s body, as well as show off their fascination with two subjects that are “supposed” to interest them. If they were to be perceived as being disinterested or unknowledgeable about sex and girls, they would receive the label of “fag”. By making sure that this interest is on display for everyone to see, boys prove that they are masculine, straight, and therefore not fags.
Pascoe’s private interviews showed, however, that this masculine image was often only necessary in public. When alone, many boys showed emotions and romantic feelings towards girls, rather than focusing on them as purely sexual objects. Many also tried, in private, to distinguish themselves from “other guys” who viewed females this way, regardless of whether or not they too made girls into sexual objects when in the company of other boys.
Though these sorts of conversations among teenage boys are typical, Pascoe highlights how underlying them is the idea that males are dominant over females. In showing how boys feel they have to constantly push this message or face social rejection, Pascoe also shows how ingrained these ideas are in our culture.