What is a fag? Generally, people think of fag in relation to sexual preference, or in other words, gay. Sexual preference actually has nothing to do with the use of fag. Completely heterosexual boys are labeled with fag. Fag is not living up to the standard of masculinity. “Fag” is a weakness in masculinity. Teenage boys’ lives are filled with being masculine from ultra-masculine sports such as football to objectification of women’s bodies. At any time the word fag can descend upon them. This reminder to be masculine happens for many reasons.
Pascoe found that faggot covers a wide range of actions. For example, at lunch if the lunchmeat falls out of the sandwich, he’s a fag. Or if boys’ bodies get too close, they’re fags. Or if the boys care too much about how they look, fag. Clothing especially distinguishes a faggot. Boys will purposely look dirty as to be masculine. To purposely not look clean is to be masculine but to care if you look good is to be a fag. For example, in auto shop class (an area dominated by all men) the boys work with dirty and greasy materials. By the end of the class period, their white t-shirts and jeans are all dirty, covered in grease. An area is provided to change into clean clothes, but instead these boys decide to stay dirty to physically demonstrate they don’t care what they look like and therefore are not a faggot.
Faggots extend beyond physical appearance though. A huge area of the fag is performances. This is best seen in dancing. A boy who dances and does so well or in all serious is labeled a fag. Boys also cannot have too close physical contact or they are deemed weak.
All of these examples are of faggots in a high school. But only for a white boy. Fag is actually a racialized disciplinary mechanism. The ways in which a white boy can be a faggot is completely different from how an African American boy can act. Fag is consistently a white term. The way white boys’ used “fag”, blacks used “white”. For instance, the African Americans at the high school Pascoe studied where admired for their style. It was cool to look good. An especially strong symbol of masculinity is the white sneakers. Even the slightest scuff on the shoes would make the boy weak, not a fag. Similarly, black teen boys are admired for their dance skills while the white boy is a faggot.
Pascoe found that faggot covers a wide range of actions. For example, at lunch if the lunchmeat falls out of the sandwich, he’s a fag. Or if boys’ bodies get too close, they’re fags. Or if the boys care too much about how they look, fag. Clothing especially distinguishes a faggot. Boys will purposely look dirty as to be masculine. To purposely not look clean is to be masculine but to care if you look good is to be a fag. For example, in auto shop class (an area dominated by all men) the boys work with dirty and greasy materials. By the end of the class period, their white t-shirts and jeans are all dirty, covered in grease. An area is provided to change into clean clothes, but instead these boys decide to stay dirty to physically demonstrate they don’t care what they look like and therefore are not a faggot.
Faggots extend beyond physical appearance though. A huge area of the fag is performances. This is best seen in dancing. A boy who dances and does so well or in all serious is labeled a fag. Boys also cannot have too close physical contact or they are deemed weak.
All of these examples are of faggots in a high school. But only for a white boy. Fag is actually a racialized disciplinary mechanism. The ways in which a white boy can be a faggot is completely different from how an African American boy can act. Fag is consistently a white term. The way white boys’ used “fag”, blacks used “white”. For instance, the African Americans at the high school Pascoe studied where admired for their style. It was cool to look good. An especially strong symbol of masculinity is the white sneakers. Even the slightest scuff on the shoes would make the boy weak, not a fag. Similarly, black teen boys are admired for their dance skills while the white boy is a faggot.
So, the fag is only the white weak boys. Fag does not carry across the race line and does not carry the same disciplinary actions for different races. A boy must learn to become a man and this begins when they are young and is strongly disciplined in high school. The “man” must be strong and masculine, but that masculinity is different for different races. Faggot does not carry across race boundaries.
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