Gender Maneuvering: What it is and How it Works

In social institutions—especially high schools—gender roles, i.e. the distinctions between “acceptable” male and female behavior, are clear-cut and well defined. Dress codes, the rules of social events, sports, and other practices differentiate guys and girls. This creates certain student identities within the school, and seems to be the school’s way of telling the students, “Hey, you’re supposed to be heterosexual!”
C.J. Pascoe noted in her book, Dude, You’re a Fag, that the student body at River High (the California high school where she conducted her study) seemed almost obsessed with male masculinity—the idea that guys must be sports-y and tough at all times in order to be considered “truly male.” This meant dressing and behaving a certain way, and failure to do this would result in merciless taunting.
Though this show of masculinity was usually true only for the male population, there were some girls who were also able to portray themselves as masculine while still fitting into the school’s social climate. This was seen in two particular groups: the Basketball Girls, and the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) Girls. They managed to accomplish this by engaging in gender maneuvering, which is: “the way groups act to manipulate the relations between masculinity and femininity as others commonly understand them” (Pascoe, 116). In this way, the Basketball Girls and the GSA Girls were able to take the focus of masculinity off the male body and transpose it onto their own, through the way they dressed, acted, and behaved.
Classmates viewed the Basketball Girls as girls who acted like guys: the way they dressed (in a hip-hop style), their athleticism, and their raucous behavior all affirmed this. Most students thought they were fun to be around, if a little loud. The GSA Girls also saw themselves as masculine; though most dressed like “typical girls,” their behavior and the way they spoke about their masculinity set them outside the “norm.” Unlike the Basketball Girls, however, the GSA Girls did not receive the same amount of peer admiration.
Gender maneuvering sets up a paradox between guys and girls; women are allowed to be masculine, while boys who portray themselves as even slightly feminine are likely to be attacked and scorned. Even as children, “tomboy” girls are adorable, while boys who like wearing pink or dressing up as princesses are usually ridiculed. This is no different at River High. The Basketball Girls were loud, rambunctious teens who “acted like guys.” This display of masculinity allowed the girls to adopt a gender role that would have been otherwise inaccessible, and it was only by assuming a typical male outlook on masculinity that they were welcomed into “the brotherhood.” They successfully embodied the idea of gender maneuvering. The GSA Girls, though not traditionally feminine, did not adopt masculinity in the same way the Basketball Girls did; while their peers did not view them as masculine, they saw themselves this way. For boys, gender maneuvering is out of the question, as seen in Ricky’s case. Ricky, who was openly gay, wore long hair extensions, mascara, and sometimes a skirt. His choices resulted in endless taunting and harassment, and eventually he dropped out of school.
This inability for any male to feel comfortable expressing himself in a high school setting embodies the one-way flow of gender maneuvering. Girls can apparently be masculine, but guys cannot be feminine.