Synopses & Reviews
Research has traditionally shown high schools to be hostile environments for LGBT youth. Boys have used homophobia to prove their masculinity and distance themselves from homosexuality. Despite these findings over the last three decades,
The Declining Significance of Homophobia tells a different story. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews of young men in three British high schools, Dr. Mark McCormack shows how heterosexual male students are inclusive of their gay peers and proud of their pro-gay attitudes. He finds that being gay does not negatively affect a boy's popularity, but being homophobic does.
Yet this accessible book goes beyond documenting this important shift in attitudes towards homosexuality: McCormack examines how decreased homophobia results in the expansion of gendered behaviors available to young men. In the schools he examines, boys are able to develop meaningful and loving friendships across many social groups. They replace toughness and aggression with emotional intimacy and displays of affection for their male friends. Free from the constant threat of social marginalization, boys are able to speak about once feminized activities without censure. The Declining Significance of Homophobia is essential reading for all those interested in masculinities, education, and the decline of homophobia.
Review
"Despite the remarkable changes in attitudes towards homosexuality in recent years, a continuing stream of homophobia has often been detected, especially among young men. This important book demonstrates vividly that this need not be the case. Based on a close study of three contrasting schools, Mark McCormack documents the ways in which full acceptance of homosexuality not only makes life better for gay young people, but also transforms heterosexual masculinity. No longer dependent on affirming their masculinity through homophobia, heterosexual young men are freed to explore a more open and flexible masculinity. This is a heartening book that charts the profound and positive transformation now taking place in young people's culture, and makes one optimistic for the future." -- Jeffrey Weeks, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London South Bank University, and author of The Languages of Sexuality (2011)
"One of the best books on male adolescents I've ever read, The Declining Significance of Homophobia documents a revolution, one in which gay youth are accepted and integrated alongside their heterosexual brethren, gay bullying is unacceptable, and heterosexual boys experience little fear about being emotional, soft, or non-violent. What has caused this revolution? McCormack argues it is the result of broader social changes regarding sexuality and gender, particularly among young people-the success of the gay rights movement, the declining significance of religion, and the reach of social media. Now the big question: Can this possibly cross the Atlantic?" -- Ritch C. Savin-Williams, Chair and Professor of Human Development, and Director, Sex and Gender Lab, Cornell University
"Through deep, careful study, McCormack unveils new possibilities for contemporary youth. His work challenges the longstanding assumption about contemporary masculinities that homophobia is a given. Learning from young people, his book foreshadows a new era in which youth lead the way in defining gender and masculinity in ways that aren't fundamentally exclusionary. It is important scholarship and offers a hopeful vision of the future." -- Stephen T. Russell, Distinguished Professor and Fitch Nesbitt Endowed Chair and Director, Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families, University of Arizona
"Overall, McCormack provides some compelling evidence that challenges certain thoughts and beliefs about homophobia in Western culture. He comments on the potential difficulty that his theses may have in the existing scholarship of LGBT research, but does so with a great deal of scholarly integrity." -- APA Division 4 Newsletter: Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues
"New books receiving positive reviews are very often declared a 'welcome contribution' to the field of enquiry, or words to such effect. Such praise can sometimes be lavished a little too readily, but Mark McCormack's The Declining Significance of Homophobia is entirely deserving of such an accolade... McCormack produces an impressive set of arguments and provides a range of theoretical developments that could re-shape debates about youth and adolescence and, more specifically, the seemingly on-going fascination regarding 'the trouble with boys'. Moreover, he does this in a particularly accessible style, knitting together the chapters in a way that will ensure that the expert remains stimulated and, importantly, that students or relative novices to the subject matter have their learning reinforced throughout." -- Steven Roberts, Journal of Youth and Adolesence
"The term "groundbreaking research" is often bestowed too lightly, but it is richly deserved in the case of this book. Mark McCormack offers a pioneering and remarkably inspiring account of the declining significance of homophobia, and how teenage boys are redefining masculinity and heterosexuality (and homosexuality)." -- Times Higher Education
"The real value of this book isn't the way it rescues gay teens from victimhood, but in the revolution in masculinity it documents, about which many oldies are still in denial." -- The Independent
About the Author
Mark McCormack is a qualitative sociologist at Brunel University in England. His research focuses on the changing nature of masculinities among British youth. In this book, he examines how decreased homophobia has positively influenced the way in which young men bond emotionally and interact in school settings.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Setting the Scene
Chapter 1: Researching Gender and Sexuality in Schools
Chapter 2: The Study
Part 2: Masculinities
Chapter 3: Sex, Gender and Power
Chapter 4: From Hegemonic Masculinity to Inclusive Masculinities
Chapter 5: Teenage Boys and Schooling
Chapter 6: The Rise and Fall of Homophobia
Part 3: The Declining Significance of Homophobia
Chapter 7: Decreasing Homohysteria
Chapter 8: Heterosexual Recuperation
Chapter 9: Popularity without Oppression
Chapter 10: Homosexually-Themed Language
Chapter 11: Gay Friendly High Schools