Shaun's Story: Troubling discourses of white working-class masculinities

Abstract

This article tells the story of a hard-working, well-behaved, poor, white, working-class boy trying to achieve academically in a 'sink' inner-city boys' comprehensive school, whilst simultaneously trying to maintain his standing within the male peer group culture. In doing so, it raises questions about the possibilities of bringing together white working-class masculinities with educational success in inner-city working-class schooling. It is argued that to combine the two generates heavy psychic costs, involving young men not only in an enormous amount of academic labour but also an intolerable burden of psychic reparative work. Shaun's narrative also suggests that the problem of 'failing boys' cannot be solved through school-based initiatives. Until social processes of male gender socialisation move away from the imperative of privileging the masculine and allow boys to stay in touch with their feminine qualities, the problem of 'failing boys' will remain despite the best efforts of teachers and researchers.