Swedish Boys’ Narratives on Sexual Harassment and their Ways of Doing Masculinity

Abstract

When #MeToo was the most intensive, many girls, women and non-binary people’s voices were heard about being exposed. Knowledge on boys’ perspectives is important as they need to be involved to provide change. In research, boys’ and men’s voices are missing unless accounted for in settings associated with violence or harassment. This project contributes knowledge about schoolboys’ positionings with respect to masculine hegemony and sexual harassment. The analysis of pair interviews with 22 participating boys, aged 14–16, suggests three ways in which they relate to the topic. With respect to the discursive patterns labelled equal boy and let-go boy, gender issues are competently expressed and these two patterns convey knowledge about the power that the gender culture exercises. These two discursive patterns also suggest a proficient way of taking the gender order into account to fit in with the peer group. Nevertheless, the third pattern, labelled the dominant boy, suggests settings when a traditional masculinity culture exercises power. We conclude that discussions on situations where different discursive patterns are overt would facilitate a shift towards gender equal discourses with less risk of sexual harassment.