Masculinity Beyond the Metropolis

Playing in the woods: youth, leisure and the performance of gender relations in rural Newfoundland

“…Here, rurality is constructed as consisting of regressive, premodern and backward communities (Jarosz and Lawson, 2002;Li Naoire, 2008) that offer youth 'nothing to do' and 'nowhere to go' (Kenway, Kraack and Hickey-Moody, 2006).…”

“…Jones, 1997Jones, , 2000Valentine 1997;2008), gender (i.e. Dunkely, 2004Kraack and Kenway, 2002, Kenway et al, 2006, Kenway and Kraack, 2009Leyshon, 2008;Tucker and Matthews, 2001), social class (i.e. Alston and Kent, 2009;McGrath, 2001;Rye, 2006), sexuality (Bell, 2000) and race (Hogan and Pursell, 2008).…”

“…In contrast, the adolescent or teen presence is constructed as 'anti-idyll' as their presence is thought to "introduce disquiet, crime and immorality" (Matthews, Limb and Taylor, 1999) into what appear to be otherwise harmonious and peaceful settings. Indeed, teenagers are "outsiders within" their own communities (Kraack and Kenway, 2006;Narin and Panelli, 2009), as they do not quite belong to the category 'childhood' nor 'adulthood'. The liminal status of teens as not entirely belonging within their communities, and not entirely being one age category or the other, represents a threat to both the adult/child binary and the rural idyll, a threat that manifests in adult/youth spatial struggles.…”

Full Issue

“…In former industrial spaces acceptable forms of working-class masculinities in particular are still often displayed through acts of physicality and male camaraderie, through contact sports, 'banter', sexual storytelling, the ability to drink large amounts of alcohol, expressing heterosexual desires and homophonic language and by studying certain educational subjects (Kehily & Nayak, 1997;Martino, 1999;McDowell, 2003;Martino & Pallotta-Chiarolli, 2003;Kenway et al 2006;Ingram 2009;Ward 2014aWard , 2014b). However, other recent studies conducted with young men both inside and outside school have illustrated that young men's identities can be quite fluid and complex, and that there are possibilities for constructing alternative masculinities which are not necessarily subordinated or oppressed (McCormack & Anderson, 2010;Roberts, 2013).…”

“…However, as Heward (1996, p. 41) has argued, a difficult question that arises when looking at changing masculinity is 'the extent to which individuals are constructed by their structural contexts and how far they can build alternative identities despite their stigma'. In this paper, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted with young men (aged [16][17][18] in a de-industrial community in South Wales (U.K), I build upon the existing work with young working-class men in de-industrial communities in the U.K, Australia and the US (Nayak 2003;Kenway et al 2006;Morris, 2012). Through a detailed case study of one young man called Jimmy, and his transitions through post-compulsory education, I explore how the challenges of working hard academically and aiming to be a successful athlete, are simultaneously met with other pressures to achieve a socially valued form of masculinity through engaging in risky leisure pleasures, such as drinking large amounts of alcohol.…”