Mark McCormack: The Declining Significance of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality

Excerpt

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. The book’s primary thesis—that homophobia appears to be losing its grip as a central means by which heterosexual teenage boys construct and maintain their sense of masculinity—is one which is certain to stimulate debate. It is an argument that requires a great deal of scrutiny, especially given that this position seems to run contrary both popular perception and much academic work of recent decades. However, underpinned by an intelligent analysis of incredibly insightful, original empirical evidence derived from ethnographic study of three very different high schools in the UK, 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. For these reasons, this text is very much the definition of a welcome contribution. …