‘Having a Laugh, Having a Fight’: masculinity and the conflicting needs of the self in Design and Technology

Abstract

This paper explores the interactional work of four 13‐year‐old boys in the secondary classroom. It suggests that the masculinities for which these boys work are powerfully referenced by a hegemonic masculine ideal which celebrates ‘autonomy’ as the individualised rejection of dependence in relationships in school. Tensions exist, for these boys, between this ‘ideal’, and the conflicting needs of collective student identities. These tensions are played out in the ‘fighting’ interactions between boys, and it is argued that the requirement to interact in this way is a constituent part of the dominant masculine identity of ‘lad’ in the school studied. This is related to broader changes in available masculine social texts and social practice.