eleMENtary school ((Hyper)Masculinity in a feminized context)

"Scott Richardson gives us a finely detailed experiential account of how gender and teaching are woven together in public schools. Through his own memories and the narrativized experiences of his research subjects, Richardson demonstrates both the institutional benefits associated with being male and the fragility of masculinity. Membership in the “Boys’ Club” of hypermasculinity requires constant checking, surveillance, and choices that fit within the narrow range of dominant masculinity (so well detailed by R. W. Connell). Richardson’s causal style parallels the ease with which men in leadership and teaching positions articulate their allegiance to gender norms and one another, and in effect, set critique of such gender norms above comment: it’s just the way things are done." - Cris Mayo, Associate Professor of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership & Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Faculty Director of the Odyssey Project; author of Disputing the Subject of Sex: Sexuality and Public School Controversies