|
Julia: |
[...] It’s just that they’re more...trendy |
|
JS: |
Modern, trendy? Trendy in what way then? |
|
Julia: |
Like, they wear the clothes, they talk like how everyone talks and |
|
Fiona: |
And ‘cos Richard and CT are really, like, hip and cool, like |
|
JS: |
Right, in what way are they hip and cool? |
|
Julia: |
All the new PlayStation games...the new computers, things like |
|
JS: |
So they’re up with the latest kind of trends? |
|
Julia: |
Yeah |
The point is not so much whether these things were actually all true but that they were
thought to be true, for their power and influence derived from their effect, and from what
they were perceived to mean and stand for. The fact that, for instance, Gavin and Andre
wore a popular make of trainers was not even noticed by some of the boys in the
interviews. When Denis deliberately broke a toilet window it was regarded as being
‘naughty’, and rather wild whereas, I have the suspicion, that if one of the leading boys in
the class had done such a thing they would have been thought of, by some of the others at
least, as being a hero of counter school resistance.
Westmoor Abbey
The subordinated boys at Westmoor Abbey experienced far greater levels of abuse than
at the other two schools. Levels of verbal and physical bullying were high and
homophobia was prevalent throughout the peer group culture. There was virtually no
resistance to the hegemonic pattern, (at least in class 6M) and all the boys practised a
type of the dominant masculinity but to a greater or lesser degree. There were only three
boys in class 6M who experienced ongoing subordination and Emlyn only joined the
class in March. Emlyn found it difficult to form friendships and was widely disparaged.
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