The main proposition in this paper is that different masculinities are produced through
performances that draw on the different cultural resources that are available in each
setting. I argue that the construction of masculinity is inextricably linked to the
acquisition of status within the peer group, and I outline the specific series of resources
and strategies that the boys draw on and use in each setting to achieve this. Different
meanings and practices create a series of ‘storylines and repertoires of action’ (Gilbert &
Gilbert, 1998, p. 51), and a different array of resources to draw on, and while some of
these may be similar at each school, others will be unique to each setting. The result of
this means that there are a different set of options and/or opportunities within each setting
to do boy, and I have classified these as being either open (possible), restricted (more
difficult), or closed (almost impossible). The objective of this paper is to contribute to
the growing understanding of emerging masculinities. Although writers such as Connell
(1998, p.5) write that masculinities ‘are actively produced, using the resources and
strategies available in a given milieu’, there is little existing work on the delineation of
the specific resources that boys draw on in the school setting. Although the terms
‘resource’ and ‘strategy’ tend to be conflated, I am referring to resources as the type of
capital, or stock, that the boys are able to draw on, and strategies as the processes that the
boys use to apply them. In other words, resources are about the ‘what’ and strategies
about the ‘how.

Background and methodology

The findings and analysis in this paper are based on my doctoral research (Swain, 2001)
which explored the construction of masculinity in the junior school. This was an
empirical study set in three co-educational junior schools which were differentiated on
the basis of the social characteristics of their intake (see Table 1). The schools were
situated in or around Greater London, and the research took place between September
1998 and July 1999. All the names of people and places have been changed

TABLE I GOES ABOUT HERE

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