Page 132 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 132
šolsko polje, letnik xxxi, številka 5–6
in British public schools are linked with the image of hyper-masculinity,
which is related to the effects of racial stereotypes about black people and
their sexuality. Therefore, the assumptions about young black boys were
“already there”, and these boys are appreciated and admired by their peers
due to their apparent hyper- and heterosexuality, rebellious style and au-
dacity. As black and poor immigrants, they are on one hand marginalised
and subordinate in the school culture and wider British society, while on
the other they are appreciated and admired within the teenage peer cul-
ture because they appear “manly”, rebellious and they resist the school dis-
ciplining. The demonstration of masculinity in the form of hypersexual-
ity, the rebellious style and risky behaviour thus becomes a strategy for
reducing their existing social marginalisation and represents the mini-
mum space of power that enables boys from deprivileged ethnic and class
positions to acquire a peer status that brings respect.
This interpretive framework can be used in the analysis of ethnicised
teenagers in Slovenia and the popularity among them of the “famous” blue
tracksuit with a white stripe down the side that some years ago marked
the “balkanised masculinity”. Interviews show that the immigrants of the
first and second generation from former Yugoslavia are not marginalised
and excluded among their Slovenian peers, as would be expected, but the
opposite; they are popular as the carriers of the “čefur culture” which is ex-
pressed in a specific style of clothing, behaving, talking and music. Our
interviews show that some boys of the majority and dominant Slovenian
ethnicity strive to achieve this specific style of clothing, behaving and
talking, which may be explained by the ethnicised and culturalised way
of popular boyishness or masculinity. Immigrants from the countries of
former Yugoslavia are balkanised and ethnicised as well as constructed
as dominant patriarchal men, leisurely, careless, witty, good and passion-
ate football players and popular among girls. Compared to their peers be-
longing to the ethnic majority, also in Slovenia immigrant teenagers are
often economically disadvantaged and at the same time marginalised in
broader society, outside their peer group, because they belong to the eth-
nicised minority. Their great motivation to invest energy in playing foot-
ball can be understood not only as enjoyment in the game and sports but
also as an investment in football as a symbol of the hegemonic masculin-
ity, power and reputation that arises from this position. Therefore, im-
migrant boys are constructed as conforming to the norms of hegemonic
masculinity and as having certain qualities that establish them as popular
among peers of both genders. But what is important is that these are not
empirical characteristics, but the way members of the dominant ethnicity
themselves can ethnicise and construct the immigrant “other” in relation
130
in British public schools are linked with the image of hyper-masculinity,
which is related to the effects of racial stereotypes about black people and
their sexuality. Therefore, the assumptions about young black boys were
“already there”, and these boys are appreciated and admired by their peers
due to their apparent hyper- and heterosexuality, rebellious style and au-
dacity. As black and poor immigrants, they are on one hand marginalised
and subordinate in the school culture and wider British society, while on
the other they are appreciated and admired within the teenage peer cul-
ture because they appear “manly”, rebellious and they resist the school dis-
ciplining. The demonstration of masculinity in the form of hypersexual-
ity, the rebellious style and risky behaviour thus becomes a strategy for
reducing their existing social marginalisation and represents the mini-
mum space of power that enables boys from deprivileged ethnic and class
positions to acquire a peer status that brings respect.
This interpretive framework can be used in the analysis of ethnicised
teenagers in Slovenia and the popularity among them of the “famous” blue
tracksuit with a white stripe down the side that some years ago marked
the “balkanised masculinity”. Interviews show that the immigrants of the
first and second generation from former Yugoslavia are not marginalised
and excluded among their Slovenian peers, as would be expected, but the
opposite; they are popular as the carriers of the “čefur culture” which is ex-
pressed in a specific style of clothing, behaving, talking and music. Our
interviews show that some boys of the majority and dominant Slovenian
ethnicity strive to achieve this specific style of clothing, behaving and
talking, which may be explained by the ethnicised and culturalised way
of popular boyishness or masculinity. Immigrants from the countries of
former Yugoslavia are balkanised and ethnicised as well as constructed
as dominant patriarchal men, leisurely, careless, witty, good and passion-
ate football players and popular among girls. Compared to their peers be-
longing to the ethnic majority, also in Slovenia immigrant teenagers are
often economically disadvantaged and at the same time marginalised in
broader society, outside their peer group, because they belong to the eth-
nicised minority. Their great motivation to invest energy in playing foot-
ball can be understood not only as enjoyment in the game and sports but
also as an investment in football as a symbol of the hegemonic masculin-
ity, power and reputation that arises from this position. Therefore, im-
migrant boys are constructed as conforming to the norms of hegemonic
masculinity and as having certain qualities that establish them as popular
among peers of both genders. But what is important is that these are not
empirical characteristics, but the way members of the dominant ethnicity
themselves can ethnicise and construct the immigrant “other” in relation
130
