Gender nonconformity and academic performance in school settings

Femininity/Masculinity and Physical Activity

Masculinity, Femininity, and Expectations:

The Result of Non-Conforming

In a society at any given time, there are preconceptions about what being feminine or being masculine (i.e., being a female or being a male). In this regard, a society holds that certain ideas, behaviors, activities, and so on are "right" for a person of a specific gender. This hegemonic masculinity/femininity notion often causes problems for people, young people especially who do not immediately fit the mold. Nonconforming to the expected ideas of what "being a female" or "being a male" can cause social, psychological, and sometimes even physical problems for people in terms school, their bodies and identities, health, and sports.

Physical Education

Physical education in school can be seen as one of the biggest problem areas for young people if they do not conform to normative notions of masculinity and femininity. In addition to identity issues, non-conforming can cause students in physical education classes to both be expected to perform different tasks based on gender and to perform at different levels because of their conformity or non-conformity.

One example of the problems that can arise as a result of notions of hegemonic masculinity and femininity in physical education is the expectation that males will perform in different areas than females. Males are expected to exhibit the characters that are associated with masculinity. That is, they are expected to be assertive, muscular, aggressive, competitive, and hard. They are not expected to do "female" activities when in physical education, such as dancing. Indeed, according to Gard, when asked to dance, male students are often opposed to the idea and even gloat at their inability to move in certain ways (i.e., dance). For many, dance is not just another physical activity. It is a gendered activity that requires certain characteristics to perform it (as is the case with most physical activities). Males are not expected to be, for example, graceful, delicate, or smooth, and being these things could compromise their masculinity (and, thereby, compromise their heterosexuality). Different movements have different gendered expectations (e.g., body contact vs. no body contact, violent vs. non-violent), and in performing these movements, individuals are embodying, replicating, and perpetuating these expectations, both good and bad.

Sport

However, it has also been found that females do not tend to do well in physical education practices that are conceived of as "male terrain (i.e., sports-based practices)" (Assurito & Solmon, 2009, p. 185). Sport is seen as a male area, and is, in some ways, similar to physical education. It uses the physical body in similar ways, but sport is also different. It has its own rules of governance and set of expectations. Non-conforming in this area could have implications not just for "sports" but also for other social areas.

One example would that of female athletes. Female athletes not only have to conform within the sport, but they also have to manage their bodies and behaviors in such a way as to conform outside of the sport. For society, female athletes are often considered oxymoronically. Being an athlete is almost synonymous with being a male, and surely caries most of the attributes of masculinity. For example, athletes are sweaty, tough, muscular, and aggressive. These descriptors are never applied to femininity. For females to be athletes, then, they must be both feminine and masculine (athletic). Indeed, "through history women's entrance into this masculine domain of sorts has been carefully monitored by claims that the athletic female body is…a gender-deviant, freakish body" (Adams, Schmitke, Franklin, 2005, p. 19). Sports, however, has many positive benefits (e.g., decreased alcohol use, better grades), but many females do not partake in sports because it is considered "masculine." Further, those who do must carefully manager their image and, often, must hyper-feminize themselves. Females who play sports must form to the expectations of femininity in other ways unless they want to be labeled as homosexual. They must flaunt their (hetero)sexuality with things like short shorts and long hair. Without make-up, jewelry, or other "girly girl" things, female athletes' sexuality is often called into question (after all, for many, "unnatural" is homosexual). Female athletes, though, must also be able to be taken seriously as athletes, and the "girly girl" image seems to contradict their efforts. Those who do conform are not taken seriously; those who do not conform are labeled as lesbians. However, they can manage this by being "tomboys," girls who dress more like boys but still like and hang around boys. However, it must still be noted that femininity is identified as heterosexuality in this way.

Males have similar but opposite issues when it comes to sports. If a man wants to be perceived as masculine, sports is often the expected arena for that display or achievement. This might be because "sports is the most masculine, male-identified institution in the United States" (p. 18). It exemplifies masculinity and maleness -- "competiveness, strength, aggressiveness, instrumentality, and often violence" (Schacht, 1996, p. 550). It illustrates how females are socially constructed as inferior while males are superior. If a male does not excel at sports, he is almost automatically deemed inferior. A male who is not good at sports (i.e., in some this way, is not masculine) is often called a "pussy," a "bitch," or a "fag," which reiterates his place among the inferior: the feminine, the female.

Health

Health is another area where non-conforming to hegemonic masculinity/femininity can cause problems. It is common knowledge that not living up to society's expectations of health (which is often synonymous with beauty) can cause psychological health issues, such as low self-esteem, poor body image, and depression, especially in females. Not being "feminine," that is thin, dainty, smooth, and so on, can take serious tolls on one's psychological well-being. Not being "healthy" can used as a signal by society of one's moral character and value as a person (Wright, O'Flynn, & Macdonald, 2006). In this way, conformity can actually also problematic. It causes females to compromise their health by taking up very restrictive diets to be model thin (which could lead to other psychological health issues, such as anorexia or bulimia). Being overweight (which in many cases is one of the only measures applied to determine healthiness) is thought by many women to be a case of "eating too much food and/or not doing enough exercise" (p. 711).

Males face similar problems to females, but in a different way. If a man is not active and physically fit, he is not "healthy." While he does not have to have the restrictive diet of a female, he is still judged on his moral character by his level of health. Non-conforming signals that he is lazy and does not care about himself as much as someone who does conform. Being healthy is part of a conforming male's identity because it is synonymous with physical activity (which we have seen before through sport and physical education is a defining characteristic of masculinity).

Bodies and Identities

Throughout most of the previous topics, Physical Education, Sport, and Health, the body has remained a central issue or theme. It is through the body that activity is done and health is displayed. It is with the body that masculinity and femininity are displayed for the most part. Looking the part, acting the part, and doing the part are all components of being "masculine" or being "feminine" and are all done with the body. This is mostly because of the association between being biologically male (or female), of the male (or female) gender, and being masculine (or feminine). Therefore, one's body has ramifications for one's identity, masculinity, or femininity.

How a person looks is often an important part of who that person thinks he/she is. The visual (the body) has become symbolic of identity, and how we look signals a lot about us, such as our socioeconomic status or our group affiliations (Frost, 2003). For example, for males, looking "cool" (wearing certain types of clothes, keeping the hair a certain way) helps to define and identify their masculinity (such as keeping a "bad boy" image or helping them to "score"). Not looking a certain way puts one in an excluded category; it creates detrimental social isolation and alienation.

Males are expected to look masculine; that is, he is supposed to be sporty (i.e., have an athletic body) and cool (e.g., wear "in" clothes), and if they do not, their "power, control and sexual desirability" (p. 63) are compromised. Further, the most desirable male is black or white (which has become associated with masculinity). If one is, for example, Korean, he is seen as weak, lacking muscle, and, therefore, feminine. In this way, even ethnicity (or handicap) can be used as non-conformity to hegemonic masculinity and identify a person as non-masculine. In as similar fashion, females who do not look like thin, (middle class) white girls, according to Frost, are not exuding the traits of femininity. Much of one's identity is bound up in the body, such much so that non-conforming could lead to serious issues, from poor health to identity crises to even suicide.

Conclusion

Society has its prescripts about what it means to masculine and feminine, and the two seems to be (but do not have to be) binary opposites. While society's views are changing (especially with respect to what femininity is), there are still views that say there is a "right" way to be feminine or masculine. These notions are not seen to be on a continuum, and those who do fall closer to the middle of that continuum are caused problems by the hegemonic masculinity/femininity beliefs. While there are ways, e.g., for a female to negotiate herself as feminine while doing something masculine (like sports), there are nonetheless problems that arise from not conforming (including the need for negotiation itself). These problems arise almost everywhere, from bodies and images, to scholastic and physical performance, to health, and will continue to arise while society readjusts its views, expectations, and dialogues.