Masculinity, Class, and Labor in Nayak's "Boyz to Men"

Introduction and Study Overview

Anoop Nayak's 2003 sociological study Boyz to Men: Masculinities, Schooling and Labour Transitions in De-Industrial Times examines the adaptation — or lack thereof — of a representative group of working-class British young men to a changing labor economy. Life in Britain has been profoundly altered by shifts in class structure, including a dearth of stable factory jobs and a shift toward "service sector economies, part-time work, fixed-term contracts and more 'flexible' patterns of labour" (Nayak 2003: 148). The study focuses specifically on the Northeast of England and details a distinctly male experience both inside and outside of school.

The perspective adopted is that of social constructivism, which seeks to understand how subjects interpret their own experiences in a social context and then situates those experiences within a wider cultural framework of interpretation that operates on many levels. The Northeast region was historically an industrialized area, but has not benefited from Thatcherism or globalization in the way other parts of Britain have (Nayak 2003: 149).

Social Constructivism and Ethnographic Method

According to Nayak: "An in-depth and multi-textured analysis of masculinities is now better served by also accounting for young men's multiple relationships to the family, locality, peers and changing labour market in global times. To develop such perspectives this study will utilise ethnographic methods including the use of history, familial biographies, semi-structured interviews and 'thick' description of people and place" (Nayak 2003: 148). Nayak draws on socially significant symbols such as football and manual labor, as well as significant locations such as pubs, to provide insight into the young men's world.

The researcher was particularly concerned that previous analyses of working-class boys' behavior tended to focus on their failures in school rather than attempting to understand them within a wider framework. By focusing on the relatively narrow venue of school, the boys' full experiential lives did not receive adequate treatment, and it was too easy to fall into the trap of seeing the young men simply as "failing" youths. As Nayak argues: "Researching young men's subjectivities within and beyond school walls allowed for a multidimensional, and ultimately more intimate portrait of their masculinities to emerge" (Nayak 2003: 149). Examining the young men's wider social environment better contextualizes their life experiences — including their tendency to de-emphasize scholastic achievement — rather than merely problematizing it.

Masculinity, Identity, and the Changing Labor Market

The research was gender-specific in nature, examining how the "feminization" of the job market affected this group of working-class males. Historically, males were positioned as the primary breadwinners within working-class culture. In the new IT-driven economy, however, computer skills proved to be far more valuable vocational attributes and a primary source of employment for women. Women, who lacked many of the male inhibitions around selecting white-collar work, thrived in contrast to their male counterparts. The unemployment rate for men compared to women was nearly double in 1996 in the region (Nayak 2003: 150).

This disparity illustrates how deindustrialization challenged the conventional social structures of gendered labor relations. Yet rather than prompting men to view desk work in a more masculine light because of its job prospects, many men clung to the value of manual labor over white-collar work, despite the growing scarcity of such employment. This decision might seem inexplicable to an outsider, but Nayak's social constructivist perspective reveals how this ideology is "constructed," even when it is economically disadvantageous.

The 'Real Geordie' Subculture and Schooling

The ethnography focused on a specific group of white, working-class youths with a strong family tradition of manual labor. Most of them aspired to enter trades or to join the businesses of their fathers, which catered to working-class men — in one case, a pub. The study drew a direct link between the boys' sense of regional and class identity and their attitudes toward education (Nayak 2003: 151). Implied throughout the analysis is that the boys' attitudes made it difficult for them to adapt to changing times, despite their youth. As Nayak observes: "The Real Geordies promoted the values of a muscular puritan work ethic (honesty, loyalty, self-sufficiency, 'a fair day's work for a fair day's pay') in a situation where manual unemployment was now the norm" (Nayak 2003: 151).

Hard work rather than higher education was seen as preferable, and none of the boys seemed to wish to leave the region of their birth despite its economic difficulties. Mental labor — even when it promised to be easier and more lucrative — was viewed as a "cop-out" and inauthentic. To engage in such work would represent a denial of the boys' identity, their circle of friends, and the pursuits they had adopted since adolescence. Cultural pressures and the symbolic language of Geordie subculture led the boys toward what might appear to be a self-defeating life path.

Nayak is careful to note that the boys are not "lazy" in the sense that they do value hard work; however, they do not appear able to channel that value into foresight and planning about the future. Instead, they spend their earnings on "clothes, drink, music, football... living for the weekend" (Nayak 2003: 152). Even their self-description as "Real Geordies" — referring to their regional identity, ethnicity, and class — is somewhat archaic, since the term was originally a synonym for "pit worker." The word "real" also implies the existence of inauthentic people among them, suggesting that male authenticity is something fragile that must be actively preserved.

The notion of "thick description" is evident in Nayak's analysis of behavior that casual observers might dismiss as laziness. Rather than applying the judgments of outsiders — who equate school success with hard work and enterprise — Nayak attempts to understand the boys' world on its own terms. This interpretive approach helps explain seemingly inexplicable behavior, such as one boy's refusal to travel two bus routes away from his local area for an apprenticeship. The transient nature of many technology firms was also a deterrent for locals who valued stability and consistency above all else. Fear of change appeared to keep the boys in a state of suspended animation: they recognized that their fathers' way of life was no longer tenable, yet the threat of the "new" — new industries, new loyalties, new people — made them reluctant to surrender their identity as "Real Geordies."

Bibliography

Nayak, Anoop. 2003. 'Boyz to Men': Masculinities, Schooling and Labour Transitions in De-Industrial Times. Educational Review, 55(2): 147–158.