Normative gender discourses configuring masculinities in the school space

Abstract

The article analyzes how the vision of a “normal / natural” masculinity imposes processes of normalization from gender discourses produced and reproduced in the school space to the multiple references of masculinities experienced in that space. It is characterized by a qualitative approach, with its theoretical and conceptual support in post-structuralist studies and queer theory, with bibliographic study, participant observation, informal conversation and semi-structured interview as methodological instruments. The research was carried out in a state full-time high school in the city of Bacabeira-MA and shows that the school space is crossed by several gender discourses that are acting in the process of normalizing the multiple references of masculinities. It is concluded that the view regarding the existence of a “normal / natural” masculinity still imposes normalization processes in the school space to references of masculinities that do not follow normative gender standards.