Post 4: Performing Gender Identity: Young Men's Talk and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity

The author Deborah Cameron argues that it is unhelpful and misleading that analysts and conversationalists use generic methods or models to imply that gendered speech is so generic that it is rather easy to notice the difference of masculinity and femininity in speech by what topics are spoken between the people. Cameron references an essay by Judith Butler that goes on to state that gender is a performance that must be shown repeatedly and daily to the culture and seen as a norm. This was interesting because when you see people in public that do not fit the cultural norm such as homosexual males who dress or behave more like women you assume they are homosexual males, thus them performing that identity of being feminine to society. Cameron then references a conversation between four white college 21 year old males. The conversation was assumed to be about women, wine, and sports, but it changes into something not normal, gossip on other males within their classes and calling them "gay". "Gay" was not used in the homosexual context since the males were heterosexual but instead used in a way that did not meet the standards of being masculine. The men then went on to talk about the appearance of males, their clothing, physical looks, and the way they talked. This was interesting because it was nothing like the title of wine, women, and sports, but rather showcasing some common conversation of what women would have; that being called gossiping. I think the men talking about other men is really out of norm for the men, and they should be labeled as "gay", but they most likely would not see it that way because they justify their "gay" observations with the onslaught of insults for those men they made observations about. These men did gossip and did it in a context seen as feminine, but covered it up.

The way the young men talked was interesting as well with one always trying to be the leader of the conversation. Cameron stated that it was mainly between two males and whenever an opening came up one would try to take the opening and run with it. The word "like" was a opening because it created the pause for allowing the opening. Lastly, Cameron states that men disguise gossip as something else and do not gossip when women are present, because they can differentiate themselves from "gossiping women", but since there were no women in the group of males the men did gossip. That was interesting because the males did not need to reassert the notion of their masculinity to each other, but they do it a form of everyone agreeing with each other (cooperative element) when it came to calling people not present "gay", I think since each one the males agreed on that part they all reestablished their heterosexuality.