Rough Flight: Boys Fleeing the Feminine in Young Adult Literature

From Catcher in the Rye to Hatchet to Harry Potter, many young adult novels focus on the coming of age stories of male protagonists. Numerous books and articles have been written, mostly in the last fifteen years, about representations of masculinity in young adult literature. For example, Hollindale (1988) discusses the patriarchal ideology inherent in many novels, while Stephens (2002), as well as Bereska (2003), address boys' gender constructs in children's literature. Scholars centering their attention on boys and the literary constructions of masculinity seem to agree that masculinity and manhood are traditionally defined by one's toughness, individuality, strength, and emotional reserve (Stephens, 2002; Connell, 2000; Pennell, 2002). While masculinity is not static-our definitions throughout history tend to shift-traditional ideas of masculinity remain entrenched in our literature, our media, and in our world. Though Nodelman (2002) notices how many young adult novels focus on the main protagonist, a young boy, "seeing through the conventional constructions of masculinity and learning to be more sensitive or more loving ... or less caught up in the pleasures of aggressive bullying" (11), few novels challenge the conventional constructions of masculinity. Instead, many young adult novels show how boys learn to navigate within these constructions in order to 'come of age.' In novels such as Louis Sachar's Holes (1998), Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War (1974), and William Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954), boys must accept the conventional constructions of masculinity and learn to master socially acceptable forms of male power. For the characters in these novels, masculinity, and essentially manhood, becomes what Kimmel (2004) calls a "relentless test" and a renunciation of the feminine (185). Moreover, Kimmel notes that the hegemonic, traditional definition of manhood is a "man in power, a man with power, and a man of power" (184). In fact, Kimmel claims, "We equate manhood with being strong, successful, capable, reliable, in control" (184).

The importance of this definition of masculinity is that it relies on the underlying assumption that being a man means being unlike a woman. Kimmel (2004) writes at length about the idea of masculinity as the "flight from the feminine" (185). In order to attain power-that is, to become masculine-Kimmel argues that boys must renounce the feminine influences around them and within themselves (186). When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger admonishes Republican opponents as "economic girlie men," (2004 Republican National Convention) he reminds us that the threat to men, not only boys, of being labeled feminine is vividly illustrated in our political as well as social culture. Reynaud (2004) adds to Kimmel's argument stating that in order to be fully masculine, man must establish dominance over and, metaphorically, kill off his feminine impulses and influences (144). Therefore, masculinity and manhood in these novels are defined by what they are not-soft, feminine. Thus, the portrayal of a boy coming of age, or at least maturing into a young adult, is signified by his acquisition of the gender constructions of a man-hard, competitive, and able to use his strength to attain respect and power. Moreover, men must flee from any feminine characteristics. This lifelong quest never ends; boys must prove they are men and men must continue to prove they are men.

Holes, The Chocolate War, and Lord of the Flies, demonstrate how these definitions and underlying assumptions about masculinity play out in young adult novels addressing readers of various ages. Although Lord of the Flies may not fit perfectly into commonly accepted definitions of young adult literature, its considerable presence in school curricula, its position adjacent to books like The Chocolate War, and its influence in informing teenage boys' concepts of masculinity cannot be ignored. Furthermore, these novels represent increasing complexities and maturity of similar masculine themes: coming of age, and more importantly, coming to terms with a gendered identity. In addition, these novels are widely read in middle and high school classrooms. In other words, boys and girls read these texts, and the textual portrayals of gender constructions affect, and perhaps influence, both.

Holes

Louis Sachar's Holes (1998) is a well-known favorite among both teachers and students, and its movie adaptation attests to its place on many young adolescent's reading lists. The movie version, however, alters many significant details relevant to a reading of masculinity. For example, in the film, Stanley is a young, good-looking, thin boy, which is contrary to Stanley's depiction in the novel, where he is portrayed as overweight and bullied at school by a boy smaller than he. Early in the story, we find Stanley paying for a crime he did not commit-or so it seems. Throughout most of the novel he blames his bad luck on his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great grandfather's" curse. But, Stanley's real crime is not being a man, or more to the point, exhibiting feminine characteristics. From the beginning, Stanley appears soft, flabby, and lacking agency. He passively accepts his fate. Sentenced to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile delinquency work camp, for stealing shoes, Stanley undergoes a series of tests before emerging harder, in control, and free from his grandfather's curse.