Gender and school

I loved watching the Netflix series  Adolescence  and thought it was amazing television that carried some important messages with it. As a researcher who has been involved for the past few years in exploring the influences of schools, peer groups and social media on masculinity and femininity, it has been exciting to see the amount of attention that the series has drawn. With people talking about the program it feels like a great time for more research to be happening into adolescent gender constructions and performances (which is another way of talking about what it means, and what it’s like, to be a boy or a girl). There is some fascinating research around, and there is a fault somewhere that means that much of it is largely missed by the general public. So when something like  Adolescence  manages to get people thinking then that’s definitely a good thing. However, I would argue that a focus on incel culture, the influence of social media and the plight of young m...