Male Development in Young Adult Novels: Mapping the Intersections Between Masculinity, Fatal Illness, Male Queerness, and Brotherhood Ruth Nelson Hamline University

Hamline University DigitalCommons@Hamline Departmental Honors Projects College of Liberal Arts Summer 2015 Male Development in Young Adult Novels: Mapping the Intersections Between Masculinity, Fatal Illness, Male Queerness, and Brotherhood Ruth Nelson Hamline University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/dhp Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Fiction Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, and the Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons Recommended Citation Nelson, Ruth, "Male Development in Young Adult Novels: Mapping the Intersections Between Masculinity, Fatal Illness, Male Queerness, and Brotherhood" (2015). Departmental Honors Projects. 41. https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/dhp/41 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Liberal Arts at DigitalCommons@Hamline. It has been accepted for inclusion in Departmental Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Hamline. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Nelson 1 Male Development in Young Adult Novels: Mapping the Intersections of Masculinity, Fatal Illness, Male Queerness, and Brotherhood Ruth Nelson An Honors Thesis Submitted for partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with honors in English from Hamline University 28 August 2015 Nelson 2 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..4 Chapter One……………………………………………………………………………………...15 “A Pitiful Boy Who Desperately Wanted Not to Be Pitiful”: Masculinity and Sexuality in Young Adult Cancer Novels Chapter Two……………………………………………………………………………………...49 Freak, Loner, Revolutionary: Masculinity and Gender Roles in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction with Gay Protagonists Chapter Three…………………………………………………………………………………….77 Brotherhood and Masculine Identity Development: The Role of Sibling Relationships When Masculinity is Threatened in Young Adult Literature Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...108 Threats to Masculinity, the Perpetuation of Heteronormativity, and Hope for Change in Young Adult Novels Primary Texts…………………………………………………………………………………...112 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………….113 Nelson 3 Abstract Since 2000, Young Adult (YA) literature has grown exponentially. The subgenres of cancer novels (teen “sick-lit”) and LGBTQ fiction, in particular, have experienced a recent surge in popularity. The novels in these subgenres that feature young men as the affected characters (diagnosed with cancer and/or identifying as gay or queer) are particularly interesting because of the threats that these experiences pose to heteronormative masculinity. Because this fiction is directed at an impressionable audience in the process of forming their identities, the novels’ representations of gender could have a strong influence over readers’ gender identity development. Researchers have begun exploring the subgenres of teen sick-lit and LGBTQ YA, but rarely through the lens of masculinity or gender identity development; in fact, the concept of masculinity is explored in-depth in only one literary critic’s analysis of an LGBTQ series. Given the lack of critical analyses on masculine gender representations in these two subgenres, as well as the threats to masculinity posed to characters within these narratives, there is a clear need for critical work examining gender representations in YA cancer novels and novels with gay protagonists. After analyzing a representative sample of these novels through the lens of sociological research on the significance of masculinity for young men negotiating a cancer diagnosis or gay identity, I observed the centrality of masculinity to the stories’ narratives and character development. I additionally observed the influence of sibling relationships on male protagonists’ gender identity development in both subgenres. Overall, cancer and gay-themed novels with male protagonists tended to reinforce heteronormative gender roles, unhealthy expectations of masculinity, and a rejection of femininity. However, many novels with gay protagonists did present alternative, somewhat feminized masculinities, and the settings of two novels provided models for societies that challenge gender boundaries. Sibling relationships, another largely unexamined aspect of YA novels, sometimes perpetuated problematic gender stereotypes, but siblings were mostly positive influences on protagonists’ gender identity development. Nelson 4 Introduction Young adult (YA) literature has become one of the most popular ‘genres’ available today; Michael Cart, a researcher of young adult literature, claims that 2000 marked the start of “the second golden age of young adult fiction,” as the turn of the millennium marked the point at which “the book world began marketing directly to teens” (Strickland). According to Cart, fantasy and dystopian series were a big part of the rapid growth of YA, particularly after the introduction of the Harry Potter series, but author and cognitive scientist Jennifer Lynn Barnes says that since then, “Contemporary standalones, or non-serials, have returned to the forefront as a lighter response to dark paranormal and dystopian series” (qtd. in Strickland). The growing popularity of young adult literature is particularly significant because of the potential these novels have to influence young readers1. In her article “Pushing the Envelope: Exploring Sexuality in Teen Literature,” Eleanor Wood cites the American Psychological Association’s finding that “literature is a valuable way for young adults to ‘try on different social masks’ in forming their identity.” She also references researcher Diane Emge’s assertion that “Experiences described in novels have profound influence on their teen readers–yet another reason to categorize them as ‘coming of age’ stories.” With this power to impact young adults’ identity formation, unique in its offer of close psychic relation to a protagonist’s own struggles 1 Young readers actually constitute a surprisingly low percentage of the readers of Young Adult novels: according to a Nielsen Market Research study cited in Melissa Dahl’s “The Dudes Who Read Young Adult Fiction,” only 20% of the readers are ages 13-17. Additionally, 60.5% of readers were females, while 39.5% were men. For this study, I am only considering the effects that gender role representations may have on young readers (under the age of 18), but it is possible that the effects may be similar for older age ranges. I also consider the effects of these representations of both male and female readers, though I am more concerned in my analysis with the influence on conceptions of masculinity for male readers. In reviewing these statistics, it is important to emphasize that the research did not take into account readers under 13, who likely make up a significant percentage of YA readership, and did not specify whether data was collected only on YA book purchasers (likely to skew numbers if adults purchase books for their children) or if more reliable research methods were employed. Nelson 5 with identity development, the presentation of gender identities in these texts has broader implications than simply entertaining young readers. Gender representations in young adult novels thus can give readers models to emulate as well as new perspectives on gender roles and expectations that, hopefully, take the shape of greater understanding of and empathy with others. The representations of gender in young adult novels, then, can have a significant impact on the way teenaged readers develop their own opinions on gender, standards for heteronormativity, and, perhaps most significantly, their own gender identities. During adolescence, when teenagers are engaging in a great deal of identity development work, gender roles and expectations become useful tools for establishing one’s identity in relation to others. Though dominant cultural gender roles are influential—and often harmful—to teens of any gender identity, adolescent men experience unique standards and expectations for their gender expressions, particularly in the context of high school. Sociologist and masculinity researcher C.J. Pascoe performed an intensive study on a California high school in her book Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. In the study, she explores the high expectations of masculinity for young men perpetuated in this high school’s culture, most prominently by the students themselves, and the effects these expectations have on teens of all genders, but especially on young men. Before analyzing these findings, however, Pascoe establishes important contexts for understandings of gender and masculinity in high school that carry over to my own research well because of the age group represented in these novels and targeted as the audience. She begins by attempting to define the term “masculinity,” a term that changes meaning across time and place. Pascoe emphasizes that masculinity cannot be defined as something so essentializing as behaviors enacted by biological males because “this definition conflates masculinity with the Nelson 6 actions of those who have male bodies. Defining masculinity as ‘what men do’ reifies biologized categories of male and female that are problematic and not necessarily discrete categories to begin with” (9). Instead, the concept of masculinity

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