Passing Masculinities at Boy Scout Camp
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PASSING MASCULINITIES AT BOY SCOUT CAMP Patrick Duane Vrooman A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2007 Committee: Joe Austin, Advisor Melissa Miller Graduate Faculty Representative Ellen Berry Jay Mechling ii ABSTRACT Joe Austin, Advisor This study examines the folklore produced by the Boy Scout summer camp staff members at Camp Lakota during the summers of 2002 and 2003, including songs, skits, and stories performed both in front of campers as well as “behind the scenes.” I argue that this particular subgroup within the Boy Scouts of America orders and passes on a particular constellation of masculinities to the younger Scouts through folklore while the staff are simultaneously attempting to pass as masculine themselves. The complexities of this situation—trying to pass on what one has not fully acquired, and thus must only pass as—result in an ordering of masculinities which includes performances of what I call taking a pass on received masculinities. The way that summer camp staff members cope with their precarious situation is by becoming tradition creators and bearers, that is, by acquiescing to their position in the hegemonizing process. It is my contention that hegemonic hetero-patriarchal masculinity is maintained by partially ordered subjects who engage in rather complex passings with various masculinities. iii Dedicated to the memory of my Grandpa, H. Stanley Vrooman For getting our family into the Scouting movement, and For recognizing that I “must be pretty damn stupid, having to go to school all those years.” iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I never knew how many people it would take to write a book! I always thought that writing was a solitary act. And yes, I did isolate myself upstairs in my uniquely ordered office to do the writing part of this dissertation. Writing has mostly been solitary—except for our cats Amos sitting on his haunches on my lap, front paws at the keyboard, with Ani laying on the papers I was trying to read. But there has been quite a bit more labor put into this dissertation than just my writing. In support of Edward Lorenz’s “butterfly effect,” hundreds upon hundreds of butterflies flapped their wings for this tornado to take wind. I feel responsible to the thousands of Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and hundreds of staff members that I have worked with over the past 20 years at Camp Lakota (Defiance, OH), Miakonda (Sylvania, OH), Pioneer (Idanha, OR), and Berry (Findlay, OH). I am especially thankful to the Camp Lakota camp staff members from 2002 and 2003 who participated in this study, as well as Bonnie, Jeannie, Matt, Cory, Baby Heuy, the Doctors, Troy, Gary and Kathi, Sean, Andrei, Dani, Kate, Dave, Will, Sean and Andy, Chris, Randall, Christine, Roger, Pat and Chelle, Bud, Bob, and Doug and Cindy—to name a few who directly influenced this dissertation. They offered me and collaborated with me to create experiences and a vast array of “whos”— which are the bedrock of my own identity and the cornerstone of this dissertation. I give deep and profound thanks to those guides along the path to the ideas, theories, methodologies, and inquiries contained herein: Nancy Warr, Patrice Caldwell, AnnLouise Keating, Penny Stewart-Fawcett, Jack Williamson, Bill Hawk, Jan Frost, and Nico Cameron from Eastern New Mexico University; Barry Toelken, Steve Siporin, Jeannie Thomas, Randy Williams, and the late and truly great Lynn Meeks from Utah State University; and Jack Santino, Lucy Long, Don McQuarie, and Rachel Buff from Bowling Green State University. And of course, my committee members who influenced me long before this project took shape and saw v me through a number of drafts to the very end: Thank you, Joe Austin, Jay Mechling, Ellen Berry, and Melissa Miller. They generously lugged drafts around, offered insightful inquiry and further reading, propped up my waning confidence when I got lost in so many words, and provided unwavering enthusiasm and support for who I was trying to become by doing this work. I am extremely grateful for the support, encouragement, and space that was opened up by Kathy Farber of BGSU’s Partnerships for Community Action and Bill Armaline of BGSU’s Center for Innovative and Transformative Education. Kathy led me to places I never would have gone by myself, but her guidance led me to some of the best work in this dissertation. And then there are the friends and colleagues who walked shoulder to shoulder with me: Julanne, Jane, and the members of The Table at ENMU, including Chuck, Kacey, and Kevin (and Becky) Condas; my fourth-floor friends at USU: Charles (and Dina) Cuthbertson, Circe Chamberlain, Heather Williams, Jake Shewmake, Star (and Mitch) Coulbrooke, Randy Jasmine, and Chris Okelberry; the Myles’ Pizza cabal at BGSU—Davin Heckman, Tim Lake, and Marilyn Yaquinto; along with Krista and Steve Kiessling, Michelle Longest, and the whole cohort that started in 2000—what an amazing group! Their humor, arguments, generosity, insight, and love have sustained me along the journey. I received much-appreciated support and encouragement from the folks at the Black Swamp Area Council, Boy Scouts of America—both from the professional and the volunteer side. Admittedly, during the three years I was employed with the Council, I did relatively little writing, but my time there was instrumental to the depth and completion of this project. Special thanks to Brent Bowman, Curt Brookhart, and Chris Crawford for the Key Four meetings which were the best Scout meetings I have ever been in; to Ed Murphy who kept on me about completing the dissertation; and to the rangers and their families who kept me sane. Thank you, Denny, Roger, and Brent for allowing me to do this research. I am not sure this dissertation was vi what they were expecting: it certainly was not what I was expecting, but it does reflect a deep respect for them and the organization. Financial support for this research came from two sources who thought it would be money well-spent to support my work. They will remain respectfully unnamed, but you and I know who you are. I was deeply honored by your out-of-pocket support, and I hope this product meets your expectations. And to all my relations and friends who did not hear from me for long periods of time while I worked on this dissertation. Some have been patient, some have been relentless, and some I fear I have lost as these pages piled up. To my family: Thank you, Mom and Dad (Barbara and David Vrooman) for getting me into this thing called Boy Scout summer camp, and for supporting me along the way, including working on staff when I really needed the help. And thanks as well to my brothers and sisters-in- laws for your insights, questions, anchoring, role model, and encouragement. And certainly the most thanks goes to Amanda—who married me amidst this work, who joined me on staff and in Scouting, who would not let me quit on this dissertation (though she repeatedly refused to write it for me), who put off her own interests, and who took care of us. The completion of this dissertation is all your fault, and I thank you for that. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF PASSING MASCULINITIES AT BOY SCOUT CAMP ............................................................................................................ 1 Prequel: Whence It All Began.................................................................................... 1 Situating Myself in This Study: Personal and Historical Provocations ..................... 4 My Ideological Genealogy............................................................................. 7 My Gripe with Youth Studies: Where’s the Youth?...................................... 10 My Gripe with Boyhood Studies: Wrong Premise ........................................ 13 Statement of Thesis.................................................................................................... 14 Ontological and Epistemological Considerations...................................................... 14 There Is No Sub-Culture or Counter-Hegemony; Instead, There are Only Cultures and Hegemonies .............................................................................. 15 Critical Mass Approach to Explaining Culture Should Be Usurped by an “Organism” Approach.................................................................................... 21 Culture Is Ordering ........................................................................................ 25 Research Questions.................................................................................................... 30 Big Ideas and Potential Significance.......................................................................... 33 For the Academic........................................................................................... 33 Masculinity......................................................................................... 33 Hegemony .......................................................................................... 36 Resistance .......................................................................................... 39 Passing ............................................................................................... 41 For the Scout and Staffer ............................................................................... 43 viii Method and Methodology of a Qualitative Study.....................................................