Skip to main content

Irish Masculinities and Sexualities in England

  • Chapter
Sexualizing the Social

Part of the book series: Explorations in Sociology. ((EIS))

Abstract

This chapter explores the complex interplay between sexuality, ethnicity and masculinity. The main focus is the self-representation of young gay Irish men’s sex/gender formations in England. There is a particular concern with the diverse range of sexual identities that they come to inhabit. Key cultural sites include the experience of recent immigration, including the pervasive influence of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), their over-representation in specific labour markets, the support of extended family/kinship networks, and their involvement in church and pub/leisure activities. At the same time, the young men offer a critical account of hegemonic English masculinity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 59.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anthias, F. and Yuval-Davies, N. (with Cain, H.) (1993), Racialized Boundaries: Race, Nation, Gender, Colour and Class and the Anti-racist Struggle. (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnett, A. (1993), Radicalism, Anti-Racism and Representation (London: Routledge).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, C. and Rayment, T. (1993), ‘Irish Desert Britain for ’Good Life’ Overseas’, The Sunday Times, 21 November, p. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clifford, J. and Marcus, G. (eds) (1986), Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, P. (1987), Racism and Popular Culture: A Cultural Studies Approach, Working Paper no. 9, Centre for Multicultural Education (London: Institute of Education).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, P. (1988), ‘The Perversions of Inheritance’, in P. Cohen and H. S. Bains (eds) Multi-Racist Britain (London: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W. and Dowsett, G. W. (1992), “‘The Unclean Motion of the Generative Parts”: Frameworks on Western Thought on Sexuality’, in R. W. Connell and G. W. Dowsett (eds), Rethinking Sex: Social Theory and Sexuality Research (London: Melbourne University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, L. (1984), Nothing But the Same Old Story: The Roots of Anti-Irish Racism (London: Information on Ireland).

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B. (1993), Shards of Glass: Children Reading and Writing Beyond Gendered Identities (St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dollimore, J. (1991), Sexual Dissidence: Augustine to Wilde, Freud to Foucault (Oxford: Clarendon Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, C. (1989), Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics (London: Pandora).

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, D. (1993), Changing Classroom Cultures: Anti-racism, Politics and Schools (Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J. (1992), ‘A Short Paper about People, Power and Educational Reform. Authority and Representation in Ethnographic Research. Subjectivity, Ideology and Educational Reform: The Case of Physical Education’, in A. C. Sparkes (ed.), Research in Physical Education and Sport (London: Falmer Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanon, F. (1970), Black Skin, White Masks (London: Paladin).

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankenberg, R. (1993), White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1977), The History of Sexuality, vol. 1 (Harmondsworth: Penguin).

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenslade, L. (1992), ‘White Skins, White Masks: Psychological Distress and the Irish in Britain’, in P. O’Sullivan (ed.), The Irish in New Communities (Leicester: Leicester University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gribben, P. (1994), ‘Discrimination Study at Last’, The Irish Post, 29 January, p. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S. (1990), ‘Cultural Identity and Diaspora’, in J. Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture and Difference (London: Lawrence & Wishart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hazelkorn, E. (1990), Irish Immigrants Today: A Socio-Economic Profile of Contemporary Irish Emigrants and Immigrants in the UK, Irish Studies Centre Occasional Paper series No. 1 (London: Polytechnic of North London Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Henriques, J. (1984), ‘Social Psychology and the Politics of Racism’, in J. Henriques, W. Hollway, C. Urwin, C. Venn and V. Walkerdine (eds), Changing the Subject: Psychology, Social Regulation and Subjectivity (London: Methuen).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hickman, M. J. (ed.) (1986), The History of the Irish in Britain: A Bibliography (London: Irish in London History Centre).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollway, W. (1989), Subjectivity and Method in Psychology: Gender, Meaning and Science (London: Sage).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. A. (1963), The Irish in Britain (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul).

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, R. (1992), ‘Radical Education and the New Right’, in A. Rattansi and D. Reeder (eds), Rethinking Radical Education: Essays in Honour of Brian Simon (London: Lawrence & Wishart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Keane, F. (1994), ‘The Public Pain of Emmet Stagg’, The Sunday Tribune, 13 March, pp. A12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac an Ghaill, M. (1989), ‘Beyond the White Norm: The Use of Qualitative Methods in the Study of Black Youths’ Schooling in England’, Qualitative Studies in Education, 2: 3, pp. 175–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mac an Ghaill, M. (1994), The Making of Men: Masculinities, Sexualities and Schooling (Buckingham: Open University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac an Ghaill, M. (1994a), ‘(In)visibility: Sexuality, Race and Masculinity in the School Context’, in D. Epstein (ed.), Challenging Lesbian and Gay Inequalities in Education (Buckingham: Open University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac an Ghaill, M. (1994b), ‘The Making of Black Masculinities’, in H. Brod and M. Kaufman (eds), Theorizing Masculinities (London: Sage).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, C. (1990), Race and Curriculum (Lewes: Falmer Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, K. and Julien, I. (1988), ‘Race, Sexual Politics and Black Masculinity: A Dossier’, in J. Rutherford and R. Chapmen (eds), Male Order: Unwrapping Masculinity (London: Lawrence & Wishart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, R. (1993), Racism after ‘Race Relations’ (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, R. (1982), Racism and Migrant Labour (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nava, M. (1992), Changing Cultures: Feminism, Youth and Consumerism (London: Sage).

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Loughlin, E. (1994), ‘Cruising as Part of Culture’, The Irish Times, 11 March, p. 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, A., Russo, M., Sommer, D. and Yeager, P. (1992), Nationalisms and Sexualities (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pajaczkowska, C. and Young, L. (1992), ‘Racism, Representation and Psychoanalysis’, in J. Donald and A. Rattansi (eds), ’Race’, Culture and Difference (Milon Keynes: Sage/Open University Press), pp. 11–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramazanaglu, C. (1989), Feminism and the Contradictions of Oppression (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Redman, P. (1994), ‘Shifting Ground: Rethinking Sexuality Education’, in D. Epstein (ed.), Challenging Gay and Lesbian Inequalities in Education (Buckingham: Open University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, K. (1994), ‘Moving Hearts and Changing Minds: Lifting a Burden from Gay Men’, The Irish Reporter, 14: pp. 16–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutherford, J. (1990), ‘A Place called Home: Identity and the Cultural Politics of Difference’, in J. Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture and Difference (London: Lawrence & Wishart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Smyth, J. (1993), ‘Nationalist Nightmares and Postmodernist Utopias: Irish Society in Transition’, History of Education Ideas, 16: 1–3, pp. 157–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Troupe, Q. (1989), James Baldwin: The Legacy (New York: Simon & Schuster/Touchstone).

    Google Scholar 

  • Weedon, C. (1987), Feminist Practice and Post-Structuralist Theory (Oxford: Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, J. (1986), Sexuality (London: Norwood and Tavistock).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Westwood, S. (1990), Racism, Black Masculinity and the Politics of Space’, in J. Hearn and D. Morgan (eds), Men, Masculinities and Social Theory (London: Unw in Hyman).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 1996 British Sociological Association

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mac an Ghaill, M. (1996). Irish Masculinities and Sexualities in England. In: Adkins, L., Merchant, V. (eds) Sexualizing the Social. Explorations in Sociology.. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24549-9_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics