STRUGGLING TOWARDS MANHOOD: NARRATIVES OF HOMOPHOBIA AND FATHERING Stephen Frosh, Ann Phoenix and Rob Pattman ABSTRACT From the perspective of psychotherapists involved in working with young men, it is particularly interesting to consider ways in which boys may construct versions of their masculinities through an amalgam of social and personal discourses. Amongst the issues relating to young masculinities to arise systematically in research studies and in psychotherapeutic work, two are of particular interest for emerging understanding of the emotional consequences of new structures of masculine identities. These are the relationship boys have with their fathers, and the impact of social discourses on homosexuality. In this paper, material is presented from one boy who participated in an in-depth inter- view study of boys in London secondary schools. This boy reveals in unusual detail the ways in which dominant discourses on being ‘gay’ and on fathers govern the construction of contemporary young masculinities, even when boys themselves seek to resist these discourses. It is suggested that consideration of the operation of these discourses in young people’s lives is a relevant concern for psychotherapists. Introduction Amongst the many elements in the construction of a ‘moral panic’ around masculinity, the behaviour of teenage boys is particularly resonant. Media and government, teachers and police focus on boys mainly as potential threats in a range of areas from delinquency to sexual abuse perpetration (e.g. Farrington 1995; Vizard et al. 1995; Emerson & Frosh 2001), with their apparent under-achievement at school and the escalation of street crime being current examples of ‘control’ problems. Many researchers in the area of gender and identity have also drawn attention to an apparent ‘crisis’ in contemporary forms of masculinity, marked by uncertainties over social role and identity, sexuality, work and personal relationships, and often manifested in violence or abusive behaviours towards self and others (e.g. Frosh 1994, 2000; Jukes 1993). This both reflects and contributes to the production of a British Journal of Psychotherapy 22(1), 2005 © The authors 37 STEPHEN FROSH is Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck College, University of London; ANN PHOENIX is Professor of Social and Developmental Psychology at the Open University; and ROB PATTMAN is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The research described in this paper was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Address for correspondence: Professor Stephen Frosh, Centre for Psychosocial Studies, School of Psychology, Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX. [email: s.frosh@bbk.ac.uk]