From Brotherhood to Manhood by Anderson J. Franklin

Rather, this 'ideal' accommodates different masculine subjectivities. This paper will argue that although, in principle, ACS Barker Road advances an ideal masculinity centred on academic performance and character building, such an ideal does not lead to students discursively creating a hierarchy of masculinities. The conceptual framework used will be Raewyn Connell's 'hegemonic masculinity'. Rather, the students in the school may be viewed as 'ordinary'. ACS Barker Road provides a unique case study as it does not neatly fall into the binary of 'elite vs non-elite' students. Although a few studies have been done to understand the type of masculinity captured in the Anglo Chinese School family, none to date has looked at how ACS students view themselves in relation to the school's decrees on how an ACS gentleman ought to behave.

This paper focuses on the lived masculinities of secondary school boys in Anglo Chinese School Barker Road (ACS Barker Road), an all-boys school in Singapore. This definition is extended to Black males who attend all-male schools, where they are connected through a common educational experience that fosters brotherhood Brotherhood also denotes a term of endearment and affirmation among Black men. Dancy (2012) writes that Black men's reference to themselves as brothers evokes a bond strengthened by shared experiences of oppression. Brotherhood is a bond shared between men of various backgrounds and beliefs centered on commitments or professions.

The relationship between masculinity and brotherhood and the intersection of gender and ethnic studies draw upon studies in Progressive Black Masculinity to challenge restrictive definitions of masculinity constructions shared among some Black males, who tend to view masculinity exclusively through a heterosexual lens, which limits discussions of diversity in brotherhood and sexual orientation. This article discusses how Black males who attend the Pebbles School-an urban all-male public combined middle and high school-constructed, perceived, and negotiated their masculine identities and perceptions of brotherhood. Enrollment in all-male, majority-Black schools changes nothing. Many stereotypes define their perceived masculinities in coeducational schools, such as different definitions of masculinity received from peers and adults. Black males face pressures to adopt dominant social roles in relationships based on expectations from family, peers, and teachers.

From Brotherhood to Manhood by Anderson J. Franklin