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Cited by 323Gender, Sexuality, and EducationBullying, Victimization, and AggressionGender and Feminist Studies

Normative cruelties and gender deviants: The performative effects of bully discourses for girls and boys in school

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Ringrose, Jessica, Renold, Emma·2010·British Educational Research Journal
DOI 10.1080/01411920903018117
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Abstract

Since the 1990s the educational community has witnessed a proliferation of ‘bullying’ discourses, primarily within the field of educational developmental social psychology. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative interview data of primary and secondary school girls and boys, this article argues that the discourse ‘bullying’ operates to simplify and individualise complex gendered/classed/sexualised/racialised power relations embedded in children's school‐based cultures. Using a feminist post‐structural approach, this article critically traces the discursive production of how the signifiers ‘bully’ and ‘victim’ are implicated in the ‘normative cruelties’ of performing and policing ‘intelligible’ heteronormative masculinities and femininities. It shows how these everyday gender performances are frequently passed over by staff and pupils as ‘natural’. The analysis also illustrates how bully discourses operate in complex racialised and classed ways that mark children out as either gender deviants, or as not adequately performing normative ideals of masculinity and femininity. In conclusion, it is argued that bully discourses offer few symbolic resources and/or practical tools for addressing and coping with everyday school‐based gender violence, and some new research directions are suggested.

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  • Ringrose and Renold (2010) demonstrate that discourses such as bullying are deeply tied to the policing of normative masculinities, where desensitization serves to sustain hegemonic ideals and obscure the harm perpetuated by gendered violence in schools.

    “As Ringrose and Renold (2010) demonstrate, discourses such as bullying are deeply tied to the policing of normative masculinities, where desensitization serves to sustain hegemonic ideals and obscure the harm perpetuated by gendered violence in schools.”

    From Technology-facilitated sexual violence perpetration as a tool for gender policing in secondary schools (2026) · cites this paper as Ringrose and Renold 2010

  • Ringrose and Renold further argue that the framing of such violence as 'bullying' trivializes the structural power relations that govern children's performances of masculinity and femininity, enabling these harmful dynamics to remain unchallenged.

    “They further argue that the framing of such violence as 'bullying' trivializes the structural power relations that govern children's performances of masculinity and femininity, enabling these harmful dynamics to remain unchallenged.”

    From Technology-facilitated sexual violence perpetration as a tool for gender policing in secondary schools (2026) · cites this paper as Ringrose and Renold 2010

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Cited by

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Authors
Ringrose, J., & Renold, E.
Affiliations
  • University of London (GB)
  • Cardiff University (GB)
Corresponding author
Ringrose, Jessica
ORCID
Venue
British Educational Research Journal
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2010-08
Volume
36
Issue
4
Pages
573-596
ISSN
  • 0141-1926 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-3518
DOI
10.1080/01411920903018117
OpenAlex
W2024628672
Cited by
323
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 12
FWCI
16.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • British Educational Research Journal (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Sexuality, and Education
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
Keywords
school bullying, gender deviance, heteronormative masculinity, femininity, gender performance, racialization, class, children, bullying victims

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