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assumptions, Student A’s hairstyle was feminine and so he is in fact, a homosexual male. By effectively minimising Student A’s masculinity, Student B attempts to affirm his own. Louisa Allen highlights the dominant discourse that demands young men struggle to become a particularly powerful kind of normalised masculine male, that is, one who is “heterosexual, virile, competitive and predatory” (2006, p. 74). In this struggle, heterosexuality becomes part of the identity that is presumed in the classroom and actually becomes a form of social and cultural capital (Mikulsky, 2005 as cited in Hohnke, 2008). It is this social and cultural capital that translates into power within the situation outlined above and within wider society.
 Within the scenario described above, there are distinct power relations at work for both the teacher and the students involved. Firstly, Student B gains power over Student A by using the derogatory remark in the presence of peers. In this case, that power may be real or imagined, but in Western society, the concept of masculinity is inextricably linked with that of power (Holmes et al. 2003). Although Student A may not in fact be homosexual, the continued use of the term ‘faggot’ in an aggressive and offensive manner means that the dominant discourse of heteronormativity is sustained. This, say researchers Keddie and Mills, supports “a framework of compulsory heterosexuality” (2009 p. 34). Such a framework serves to contstruct homosexuality as the dangerous ‘Other’ that has little power or influence in the realms of a normative culture. The implication then for both gay and straight members of the school community is that they remain reluctant to be associated with homosexuality for fear of harassment (Norman, 2006). In addition, the slur was continued to the following lesson where Student C joined in by naming Student A a “faget [sic]” in writing. The fact that the subsequent insult came from a different student yet was again directed at Student A shows the discourse itself gaining power. Student B began the ‘snowball effect’ by demeaning another student’s masculinity to create a hierarchical system of power amongst the students in the classroom.
 Many researchers agree that the use of homophobic language in the classroom and indeed in wider society remains the last form of discrimination to occur largely unchallenged (Burnett, 2003; Norman, 2006; Michaelson, 2008; Rhodes, 2009). As in the scenario described, the teacher’s response, or more accurately, lack of response to the students’ derogatory remarks inherently awarded power to both the students responsible for the slurs and to the discursive practices of a heteronormative framework. By instructing the class to “settle down”, the teacher in the scenario did not rebuke the homophobic slur, instead she rebuked the disruptive behaviour. Effectively, this renders the slur “faggot” an acceptable use of the word. The question that begs to be answered though, is why has homophobia become this ‘socially acceptable’ form of discrimination? To answer on behalf of the teacher would be to speculate, but perhaps the comment “get a haircut, ya faggot” was mistaken as harmless or flippant considering the target does not in fact identify as homosexual. In opposition, mounting evidence suggests that homophobia in any form is never harmless. A single derogatory comment not only serves to perpetuate discriminatory discourses but also has the potential to dev本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。