Time to confront Willis's lads with a ballet class? A case study of educational orthodoxy and white working-class boys

M. Ashley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This is a retrospective study tracing the longer term effects on identity and aspiration of white working‐class boys from an area of high social deprivation. The boys were members of an acclaimed boys’ dance company and have been retrospectively interviewed as young men in their twenties. Documentary and film material dating from the time they were 14 year olds and the film Billy Elliot were used in the interviews. A media discourse driven by a view of boys ‘in crisis’ that is blind to social class and the difficulties faced by some girls was uncovered. This is found to pervade the entire Billy Elliot discourse, which focused on the sensation of a boy performing ballet rather than on the class background and historical context of the miners’ dispute. The paper questions the discourse of laddishness and the social identity that is attached to the term ‘lad’.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)179-191
JournalBritish Journal of Sociology of Education
Volume30
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2009

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Time to confront Willis's lads with a ballet class? A case study of educational orthodoxy and white working-class boys'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this