The chapters in this edited collection examine how the culture of masculinity intersects with issues of health, homophobia, and the suppression and silencing of anxieties about body image among men and boys. Examining the bodily dividends and trade-offs associated with male participation in physical activity is central to understanding how educators in particular might better engage all boys in healthy life practices, not only those privileged by muscularity and physicality. Contributions explore evidence of intimidation and body fears that is largely unheard and unexplored in locker rooms and classrooms. Introducing critical perspectives emerging from current evidence-based international research to shed light on curricular and policy initiatives aimed at producing healthy children, this book will powerfully inform and provoke discussion.

The Editors: Michael Kehler is currently Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches preservice and graduate education. His research appears in journals including the
Canadian Journal of Education, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, Journal of Curriculum Theorizing,
and the
International Journal for Inclusive Education.
He is co-editor of
The Problem with Boys' Education: Beyond the Backlash and of Boy Culture: An Encyclopedia.
Michael Atkinson is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto. He serves on the editorial boards of the
Sociology of Sport Journal, Deviant Behavior,
and the
International Journal of Qualitative Methods.
He is author of
Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art,
co-author of
Deviance and Social Control in Sport,
author/editor of
Battleground: Sports,
and co-editor of
Tribal Play: Sports Subcultures.

Contents: Michael Kehler/Michael Atkinson: Preface. Thinking about Boys, Bodies and Health - Michael Gard: Boys, Girls and the Prejudices of Obesity Research - Travis A. Ryan/Todd G. Morrison/Cormac Ó Beaglaoich: Adolescent Males' Body Image: An Overview of Research on the Influence of Mass Media - David Kirk: The 'Masculinity Vortex' of School Physical Education: Beyond the Myth of Hyper-masculinity - Michael Atkinson/Michael Kehler: Boys, Gyms, Locker Rooms and Heterotopia - Brad Millington/Brian Wilson: Consuming Media, Constructing Masculinities: A Study of Youth Audiences and Physical Education in 'Reflexively Modern' Times - James W. Messerschmidt: The Struggle for Recognition: Embodied Masculinity and the Victim-Violence Cycle of Bullying in Secondary Schools - Richard Light/Jeanne Adèle Kentel: Soft Pedagogy for a Hard Sport: Disrupting Hegemonic Masculinity in High School Rugby through Feminist-Informed Pedagogy - Michael Kehler: Negotiating Masculinities in PE Classrooms: Boys, Body Image and 'Want[ing] to Be in Good Shape' - Nate McCaughtry/Amy Tischler: Marginalized Boys Speak Out: Insights from School Physical Education for the Obesity Crisis - Jessica Lee: Australian Young Men's Meanings of Physical Activity and Health: An Exploration of Social Class and Schooling.