Boys' Bodies Speaking the Unspoken

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. "Kehler and Atkinson's edited collection, Boys' Bodies, is a book that should be read by teachers, teacher educators, education policy makers and health professionals, given its impressive theoretical and empirical focus on how the embodiment of competing masculinities plays out in schools, with implications for all boys and their well-being, and for all those wishing to understand and address issues of physical inactivity and obesity in and through schooling."---Professor Bob Lingard, School of Education, University of Queensland