The development of media and academic debate on "the crisis in masculinity" has led to a growing focus on the lives of teenage boys. Studies done on teenage girls have revealed the physical, emotional, and educational costs of cultural expectations. It is important that similar studies be done to examine the cultural forces which influence the development of a teenage boy's sense of self. This thesis looks at one of these cultural influences---the books boys read. / Using Robert Connell's theoretical approach of hegemonic masculinity and sociologist Blye Frank's work with a group of teenage boys, criteria have been developed for collecting and categorizing images of masculinity in 103 realistic novels for young adults. These images are organized under body image, sport, other recreational proving grounds, relationships with men and women, school, and work; these are cross referenced by four areas of analysis: being male, competition, violence, and sexuality. / The second part of this thesis is concerned with using the theory of narrative discourse analysis, informed by the work of John Stephens, to examine the way in which the ideology of masculinity is mediated by narrative structure. The cultural expectations of the male characters in the novels are compared with experiences of real boys. Race, class, and cultural heritage are all discussed as emerging issues within the study. / The thesis addresses the following questions: Do books written for young adults mirror the subtlety and complexity of boys' choices? Is the ideology present in the books concentrated on reinforcing the hegemonic image? Does this literature provide a "space" for both the readers and the characters to develop their own highly relational form of masculinity? / The thesis concludes that while the images of hegemonic masculinity remain powerful, the majority of novels studied mirror the everyday struggle of real boys, and that generally, ideological statements in the selected novels move beyond reinforcing specific hegemonic images to supporting more general humanistic concerns.

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Thesis (M.A. )--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2004. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2829. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 2 preliminary leaves ( [ i-ii ] ). Includes bibliographical references ( leaves 83-84 ).