Introduction

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This website is a venue for the relatively new field of scholarly work called boyhood studies. Our publication is THYMOS: Journal of Boyhood Studies, published by Men’s Studies Press.

Current attempts to grasp the concept of "the boy" are informed by a range of notions of age and gender. Given the traditional Roman perspective of the "Seven Ages of Man," we focus on two domains, pueritia and adolescentia. Cultural domain analysis has shown, however, that even these notions are contingent and vary within even a community’s local experience. What boys are and where they are are therefore problems we aim to address.

We believe the topic of boyhood requires an approach that cross-fertilizes gender studies and life course studies but also looks to other disciplines within the broad field of the social and human sciences.

"The boy is a frolicsome cartoon of the nation to which he belongs," the Rev. J. A. Dewe once noted.[1] While this seems to be a congenial observation, we would also stress the importance of historical and cross-cultural observations. To that end we want to apply Kenneth Kidd’s "boyology" to a variety of cultural contexts, including nationality, the medico-legal apparatus, the research institution, and perhaps even the capitalist system itself. When these contexts have been given their due, scholars can begin to map the structures and constraints that affect the lives of boys and those who play leading roles in their lives. But since we also advocate a critique of the institutional appropriation of boys as exemplars of masculinity and as occasions for gender research, we want to explore “the boy” without a map, that is, outside the genderist perspective. Such an approach will permit the exploration of “the boy” as a test case in the sociology of the sciences. We also strongly believe there is a place for our work in the mainstream of educational research.

As boys locate themselves in new, diversified venues of the cultural and social performance of boyhood, we will provide an inclusive platform for the critical appraisal of that performance.

A work in progress, our bibliography documents the many ways in which academics have occupied themselves with issues related to boyhood. It is, we are assured, the most comprehensive tool now available anywhere for scholarly work on the topic.

 

THYMOS: Journal of Boyhood Studies ISSN 1931-9045 (print) 1872-4329 (online)

We anticipate publishing two issues annually, beginning in Spring 2007. Regular updates about the publication schedule of THYMOS will be provided on this website. Our journal will be available in both paper and digital versions on a subscription or single-issue basis. For more info go here. For subscriptions and e-prints, go here.

 

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[1] Dewe, J. A. (1907). The American Boy: Impressions of an Englishman. The School Review, 15,3, 197-200.

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