Border thinking in High School students’ conceptions of masculinities: an action-research studyABSTRACT
In this article, we address conceptions of masculinities that contribute to decolonizing thought, which has been shaped by sociohistorical and cultural impositions of modernity/coloniality. Through an action-research study, we aimed to identify border thinking in high school students’ conceptions of masculinity, as developed through interactions mediated by a pedagogical practice grounded in interculturality. Our primary material for analysis consisted of participants’ discourses on discrimination and prejudice fueled by hegemonic masculinity, particularly those faced by Black men. This allowed us to establish a core understanding informed by the intersection of gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, and social class. The analysis indicates that the participants’ border thinking emerges through empathy and solidarity, enabling them to use their voices to denounce racism and challenge whiteness and cisheteronormativity. Furthermore, we reaffirm the need for schools to embrace alternative ways of knowledge construction, particularly those rooted in dialogue, critical awareness, and reflexivity.
Keywords:
Masculinities; Border thinking; Conceptions of gender and sexuality; High School education; Ethnic-racial relations
RESUMO
Neste artigo, abordamos concepções de masculinidades que contribuem para descolonizar o pensamento, impregnado por imposições construídas no plano sócio-histórico-cultural da modernidade/colonialidade. Por meio de um estudo do tipo pesquisa-ação, buscamos identificar o pensamento liminar em concepções de masculinidades elaboradas por estudantes do Ensino Médio em interações mediadas por uma prática pedagógica fundamentada na interculturalidade. Tomamos como material principal de análise os discursos dos participantes a respeito de discriminações e preconceitos nutridos pela masculinidade hegemônica e enfrentados principalmente por homens negros, sendo possível constituir uma categoria de análise provocada pela intersecção entre gênero, sexualidade, raça/etnia e classe social. A análise indica que o pensamento liminar dos sujeitos estabelece-se a partir da empatia e da solidariedade, uma vez que lhes permitiu usarem suas palavras para denunciar o racismo e afrontar a branquitude e a cis-heteronorma. Foi possível, ainda, reafirmar a necessidade de que a escola contemple possibilidades outras de construção do conhecimento, como as que se estabelecem por meio do diálogo, da conscientização e da criticidade.
Palavras-chave:
Masculinidades; Pensamento liminar; Concepções de gênero e sexualidade; Ensino Médio; Relações étnico-raciais
Introduction
The concept of hegemonic masculinity helps to understand how gender norms - many of them abusive - are constructed and maintained within educational institutions. Moreover, this discussion opens space for the recognition and appreciation of alternative and subordinate masculinities, fostering a multifaceted understanding of gender identities. By addressing the social implications of hegemonic masculinity, education can prepare individuals to become more conscious and critical citizens. Thus, research on this topic aims not only to problematize these issues but also to contribute to the construction of more democratic schools and, consequently, a more democratic society.
In this sense, education must be understood as a practice that liberates rather than oppresses. This requires conceiving it as an act of dialogue, in which educators and learners engage in exchanges of ideas. Such dialogical practice should not only respect differences but also enable students to question, discuss, and analyze their own truths and those of others, thereby fostering critical awareness (Freire, 2019). This denotes an educational process that involves active participation in the construction of knowledge, instead of being restricted to the mere transmission of content - most of which is Eurocentric and reflects the dominant class.
Contrary to this ideal, research in the field of education has pointed to a devastating scenario in which authoritarianism, violence, and hostility hinder the dissemination of scientific discourse on gender and sexuality in Brazilian schools. Imbued with conservatism and religious fundamentalism, this context privileges (re)productions of a hegemonic masculinity grounded in patriarchy, cisheterosexuality, and whiteness, all of which serve to inferiorize those who do not embody them (Henrique; Rocha; Silva, 2024).
Furthermore, the tensions arising from attempts to deconstruct this normative pattern often fall upon the visibility of Black and LGBTI+ masculinities, which are frequently labeled as different or abject. However, these are precisely the forms of masculinity that, within academic production, have strengthened discussions about resistance and the re-signification of male identities in educational institutions (Henrique; Rocha; Silva, 2024).
In this context, it becomes urgent for schools to engage with other modes of knowledge construction - ones capable of recognizing processes of subalternization and racialization from the standpoint of the oppressed, such as border thinking. According to Mignolo (2003), this epistemology operates through difference, arising from cultural interrelations that originated with colonialism/modernity, which imposed Eurocentric, Western, and capitalist/neoliberal worldviews as true, correct, viable, and universal. As such, border thinking “could contribute to understanding the colonial legacies embedded in current everyday cultural conflicts and to addressing this issue” (Mignolo, 2003, p. 320, our translation).
It is well known that many of the colonial influences present in everyday dilemmas relate to gender and its intersections with race, sexuality, social class, and other social markers of difference (Collins; Bilge, 2020). Likewise, contemporary schools continue to operate with the intent of forming “real men and women” - that is, individuals committed to hegemonic gender roles which, as Connell (2005) argues, serve the system and remain virtually unattainable for most people. Yet, how do students perceive these relations of domination, and what forms of border thinking do they propose to confront them?
The aim of this article is to identify border thinking within high school students’ conceptions of masculinities, as developed through interactions mediated by a pedagogical practice grounded in interculturality. To achieve this goal, we conducted an action-research study (Baldissera, 2001) with second-year high school students at a public school in southern Santa Catarina, Brazil. The discussion draws on the works of Candau and Russo (2010), Connell (2005), Freire (2019), Gomes and Laborne (2018), hooks (2022), Lugones (2020), Mignolo (2003), Schucman (2020), and Vigoya (2018). We employed content analysis (Bardin, 2016) combined with intersectionality (Collins; Bilge, 2020).
This article derives from a master’s thesis in Education1, in which we presented a pedagogical practice designed to discuss prejudice and discrimination linked to social markers of difference. By adopting an intersectional lens, the study brought to light participants’ knowledge about social practices of masculinities in contexts of ethnic-racial disparities, revealing both the presence of and resistance to colonialities.
The text is organized into four sections, in addition to this introduction. The first discusses conceptualizations of masculinities, colonialities, interculturality, and border thinking. The second details the research methodology, including the field and participants. The third provides a comprehensive account of the pedagogical practice implemented. The fourth analyzes the results derived from participants’ interactions during this practice. Finally, the concluding section highlights how the school environment can be enriched by alternative forms of knowledge construction that reveal and challenge gender stereotypes while fostering solidarity against racism and other forms of dehumanization.
Masculinity and education: colonialities, interculturality and border thinking
The field of masculinity studies is anchored in feminist thought about men. Its theoretical framework is based on the epistemological principles of the human and social sciences of the Global South. Considering that social practices are neither fixed nor timeless, but products of specific historical processes that change over time, Connell (2005) introduces the concept of hegemonic masculinity.
By conceiving gender representations as social practices, Connell (2005) argues that the hegemonic form of masculinity is the one that legitimizes men’s power and the subordination of women and other expressions of masculinity, categorized as: subordinate - those that challenge hegemonic norms, such as those performed by homosexual men; complicit - those that sustain hegemony by benefiting from it; and marginalized - those related to racialized and excluded groups that, although they do not access hegemonic power, are nonetheless influenced by it. In this way, Connell (2005) conceptualizes the plurality of male identities as diverse, hierarchical, fluid, and historically constructed.
Vigoya (2018) contributes to and expands this discussion by including the influences of coloniality in the construction of gendered social practices. The application of Connell’s concept to contexts specific to Latin America - where different traditions, practices, and values interact - has revealed how multiple masculine experiences and expressions are shaped by colonial legacies and the region’s distinctive social dynamics. Accordingly, Vigoya (2018) analyzes the intersectionality of gender, race/ethnicity, and class, showing how these categories shape masculine subjectivities in local contexts.
Coloniality encompasses a set of unequal power relations that persist after the end of formal colonialism. This continuity of domination structures manifests itself across various spheres of society, including the economy, politics, and culture. According to Lugones (2020), coloniality permeates the production of knowledge and all forms of control over human life, influencing the ways we perceive and relate to authority, labor, science, and intersubjectivity, etc.
Lugones (2020) defines the coloniality of gender as a phenomenon concerning the control of the bodies and sexualities of people socially inferiorized for not conforming to the dictates of patriarchy, whiteness, and cisheteronormativity. This reflects a structure of domination known as the modern/colonial gender system. In this sense, linking masculinities to the coloniality of gender allows us to understand contemporary dynamics of power and resistance (Vigoya, 2018).
In line with Candau and Russo (2010), and with the aim of questioning coloniality as it appears in society and education, interculturality emerges as an ethical, political, and epistemic strategy developed through learning experiences arising from contact between different cultures and ethnicities. Mignolo (2003) situates the fifteenth century as the beginning of the cultural interactions that naturalized Eurocentrism and gave rise to what Mignolo (2003) terms the colonial difference - a concept that helps explain how relations of power and epistemologies that historically challenged Latin American colonial narratives have been devalued, corrected, or even erased.
From this perspective, Candau and Russo (2010) argue that interculturality promotes the legitimization of diverse forms of knowledge, dialogue among different epistemologies, and the fight against dehumanizing practices. It also fosters the construction of cultural identities and the empowerment of excluded groups, favoring collective processes for building more democratic societies. Viewed in this way, interculturality can act in opposition to the coloniality of knowledge - an intrinsic aspect of modernity that refers to the way knowledge is structured and hierarchized according to the power relations established during and after the colonial process (Mignolo, 2003).
This perspective aligns with border thinking, a mode of production of knowledge that arises from the margins of modern/colonial systems - such as the gender system - where historically repressed and silenced knowledges can be recovered and respected (Mignolo, 2003). Opposing the universalism of modern epistemology, border thinking does not seek a single or totalizing truth; rather, it makes visible the knowledges that emerge from narratives and experiences marked by coloniality (Mignolo, 2003).
In this sense, an education grounded in the principles of interculturality has the potential to promote the recognition and appreciation of cultural diversity by unveiling and breaking with prejudice and discriminatory practices (Candau; Russo, 2010). In line with this view, Vigoya (2018) proposes that masculinity be seen as a field of struggle and transformation that encourages men to seek new ways of being - ways that challenge hegemonic norms and foster more equitable relations.
Finally, these propositions resonate with school practices grounded in liberating pedagogy, an educational approach aimed at the emancipation of individuals through dialogue, critical consciousness, and collective knowledge construction. Such pedagogy promotes an education that is critical, transformative, and rooted in the lived realities of students (Freire, 2019). In short, the school - as a space of teaching, learning, and socialization - can help strengthen and sustain democratic values when it commits to giving voice to all those who inhabit it.
Action-research: producing knowledge about masculinities with High School students
Action research is both an investigative process and a form of intervention in which the act of researching also functions as an action aimed at transforming reality. This methodology requires a reciprocal relationship between researchers and participants, in which both learn from and benefit through the process. As Baldissera (2001) points out, participants are not seen as mere objects of study but as active subjects who contribute to the construction of knowledge and the re-signification of everyday experiences.
According to Peruzzo (2017), there is no single model of action research. It can vary in the degree of participation and autonomy of those involved. Some approaches may entail higher levels of participant involvement, while others may be more researcher-directed. Nonetheless, the author highlights the necessity of fostering a process of critical reflection on the group’s practices and experiences, promoting self-awareness and the identification of possible solutions to the problems faced.
Data collection took place in 2023 at a public basic education school in the state system located in a peripheral neighborhood of Tubarão, in southern Santa Catarina, Brazil. Fictionally named School of Masculinity in Bloom [Escola da Masculinidade em Flor, hereafter EMF], the institution at the time had 1,023 students distributed among 36 classes across morning, afternoon, and evening shifts, covering grades from early elementary school through the third year of high school. The school is recognized as a hub that serves students from surrounding rural and urban neighborhoods, reflecting diversity in gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, social class, and, in recent years, nationality - an outcome of Venezuelan migration. This diversity is particularly visible in the high school level, which is offered only by this institution within a radius of approximately six kilometers.
The research was developed from the teaching practice of one of the authors of this article, who taught language arts at EMF for about five years. This prior experience made it possible to identify, through classroom discussions and debates, that the institution did not offer space for sexual education in its curriculum - a recurring complaint among students. This curricular gap helped expose other problems within the school’s daily life, such as sexism, racism, and LGBTphobia, reinforcing social hierarchies based on hegemonic masculinity.
In compliance with Brazilian Law no. 13.415/2017, beginning in 2022 EMF implemented the New High School (Novo Ensino Médio, NEM). In addition to defining a more flexible curricular organization that incorporated the National Common Core Curriculum (Base Nacional Comum Curricular, BNCC), NEM offered students different pathways focused on areas of knowledge and technical or professional formation (Brazil, 2018). Accordingly, the Base Curriculum for the Territory of Santa Catarina (Currículo Base do Território Catarinense, CBTC), which guides the state’s public schools, defines in-depth learning tracks (trilhas de aprofundamento) as part of students’ formative itineraries.
By connecting school content to students’ realities and addressing contemporary and local issues that impact their lives, these learning tracks allow for the articulation of different areas of knowledge and promote an interdisciplinary approach to specific themes (Santa Catarina, 2021). At the end of the 2022 school year, EMF’s management team conducted a survey in which first-year students voted for the learning tracks they wished to pursue in the following year. One of the selected tracks was Health, Youth, and Care for Oneself and Others.
This track proposes a multidimensional approach to youth health, focusing on essential aspects of students’ holistic development, such as technology use, socioemotional factors, and sexuality (Santa Catarina, 2021). In this way, EMF had the opportunity to promote discussions related to a proposal for sexual education grounded in theoretical and political principles that value respect for difference (Furlani, 2011), particularly through the curricular unit Sexuality and Health. “Recognize and reflect on the construction of social gender roles” and “analyze and interpret different contemporary languages that address issues related to the body, aesthetics, and human sexuality” are some of the competencies established for this curricular unit (Santa Catarina, 2021, p. 170, our translation).
With the main objective of understanding, through pedagogical practices, students’ conceptions of hegemonic masculinity as socioculturally constituted in contemporary times - and based on the CBTC’s framework for the Health, Youth, and Care for Oneself and Others track - activities were designed for the second-year high school classes at EMF. At this level, the school had 108 students organized into five classes: three in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. Each pedagogical practice lasted 45 minutes and was conducted weekly during Portuguese language classes connected to the chosen learning track.
Participants’ interactions during these activities were recorded using a voice recorder, field diary, and camera, with the narratives later transcribed. According to Peruzzo (2017), in addition to direct observation, action research may employ complementary techniques for data collection. Accordingly, students were invited to produce written accounts of their life trajectories and school experiences, highlighting facts they considered relevant to help researchers understand them better.
Beforehand, in preliminary meetings, the research design was presented to the school administration and to students, along with possible risks and benefits. After obtaining authorization from EMF’s principal to conduct the study, we invited students enrolled in the second year of high school - who self-identified as male in a questionnaire - to participate. There were 22 volunteers. As most were underage, consent from their parents and/or guardians was also obtained.
The identity-profile questionnaire revealed a predominance of cisgender (65%), heterosexual (65%), and white (70%) participants. Among them were Narciso (16), Alisson (17), and Delfino (16). The sample also included participants with different identity traits, illustrating the diversity that composes EMF through subordinated and marginalized masculinities (Connell, 2005). One of them, Antúrio (18), self-identified as cis-heterosexual and Black; Jacinto (17) identified as cis-homosexual and white; and Géranio (18) as trans-heterosexual and brown.
These were the participants who contributed most directly to this portion of the research. Their pseudonyms were chosen because they are the names of flowers. This decision was deliberate, as flowers are commonly associated with attributes culturally assigned to femininity, such as beauty and delicacy. Although this association is widespread in many societies, it is not universal - different cultures attach different meanings to flowers.
Drawing from the discussion developed in this portion of the master’s thesis - where interculturality was explored through classroom discussions on social markers of difference and border thinking in conceptions of masculinities - this article presents one of the five pedagogical practices implemented with the groups, titled Gender, Sexuality, and Democracy. The practice unfolded in three stages: first, participants explored the concept of discrimination; second, they associated this theorization with statements representing hegemonic masculinity in political contexts; and third, they watched two short videos that presented divergent discourses on Human Rights in Brazil.
Dialogicality, fundamental to collective knowledge construction and critical awareness (Freire, 2019), permeated this entire pedagogical practice, emerging in discussions where participants expressed their conceptions of male identities. The analyzed content focused on the intersection between masculinities and ethnic-racial relations. In presenting their understandings of gender and sexuality, participants made visible and questioned the differences and inequalities generated by skin color, race, and ethnicity in the constitution of masculinities.
“Gender, sexuality and democracy”: a pedagogical practice
In this pedagogical practice, we sought to understand the origins of violence and discrimination related to the following social markers of difference: gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and nationality. To begin, we implemented the exercise “Conceptual understandings - forms of prejudice” (Furlani, 2011, p. 153, our translation). Each student received a printed version of the activity (Table 1) and was asked to match the forms of prejudice with their corresponding conceptual definitions.
The results were evaluated by comparing students’ answers with the key2 provided by the author. Approximately half of the students (49%) correctly matched all the concepts. In contrast, the highest error rates occurred in identifying misogyny (35%), xenophobia (32%), and machismo (32%). A recurring confusion emerged between misogyny and machismo, as well as between xenophobia and racism.
This confusion can be explained by the fact that, although these terms have distinct scopes and meanings, they share certain points of overlap (Furlani, 2011). Both machismo and misogyny are sustained by patriarchal systems that value men and devalue women. Similarly, racism and xenophobia can coexist - especially in contexts where racial differences are associated with foreign origins - thus reinforcing prejudice toward marginalized groups.
On the other hand, lesbophobia was correctly identified by 93% of participants, while racism and transphobia were correctly matched by 86%, and homophobia by 82%. High levels of accuracy were also recorded for ethnocentrism (79%) and sexism (77%).
Considering the absence of school projects addressing these themes at EMF and the atmosphere of intimidation that surrounds schools and legitimizes surveillance over teachers, we believe that these students may have acquired such understanding through external sources - what can be termed cultural pedagogies - transmitted through toys, games, sports, works of art, social media, advertising campaigns, and other cultural artifacts. While such artifacts also serve the purposes of control and discipline required to sustain neoliberal capitalism, they nonetheless contribute to a more empathetic and plural understanding of non-hegemonic identities, fostering respect and inclusion across social, educational, and cultural spheres (Henrique; Rocha; Silva, 2024).
In the second stage of this pedagogical practice, eight prejudiced statements associated with hegemonic masculinity were posted on the classroom walls. Students were encouraged to link each statement to one or more of the forms of prejudice explored in the previous exercise. The authorship of these statements is attributed by the press to Brazilian former president Jair Messias Bolsonaro (Treze frases […], 2019; Bolsonaro […], 2018). However, this information was not disclosed during the activity in order to prevent the discussion from turning into a partisan debate. Despite this, the students recognized the statements (Table 2).
The concepts of machismo, sexism, and misogyny were linked to statements that demeaned women (statements 1, 2, 3, and 7). Racism and xenophobia were associated with statement 4, which ridiculed quilombola people. Statements about homosexuals (5, 6, and 8) were connected to homophobia. These findings underscore how this generation of young men may be sensitive to different forms of discrimination. However, not all students were able to establish these connections, which suggests that a numerical minority might not perceive or recognize such statements as prejudiced.
The third and final stage of this pedagogical practice involved showing two short videos portraying distinct historical moments concerning Human Rights in Brazil. The clips presented the speeches of ministers taking office. In 2019, Damares Alves delivered a conservative address celebrated behind the scenes with the slogan, “Boys wear blue and girls wear pink” (Menino […], 2019). In contrast, in 2023, Silvio Almeida adopted a progressive tone, emphasizing inclusion and the importance of diversity in identities and subjectivities within the national political context (Silvio […], 2023).
Géranio, a participant who identified as trans-heterosexual and brown, shared his opinion on the videos: “It’s not common to see a Black man in that kind of position. He must face a lot of prejudice […]. He was the first minister to say that trans people are important to Brazil. It’s a different vision he brings […]; it makes us feel like we belong” (Géranio, 18, student). Like other participants, Géranio highlighted the importance of political representation that recognizes and values racial, gender, and sexual diversity.
Throughout this pedagogical practice, dialogues and exchanges of experiences among participants were encouraged. In some groups, discussions flowed spontaneously; in others, they required prompting through guiding questions designed to deepen reflection on the topics addressed. In both scenarios, students expressed concern over the racist tone of statement 43 and solidarity with the victims of such prejudice. Moreover, we observed a tendency among non-Black participants to question their own positions within society’s racial hierarchy - as will be discussed in the following section.
“I think it’s wrong, but that’s what people say”: border thinking about masculinities in ethnic-racial relations
Throughout this pedagogical practice, dialogues unfolded around the themes being addressed - especially the various forms of prejudice. We observed how the statements attributed to a former president of Brazil prompted students to take positions against any form of discrimination. Notably, these activities stimulated reflections and revealed knowledge connected to the ethnic-racial marker of difference, while also intersecting with gender, sexuality, and social class.
Some students addressed collective resistance, emerging from social movements’ agendas that challenge cisheteronormativity and whiteness. One such student was Narciso, who rethought his place as a cis-heterosexual white man within the colonial gender system (Lugones, 2020).
The older generation had only one point of view - that only men are strong, that men should only like women, and that white men, especially, are more important than Black men. That was the only way of thinking. But there were people who felt bad about it - maybe a man who felt attraction for another man. If he said that openly, he’d be judged. But he decided to fight that pain. Then other people who felt the same way, that same pain, came together, and that’s what we see today - the fight for rights. People who don’t think like that should at least respect it (Narciso, 16, student).
The participant criticizes the rigid and hierarchical ways in which masculinities are typically conceived. When referring to the past and to men of the “older generation”, Narciso is likely describing complicit masculinity (Connell, 2005) - performed by older men who benefit from the privileges of this structure without actively questioning or challenging it, thereby distancing themselves from traits of sensitivity to discrimination.
His discourse reflects traces of border thinking (Mignolo, 2003), particularly as he proposes a conception that arises from the intersections between hegemonic thought and the lived experiences of those historically silenced, recognizing the need to challenge the naturalization of dominant values and practices. This was confirmed when Narciso was asked which of the prejudiced statements had most caught his attention.
The one that bothered me most, that really made me think, was the one about the quilombo. He talks as if everyone there were lazy or useless. He turned the Black man into an animal, like an ox pulling a cart. It’s like he’s saying, “you’re a thing, not a person”. I thought that was heavy. You just don’t say that to anyone (Narciso, 16, student).
His response demonstrates sensitivity to the discourse of dehumanization conveyed in the statement, which he described as “heavy” and “unspeakable”, generating personal discomfort. Narciso seems to perceive that the non-white body is stripped of humanity, discursively turned into a “thing”. In opposing this coloniality, he positions himself in solidarity with those targeted by such utterances.
Delfino, also a cis-heterosexual white student, expressed a similar reaction to the same statement, associating it with a sociocultural context that links Black male bodies to poverty, violence, and marginalization.
We learn that men have more power, but it seems like that’s only true for white men, because what we hear about Black men is the opposite. It’s like they’re poorer, and we’re supposed to be afraid of them because they might fight or rob someone. I think that’s wrong, but that’s what people say - that Black people were born to work. It’s racism (Delfino, 16, student).
By stating that “we learn” that Black men are more socially devalued and disadvantaged than white men, Delfino may be referring to the hegemonic imaginary that projects behaviors and norms intended to sustain the status quo. After expressing his opposition to the statement, he explains the source of his conception: “that’s what people say”.
Narciso and Delfino share similarities in their interactions, revealing a mutual desire to denounce a dehumanizing reality that does not directly affect them. From an intercultural perspective, this sensitivity reflects the importance of recognizing and valuing diverse cultural identities and promoting dialogue among different forms of knowledge and experiences (Candau; Russo, 2010). The awareness expressed by these participants toward prejudiced discourse may thus indicate a critical understanding of social reality - one of the central aims of intercultural education.
Although both expressed concern about the same phenomenon, only Delfino explicitly named it as racism. Another notable aspect of his statement is the expressed belief that fear should be directed toward Black men. On this point, Gomes and Laborne (2018, p. 4, our translation) remind us that “in Brazil, the color of fear is Black!” - a fear nurtured by the dominant classes through representations that label non-white people as “untrustworthy”, constructing an image of Blackness as threatening.
By engaging in dialogue about racism - even though they are not directly affected by it - these students seem to be questioning whiteness. The emotional tone with which they confront this oppression suggests conceptions of masculinity that begin to reconsider the privileges of the hegemonic, patriarchal, and white norm (hooks, 2022).
Whiteness refers to the seldom-questioned, often invisible position that white people occupy within unequal racial power relations (Schucman, 2020). It is one of the key mechanisms through which racism is naturalized in Brazilian society. Race, therefore, is not a neutral element; it operates covertly yet violently in relation to historically subalternized groups. Within this context, Antúrio (18, student), who identified as cis-heterosexual and Black, pointed out how coloniality often manifests itself disguised as acceptance.
At school I’ve never really experienced racism… Like, sometimes they make a joke or something, but I always took it as a joke because, believe it or not, I’ve studied with pretty much the same classmates since fourth grade. They’re really nice. At first, we didn’t get along that well, but now we’re like brothers (Antúrio, 18, student).
Although Antúrio claims never to have experienced racism, his remark that “sometimes they make a joke or something” suggests the presence of subtle, normalized forms of coloniality within the school environment. This contradiction raises the question of why he denies having experienced racism while simultaneously referring to potentially racist teasing. Such a stance may reflect the internalized privileges of hegemonic masculinity or perhaps a sense of intimidation or shyness before peers. As hooks (2022) observes, Black men often refrain from problematizing their own existence, having internalized restrictive life scripts shaped by patriarchal thought.
When asked whether he had faced racism outside school, Antúrio revealed an awareness that certain spaces “weren’t made for him”. Although teasing had diminished over time at school, he encountered discrimination in public settings, where colonialities materialized in his daily life.
Once, my cousin and I were sitting near the bike racks at the mall, just waiting for our friends. We were beside a bike that was locked. Suddenly, a security guard came up to me and asked what I was doing there - just out of nowhere. I got really scared because the bike was new; I had just bought it (Antúrio, 18, student).
Episodes like this show how deeply racial prejudice is embedded in society. Even without cause, Antúrio was treated as a suspect simply for being near the bicycles. Alisson (17, student) asked how he had reacted to the security guard’s approach. Antúrio replied that he was frightened but “my friends showed up, and then the guy left” - an account that echoes his earlier statement that they were “like brothers”.
The fear Antúrio felt contrasts sharply with the “fear” he inspired in the guard. As Gomes and Laborne (2018, p. 18, our translation) note, “in the Brazilian social and racial imagination, the subject considered suspect number one the ‘dangerous element’ is still forbidden from leaving his place or entering other territories”. Thus, the fear he experienced reflects not only concern for his material safety but also anxiety over his physical and emotional integrity.
Before Antúrio could finish recounting the incident, a stir arose in another corner of the classroom. Alisson seemed to be explaining something to a classmate and, when invited to share, he clarified that he was commenting on never having seen a white person go through something similar - “unless they had really done something wrong or suspicious”. He added emphatically, “you’d have to be really suspicious to get stopped like that” (Alisson, 17, student).
By acknowledging that white people rarely experience such treatment, Alisson may be recognizing non-white individuals as racialized subjects as well. This form of border thinking represents an initial step toward what Schucman (2020, p. 201, our translation) describes as white people “displacing themselves from the position of cultural norm and hegemony”.
Touched by the content of statement 4, Jacinto, a cis-homosexual white student, adopted a similar stance and drew attention to how such discriminatory discourse also supports other forms of prejudice - such as fatphobia:
It’s clearly a racist statement, or maybe xenophobia as some said, but it’s also fatphobic. It’s about the bodies of Afro-descendants. Nobody asks, “how many arrobas do you weigh?” - it makes no sense. […] Imagine a kid hearing that his father’s body is being compared to cattle. […] Imagine what that does to your self-esteem (Jacinto, 17, student).
Jacinto’s border thinking adds to the discussion the dimension of affirmative representation, which challenges dehumanizing practices. For Gomes and Laborne (2018), this means that individuals can redefine what it means to belong to a historically oppressed group, transforming stigma into symbols of struggle and resistance. Such re-signification is essential to building a positive self-image and asserting rights.
Vigoya (2018) observes that, while this may seem self-evident, many men fail to recognize their own positions of privilege. In contrast, participants such as Narciso, Delfino, Alisson, and Jacinto demonstrated empathy, solidarity, and critical awareness in addressing sensitive issues such as racism, even though they were not directly affected by it. In this sense, these participants propose ruptures with the norms and logics reproduced by dominant thought.
Encouraged by his peers’ positions, Antúrio felt comfortable sharing another experience - this time concerning aesthetics. He revealed that for years he had wanted to wear his hair long but had always been prevented from doing so by family members who feared for his safety:
I remember when I was a kid - and even today it’s still kind of like that - but now that I’m older, I finally let my hair grow. I always wanted long hair, but my grandma and my mom always shaved it because they were afraid. They told me when I got older - they were afraid they [the police] would think I was some kind of criminal and mistake me for someone else. So my whole life I had a shaved head. I never liked it, I used to get mad, but now I understand (Antúrio, 18, student, our insertion).
From this account, we infer that his attempt to conform to the modern/colonial gender system (Lugones, 2020) - by appearing as “least suspicious” as possible - is also an attempt to escape the violence imposed by it. The fact that he eventually grew his hair as he got older, likely after entering the workforce and gaining some financial independence, reflects a break from the aesthetic subordination imposed on Black people.
It is also important to recognize that his family’s apprehension was neither unfounded nor exaggerated. The “Atlas of violence” reveals that the rate of homicide among Black people in Brazil has reached alarming proportions. When crossing gender and race as determinants, Black men remain at the forefront - representing 77% of those killed by the police. The risk of being murdered for Black men is three times higher than for non-Black people (Cerqueira; Bueno, 2024).
Furthermore, the historical moment in which Antúrio feels empowered to make this aesthetic choice coincides with the growing visibility of anti-racist movements in society. Over the past two decades, Black movements have promoted affirmative aesthetics through which young Black bodies have occupied new spaces, fostering the appreciation of curly hair and a form of peripheral aesthetics that has become increasingly recognized and celebrated (Gomes; Laborne, 2018).
The border thinking expressed by Antúrio teaches us to understand colonial legacies embedded in everyday dilemmas (Mignolo, 2003). Initially, he avoids recognizing racism -perhaps due to a lack of understanding of how it operates or as a survival strategy in hostile environments (Gomes; Laborne, 2018). Yet, even if timidly, his entire account is permeated by the denunciation of this coloniality, demonstrating a critical awareness in formation - one that first recognizes his condition and then moves toward emancipation.
Conclusion
Reflecting on the general aim of this article, we consider that the border thinking produced by this generation of young men currently enrolled in high school reveals a growing appropriation of elements that break with the idea of a universal, sterile, fixed, immutable, and neutral knowledge about masculinities. This movement in itself evidences processes of the decolonization of educational knowledge, which is often transmitted as content of predominantly Eurocentric origin and rarely aligned with students’ lived realities.
The pedagogical practice described here incorporates interculturality by promoting the recognition of cultural diversity, questioning colonial structures, and encouraging dialogue among knowledges rooted in historically subalternized experiences. In this regard, all participants can be included, as they are students of a public school - a condition that already implies a social-class marker distancing them from the hegemonic pattern of masculinity. Moreover, some participants recognize and affirm other markers of difference related to sexual, racial, and gender minorities in the constitution of their subjectivities.
The identification of prejudiced discourses and their association with scientifically grounded concepts encouraged debates through which students developed critical reflections that challenge oppressive systems intersecting patriarchy, whiteness, and cisheteronormativity. Thus, the purpose was not to reinforce domination, but rather to foster contact, dialogue, and the sharing of knowledge that contribute to a more humanized coexistence.
As we delved into the students’ narratives, we were guided toward a terrain of transformation and hope. The courageous confrontation of racism, evidenced in the experiences they shared, reveals not only the challenges but also the revolutionary potential of masculinities in transformation. The participants’ rethinking of whiteness signals a process of awareness that transcends the boundaries of the school.
By challenging stereotypes and standing in solidarity against colonialities, these young people point toward a future in which humanization prevails over dehumanization. This is a call to action - a promise of collective construction of a world where masculinities are no longer imprisoned by racial or sexual labels but instead flourish in a fertile ground of understanding, acceptance, and equity. This is the horizon of hope, where the seeds planted today may blossom into a more conscious, just, and democratic society.
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Support or funding:
University Scholarship Program of the State of Santa Catarina (UNIEDU).
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Availability of research data:
All data was generated/analyzed in this article.
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1
This study was funded by the University Scholarship Program of the State of Santa Catarina (UNIEDU).
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2
“From top to bottom - E - B - G - H - F - A - I - C - D” (Furlani, 2011, p. 153, our translation).
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3
I visited a quilombo in Eldorado Paulista. The lightest Afro-descendant there weighed seven arrobas. They do nothing! I don’t think they’re even good for breeding anymore.
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How to cite this article:
HENRIQUE, Eduardo dos Santos; ROCHA, Luciano Daudt da. Liminal thinking in conceptions of masculinities among high school students: an action research, Educar em Revista, Curitiba, v.42, e97915, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-0411.97915-T
All data was generated/analyzed in this article.
