b'Fag Discourse: An Exploration of Masculinity, Environmental Factors, Suicide, and Violence among Adolescent BoysKelsey Leah Morton, Department of Womens and Gender StudiesFaculty Sponsor: Dr. Christine James, Department of Womens and Gender StudiesThis paper is in response to C.J. Pascoes Guys Are Just Homophobic: Rethinking Adolescent Homophobia and Heterosexuality. It examines adolescent boys use of derogatory terms like faggot and shows the effects that this type of discourse has on both homosexuals and heterosexuals presumed to be gay. There are five cases mentioned where boys, ages eleven to seventeen, have been involved in suicides and school shootings as a result. Environmental factors, including boys upbringing, pop culture influences, and gender socialization, are explored to determine the reason for fag discourse. Research showing that boys often feel the need to protect their masculinity and heterosexuality provides a main source to the issue and is further analyzed through an interview I conducted with a fourteen-year-old boy in a style similar to Pascoes own studies. The information found in this research provides potential solutions to raise further awareness and hinder unnecessary violence among adolescent boys.79'