CJ Pascoe
Encyclopedia
Cheri Jo "CJ" Pascoe is an American
sociologist and author, currently an assistant professor at Colorado College
, and interested in gender, youth, homophobia, sexuality and new media.
and raised in San Juan Capistrano
, a city in Orange County, California. She has one younger brother.
She received her undergraduate degree from Brandeis University
in Waltham, Massachusetts. After college she coordinated an eating disorder program in Boston. She then furthered her education with a PhD in Sociology from University of California at Berkeley. She was drawn to Berkeley because of their strong Gender Studies program, and attended 1997-2007.
Pascoe is especially interested in how teenage boys think of themselves as masculine. She spent a year and a half following teenage boys in a high school in California and found that they prove their masculinity by calling each other negative homosexual slurs. She found that these teenage boys prove themselves by calling others unmasculine or "fags" when they behave in unmasculine ways. “To call someone gay or fag is like the lowest thing you can call someone. Because that’s like saying that you’re nothing,” is how one teenage boy put it to Pascoe.
She has also been interested in the subculture that “Pro Ana” websites
create and how women with anorexia use the web as a way to connect and encourage anorexia and other eating disorders. “This is by all means not all anorexics; I wouldn't even say the majority of anorexics or people with eating disorders are in this kind of community. These are primarily women who set out to have an eating-disordered lifestyle. This is not a teenager who's gone on a diet and taken it too far and is getting help. There's a difference between those two things. These are, again, primarily women who take pride in their ability to deny themselves food and to keep their weight at this artificially low and dangerous level”
Pascoe's research has been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Toronto Globe and Mail, American Sexuality Magazine and Inside Higher Ed.
. She teaches courses in sexuality, social psychology, deviance, gender and education.
She has also taught sociology at Mills College
and the University of California, Berkeley
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sociologist and author, currently an assistant professor at Colorado College
Colorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
, and interested in gender, youth, homophobia, sexuality and new media.
Personal life
Pascoe was born in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
and raised in San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, California
San Juan Capistrano is a city in southern Orange County, California, located approximately southeast of Downtown Santa Ana. The current OMB metropolitan designation for San Juan Capistrano and the Orange County Area is “Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA.” The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census,...
, a city in Orange County, California. She has one younger brother.
She received her undergraduate degree from Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
in Waltham, Massachusetts. After college she coordinated an eating disorder program in Boston. She then furthered her education with a PhD in Sociology from University of California at Berkeley. She was drawn to Berkeley because of their strong Gender Studies program, and attended 1997-2007.
Sociologist career
Pascoe started her career as a sociologist right out of graduate school working as a consultant for the Digital Youth Project in California founded by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Digital Youth Project, based out of UC Berkeley, studies how youth use new media and addresses three main objectives: “The first objective is to describe kids as active innovators using digital media rather than as passive consumers of popular culture or academic knowledge. The second objective is to think about the implications of kids' innovative cultures for schools and higher education and to engage in a dialogue with educational planners. The third objective is to advise software designers about how to use kids' innovative approaches to knowledge and learning in building better software.” While Pascoe was working with the Digital Youth Project she studied teens and how they used new media. She found that they were mostly using forms of new media throughout their romantic and dating lives.Pascoe is especially interested in how teenage boys think of themselves as masculine. She spent a year and a half following teenage boys in a high school in California and found that they prove their masculinity by calling each other negative homosexual slurs. She found that these teenage boys prove themselves by calling others unmasculine or "fags" when they behave in unmasculine ways. “To call someone gay or fag is like the lowest thing you can call someone. Because that’s like saying that you’re nothing,” is how one teenage boy put it to Pascoe.
She has also been interested in the subculture that “Pro Ana” websites
Wannarexia
Wannarexia, or anorexic yearning,is a label applied to someone who claims to have anorexia nervosa, or wishes they did, but does not. These individuals are also called wannarexic “wanna-be ana” or "anorexic wannabe". The neologism wannarexia is a portmanteau of the latter two terms...
create and how women with anorexia use the web as a way to connect and encourage anorexia and other eating disorders. “This is by all means not all anorexics; I wouldn't even say the majority of anorexics or people with eating disorders are in this kind of community. These are primarily women who set out to have an eating-disordered lifestyle. This is not a teenager who's gone on a diet and taken it too far and is getting help. There's a difference between those two things. These are, again, primarily women who take pride in their ability to deny themselves food and to keep their weight at this artificially low and dangerous level”
Pascoe's research has been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Toronto Globe and Mail, American Sexuality Magazine and Inside Higher Ed.
Teaching career
Pascoe is currently an assistant professor at Colorado CollegeColorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
. She teaches courses in sexuality, social psychology, deviance, gender and education.
She has also taught sociology at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
and the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Books
Pascoe has published a variety of books, including:- Dude You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School (June, 2007). The book won the American Educational Research Association’s 2007 Book of the Year Award. The book documents the relationship between homophobic harassment, heterosexism and masculinity in high school.
- Pascoe is also a contributor to the coauthored book Hanging Out, Geeking Out and Messing Around: Living and Learning with New Media (November 2009). It is the largest qualitative study of youth new media use ever conducted.
- A further book, Anas, Mias and Wannas: Identity, Practice and Embodiment in Pro-Anorexia Communities, being coauthored with Professor Natalie Boero, is currently in production.