Digital Commons Network^™

Proud Of Your Boy: Toxic Masculinity, Boyhood, And The American Musical, Aaron J. Wood

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project traces the cultural historiography of the phrase "boys will be boys" and examines the pattern of white male excusal it embodies through a case-study based survey of onstage depictions of boyhood in musical theatre. I argue that the generational idea of manhood as aggressive, competitive, and violent is continually reasserted through our passive acceptance of white boy violence. This dissertation looks to the musicals Newsies, West Side Story, Heathers, and Dear Evan Hansen as case studies for exploring the cultural lineage of the phrase “boys will be boys.” Like the works of Aaron Thomas, Raymond …