"Despite the remarkable changes in attitudes towards homosexuality in recent years, a continuing stream of homophobia has often been detected, especially among young men. This important book demonstrates vividly that this need not be the case. Based on a close study of three contrasting schools, Mark McCormack documents the ways in which full acceptance of homosexuality not only makes life better for gay young people, but also transforms heterosexual masculinity. No longer dependent on affirming their masculinity through homophobia, heterosexual young men are freed to explore a more open and flexible masculinity. This is a heartening book that charts the profound and positive transformation now taking place in young people''s culture, and makes one optimistic for the future." -- Jeffrey Weeks, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London South Bank University, and author of The Languages of Sexuality (2011) "One of the best books on male adolescents I''ve ever read, The Declining Significance of Homophobia documents a revolution, one in which gay youth are accepted and integrated alongside their heterosexual brethren, gay bullying is unacceptable, and heterosexual boys experience little fear about being emotional, soft, or non-violent. What has caused this revolution? McCormack argues it is the result of broader social changes regarding sexuality and gender, particularly among young people-the success of the gay rights movement, the declining significance of religion, and the reach of social media. Now the big question: Can this possibly cross the Atlantic?" -- Ritch C.

Savin-Williams, Chair and Professor of Human Development, and Director, Sex and Gender Lab, Cornell University "Through deep, careful study, McCormack unveils new possibilities for contemporary youth. His work challenges the longstanding assumption about contemporary masculinities that homophobia is a given. Learning from young people, his book foreshadows a new era in which youth lead the way in defining gender and masculinity in ways that aren''t fundamentally exclusionary. It is important scholarship and offers a hopeful vision of the future." -- Stephen T. Russell, Distinguished Professor and Fitch Nesbitt Endowed Chair and Director, Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families, University of Arizona "Overall, McCormack provides some compelling evidence that challenges certain thoughts and beliefs about homophobia in Western culture. He comments on the potential difficulty that his theses may have in the existing scholarship of LGBT research, but does so with a great deal of scholarly integrity." -- APA Division 4 Newsletter: Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues "New books receiving positive reviews are very often declared a ''welcome contribution'' to the field of enquiry, or words to such effect.

Such praise can sometimes be lavished a little too readily, but Mark McCormack''s The Declining Significance of Homophobia is entirely deserving of such an accolade. McCormack produces an impressive set of arguments and provides a range of theoretical developments that could re-shape debates about youth and adolescence and, more specifically, the seemingly on-going fascination regarding ''the trouble with boys''. Moreover, he does this in a particularly accessible style, knitting together the chapters in a way that will ensure that the expert remains stimulated and, importantly, that students or relative novices to the subject matter have their learning reinforced throughout." -- Steven Roberts, Journal of Youth and Adolesence "The term "groundbreaking research" is often bestowed too lightly, but it is richly deserved in the case of this book. Mark McCormack offers a pioneering and remarkably inspiring account of the declining significance of homophobia, and how teenage boys are redefining masculinity and heterosexuality (and homosexuality)." -- Times Higher Education "The real value of this book isn''t the way it rescues gay teens from victimhood, but in the revolution in masculinity it documents, about which many oldies are still in denial." -- The Independent.