Lo feo y lo grotesco en la narrativa fantástica de Samanta Schweblin

Many of the comments made by participants in this study about avoiding physical contact were delivered in combination with remarks indicating a fear of being falsely accused of acting inappropriately.This fear has been identified by previous literature on male primary teachers (e.g., Ashcraft & Sevier, 2006; Gosse, 2011; Smedley, 2007). Numerous participants were concerned about their genuine actions and attempts to assist students being misinterpreted, and fearful of the consequences of any misinterpretation;

It [awareness of not making physical contract with students] comes from a deep-seated fear, a genuine and valid one, as a result of how males in a nurturing role are still viewed by women and indeed society. One look at the news shows just how ruinous a misinterpretation or false accusation can be for a male. So who in their right mind would put themselves in any situation that could possibly lead to a complaint of any sort? The media like to say they’re blameless but let's face it the remotest hint that a male somewhere has acted inappropriately they are all over it and regardless of what the reality of the situation might be they make sure it's plastered everywhere. So I simply just avoid it [physical contact] at all costs. Thankfully no one has ever said to me “God you are a heartless bastard”, even though you sometimes feel that. For me it's just a case of I don't want there to be any possibility of any

misunderstanding or misinterpreting about what is going on (Fenton, Interview 1, August 2014)

Occasionally if a child is doing the wrong thing I'll pick them up and carry them. If I do that, I hold them around the waist at arm’s length so they can't

118 kick me and they are looking the other way. If they have to be carried I'll generally carry them with my fists held out so people can see where my hands are and that they are not tucked away. So I'm just mindful of appearances and the fact it could be misconstrued. So I make it very obvious that there is nothing going on here (Fred, Interview 1, August 2014).

These and other comments indicated that participants in this study were very fearful of their actions being misinterpreted or misconstrued, and very aware of the potential consequences for them if this occurred. Previous research (e.g., Gosse, 2011) has similarly noted that male primary teachers are very cautious in their interactions with students because of the potential for accusations of inappropriate conduct when doing what many women would consider accepted ways of nurturing their young pupils. The fear felt by participants in this study was underpinned by a belief that men and women were treated differently in the instance of an accusation. Fenton’s comments suggest that men who work with young children are perceived as suspicious by society. This belief was supported by previous research (e.g., Bhana & Moosa, 2016; Mills et al., 2008; Smith, 2008) that stated that male primary teachers have to deal with societal suspicions of being paedophiles, sexually deviant and therefore dangerous to children. If male primary teachers are truly perceived this way by society, then their fear of the consequences of a misinterpretation appeared entirely justified.

Fenton was particularly vocal on this topic, primarily because he had seen colleagues at his previous schools treated very differently following an accusation;

I have been in two schools where a staff member has been accused of inappropriate behaviour. In one instance the allegations were a complete

119 fabrication and the male teacher was cleared, it was just a kid with issues who decided he was going to pick on a teacher who had given him a hard time for stuffing around in the choir. But I got to see firsthand just how males are dealt with and the impact it had. And this wasn’t a single man, this was a married man with young children and no history of any problems whatsoever and he went through hell. Colleagues, parents etc all avoided him like the plague and he eventually left. I remember hearing a lot about that incident and everyone was talking about it. In the other instance the perpetrator was actually a female and she was guilty and it virtually had no publicity whatsoever. I didn't even know about it until a colleague told me about it about a month later. I had to go searching on the net to find even the tiniest reference to it. So this was a female who had actually done something inappropriate and the boys’ fathers just called it life experience. They said "let's just chalk it up to life experience, they just got it a bit early" and I just thought “what the fuck?” If it had been a male teacher and a girl it would not have been hushed up. It would have been on the front page, it would have been publicly known, it would have been on the news and it would have been the end of someone's career (Fenton, Interview 2, November 2014).

Fenton’s experience best reflected other participants’ perceptions that male teachers can be left unsupported in situations where they are falsely accused, whereas their female teachers can be far less affected even if they are guilty. Although a number of female teachers have been suspended for inappropriate behaviour in recent years (e.g., Baskin, 2014; Killick, 2016; Olding, 2013), participants believed they were far more

120 vulnerable to accusations. This view was underpinned by a belief that male primary teachers were perceived as less trustworthy than their female colleagues.

If this is indeed the case, then these perceptions appear to be in direct opposition to the numerous calls (e.g., Carrington, et al., 2007; Martin & Marsh, 2005) for more male primary teachers found in both academia and the mainstream media over the last 15 years. The dichotomy this scenario presented for male primary teachers was that they were simultaneously perceived as both valuable and suspicious. Numerous participants pointed to the media as being a strong influence on these contradictory perceptions and the fear and uncertainty they resulted in.