The data in this paper comes from an ethnographic exploration into the construction of masculinities in three junior schools in the UK between 1998 and 1999. I argue that the construction and performance of masculinity is inextricably linked to the acquisition of status within the school peer group, and I delineate the specific series of resources and strategies that the boys draw on and use in each setting to achieve this. The different meanings and practices at each school, and the different array of resources available, means that there are a different set of options and/or opportunities within each school setting to do boy, and I classify these as being either open (possible), restricted (more difficult), or closed (almost impossible). The principal and most esteemed resource used by the boys was physicality and athleticism, and I highlight the link between masculinity and the body
