According to C. J. Pascoe's research in a U. S. high school, which of the following did students use to establish and protect their sense of masculinity?

"f-a-g" discourse

Explanation:

The boys at the high school oftentimes build their self of worth based on how manly they could look over the other boys. They generally believed that they will obtain high social status when they do so. So, when their sense of masculinity was threaten, they often use that word to protect their sense of masculinity.

That word is a derivative term that often use to describe homosexual men. According to the research, when the boys felt their masculinity was compromised by others (for example, the girl that they like choose someone who is less traditionally masculine compared to them) they often use that word to infer that those other people are homosexuals that are not as 'manly' as them.