Essay Question 9 - In relation to Maggie Hamilton’s two articles from her texts, What’s happening to our girls and What’s happening to our boys, discuss the differences between the modern and the postmodern boy and girl and the implications for education.

Question 1

Introduction to Essay Question 9 - In relation to Maggie Hamilton’s two articles from her texts, What’s happening to our girls and What’s happening to our boys, discuss the differences between the modern and the postmodern boy and girl and the implications for education.

Answer 1

Post-Modern Girls
• Influenced by body image, media, technology, fashion, sexual advertising and society’s expectation.
• There has been a significant increase in the need for young girls to look “sexy” in post-modern society. This pressure comes from various avenues, the main influences including the impact of media and the Internet. Young girls have far more access to content that is considered inappropriate for their age group because of early access to the Internet including social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The new “sexualised culture” in the post-modern world has transformed the way that companies are marketing their products to target impressionable young girls (What’s Happening to our Girls? Maggie Hamilton).
• The change from post-modern to modern society has changed dramatically. In modern times the influences from media were not as relevant due to the pre-internet times and there was lack of sexualised advertising.
Post-Modern Boys
• Postmodern Boys: Influenced by body image, technology, the media, drugs/substance abuse and peer pressure.
• The most notable change according to Maggie Hamilton for the post-modern boy compared to the modern boy is the heightened importance of physical presentation. The way that young boys present themselves in terms of hair, fashion and overall appearance has increased radically in post-modern society. Boys learn from a very young age that they need to be “big” and “strong”. Their favourite superheroes growing up all have similar muscular physiques. Clinician and Researcher Roberta Honigman writes that “The whole emphasis about perfection is fuelling body image issues”(What’s happening to our boys? p92). Teenage boys can feel an enormous amount of pressure because they are conditioned to think that they need to look a certain way in order to be accepted in society.
• Boys in the modern era were less concerned about their appearance and the way they presented themselves. Issues with body image weren’t as prevalent and were not seen as a huge issue in society in modern times.

Question 2

What are the implications on Education for Girls and Boys

Answer 2

• Constantly adapting the curriculum in order for students, teachers and parents to develop an understanding surrounding these issues is vital.
• Building Awareness- students need to be aware of potential risks in society. Bringing issues to the students attention needs to occur in order to avoid problems arising in the future. For example if a student is educated about the side effects of methamphetamines, they will be less likely to use the illicit drug.
• Finding Help- it is extremely important to advise students where they can find help if need support or information on a particular issue. The fear is that students may keep their problems to themselves in fear or just simply unknowingness. Through education we are able to tackle these areas so that students will understand what action they can take. They need to know that there is always help available for them.

Question 3

Some extra boys quotes if you would like to use them. All from the booklet (Hamilton, 2008)

Answer 3

• “Teens perform to keep their friends interested, to be popular. Basically popularity helps them survive”
• “Today’s teens are terrified of being branded losers…”
• “People do start to drink and do drugs, and going out to fit in.”
• “guys get anxious about themselves”
• “it’s only recently we have begun to focus on boys’
• “There is a lot more pressure for boys to be good looking.

Question 4

Some extra girls quotes (Hamilton, 2008)

Answer 4

• “The more pervasive our sexualised culture becomes, the more it influences how girls see themselves.”
• “Soon sexy, out of control behaviour seems the way to be noticed…”
• “It’s not just make-up and sexy clothing that is cause for concern, so too is girls’ access to inappropriate information and behaviour.”
• “Our young girls absorb everything that is around them”