Schools shaping gender identity Flashcards
Gendered verbal behaviour
Boys dominate talk in mixed-sex classrooms, drowning out girls’ talk & often interrupting & ridiculing girls’ contributions. Boys therefore gain greater proportions of the teachers’ time & attention, though a lot of this is to do with discipline rather than learning
Boys are also frequently verbally abusive in ways that reinforce their masculinity, such as belittling behaviour they see as gay or girly, & showing contempt for all things female, often using terms of abuse relating to women or female body parts. This reinforces male identity as well as patriarchy
According to Connell boys use name-calling to put girls down if they behave in certain ways. Paetcher found that name-calling helps to shape gender identities & male dominance. The use of negative labels such as ‘gay’ & ‘queer’ are ways in which pupils can control each other’s sexual identities.
labels often do not reflect actual behaviour; they reinforce gender norms – e.g. boys may be called ‘gay’ simply for having female friends.
Gendered physical behaviour
Boys & girls tend to sit in separate groups in the classroom. While girls might resist schooling, it is likely to be in more passive ways, like reading magazines, chatting or doing their make-up, instead of working; boys are more likely to get into confrontations with the teacher.
This creates a sense of girls being ‘invisible’ in the classroom. Boys also dominate physical space, through playground behaviour, sprawling at desks, & literally taking up more room when they more boisterously move around the classroom.
Research suggests this is, consciously or unconsciously, an exercise of patriarchal power & control by some boys over girls.
Gendered pursuits
Girls’ classroom talk & activity often involve pursuits that focus on their appearance & the construction of femininity, – attractive to what Mac an Ghaill called the ‘male gaze’. Boys’ focus mirrors this, involving constructing their masculinity through boasting about their alleged sexual conquests, & how far girls would let them go
Boys & girls also have a double standard when they talk about sexual behaviour, with promiscuous boys seeing themselves in a positive light, yet at the same time similarly promiscuous girls are often called ‘slags’ or ‘sluts’ by both genders.
this is one of the ways boys prove their masculinity
Gendered classroom behaviour & power
mixed-sex classroom, girls often help in supporting boys, such as clearing up after them & helping them with homework, & girls defer to boys in classroom interaction. Girls may also find themselves silenced, ridiculed, or physically or sexually abused or harassed by boys.
Happens most often to the most assertive or self-confident girls, who risk challenging boys & undermining their masculinity, & whom boys feel they have to punish to show them who is boss. Girls may also face ridicule by other girls if they don’t conform to mainstream conceptions of femininity. Such things reinforce the patriarchal power of boys over girls, as well as reinforcing stereotypes of masculinity & femininity.
The role of teachers
Francis suggests teachers also contribute to creating & perpetuating gender stereotypes. She points out that teachers often have different expectations of pupils according to their gender, with girls expected to be relatively quiet, conformist, obedient & conscientious compared to boys.
girls who don’t conform to what is seen as appropriate gender behaviour & behave badly are penalised more heavily than boys
Hayward found that male teachers told boys off for ‘behaving like girls’ & teased them when they achieved lower marks than female students. Also, teachers tended to ignore boys’ verbal abuse of girls & even blamed girls for attracting it.
