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Pupils sexual and Gender Identities - Coggle Diagram
Pupils sexual and Gender Identities
Double Standards
Sexual activity is approved of and given status by male peers, but "promiscuity" among girls attracts negative labels.
Lees (1993):
there is a double standard of sexual morality: boys can boast about their sexual exploits, but call a girl a slag if she doesn't have a steady boyfriend or dresses/speaks a certain way.
Feminists: these double standards are evidence of patriarchal ideology that justifies male power and devalues women. They are a form of social control, reinforces gender inequality by keeping females subordinate.
Female Peer Groups
Ringrose (2013)
studied 13-14 year old w/c girls, found that being popular was crucial to the girls' identities, but there was a tension between:
An idealised feminine identity
: showing loyalty to female peer group, being non-competitive, getting along with everyone in a friendship culture
A sexualised identity
: involved competing for boys in a dating culture
Archer: w/c girls' perform a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity to gain symbolic capital (status, popularity) through nike identities, brands, sexy image. Female peers police this identity= risk of exclusion if they don't conform.
Currie et al (2007)
Relationships with boys can give symbolic capital, but this is a high risk game- girls are forced to do a balancing act between the two identities.
Girls who are too competitive/ think themselves better than peers= risk being slut-shamed and excluded from the friendship culture
Girls who don't compete for bfs may face frigid shaming by other girls
shaming= social control device that allows schoolgirls to police, regulate and discipline each other's identities
Reay (2001)
Boffin Identity: girls who want to be successful educationally feel the need to conform to the school's notion of an idealised feminine pupil identity= performed an asexual identity, presenting themselves as lacking interest in bfs
This risks being given a boffin identity, excluded by other girls, as well as boys.
Male Gaze
This is a visual way of controlling pupils' sexual identities: it is a form of surveillance where dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity is devalued.
Mac an Ghaill:
this is the way male pupils and teachers look girls up and down, seeing them as sexual objects and making judgements about their appearance.
Males prove their masculinity through the male gaze e.g. constant retelling of sexual conquests to impress male friends. Those who don't display heterosexuality like this risk being labelled gay.
Verbal Abuse
Paetcher
: name-calling is a way to shape gender identity and maintain male power. Use of negative labels such as gay, queer, lezzie are ways for pupils to police each other's sexual identities.
Parker (1996):
boys were labelled as gay simply for being friendly with girls or female teachers. Labels often bear no relation to pupils' actual sexual behaviour, their function is just to reinforce gender norms and identities.
Connell
: verbal abuse is used to reinforce dominant gender and sexual identities. E.g. Lees: boys name-calling girls slags if they appeared sexually available, drags if they didn't
Connell (1995):
hegemonic masculinity- the dominance of heterosexual masculine identities and the subordination of female and gay identities.
Male Peer Groups
Mac an Ghaill (1994)
Peer groups reproduce class-based masculine gender identities:
w/c macho lads
were dismissive of other w/c boys who worked hard and aspired to m/c careers, referred to them as dickhead achievers.
m/c "real Englishmen"
projected an image of "effortless achievement" (but in some cases they actually worked hard in secret)
Redman and Mac an Ghaill:
the dominant definition of masculine identity changes from the macho lads one in lower school to the real Englishmen one in sixth form. This shows a shift away from w/c definition of masculinity based on toughness to a m/c one based on ability, reflecting m/c composition and atmosphere of sixth form.
Male peer groups use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity. Boys in anti-school subcultures often accuse boys who want to do well of being gay/ effeminate.
Teachers and Discipline
Teachers reinforce dominant definitions of gender identity.
Mac an Ghaill:
male teachers told boys off for "behaving like girls" and teased them when they gained lower marks in tests than girls. Tended to ignore boys' verbal abuse of girls, even blamed girls for attracting it.
Askew and ross (1988):
male teachers' behaviour can subtly reinforce messages about gender e.g. protective attitude towards female colleagues, coming in to their classes to "rescue" them and discipline disruptive students