DOCSLIB.ORG

Examining Girls‟ Changing Experiences with the Socially Constructed Labels

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Examining Girls‟ Changing Experiences with the Socially Constructed Labels As the Body Unfolds: Examining Girls‟ Changing Experiences with the Socially Constructed Labels „Tomboy‟ and „Girly Girl‟ by Robyn Barbara Legge A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Robyn Barbara Legge 2011 AS THE BODY UNFOLDS: EXAMINING GIRLS’ CHANGING EXPERIENCES WITH THE SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED LABELS ‘TOMBOY’ AND ‘GIRLY GIRL’ Doctor of Philosophy 2011 Robyn Barbara Legge Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology University of Toronto Abstract This study explored the lived experiences of girls with the socially constructed labels „tomboy‟ and „girly girl‟. Using a prospective, life history, qualitative methodology, girls between the ages of nine to fourteen years old were interviewed up to four times over five years for an extensive embodiment project. The present study investigated girls‟ narratives of the „tomboy‟/ „girly girl‟ dichotomy to deepen an understanding of how gender discourses affect how girls learn to live in their bodies. A total of 87 interviews were collected from 27 girls representing diverse social and cultural backgrounds as well as different urban and rural Canadian locations. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed for themes using the constant comparison method from Grounded Theory. Examining the data from a feminist poststructuralist theoretical approach, three main dimensions emerged that described these girls‟ experiences of living with these labels from childhood through adolescence. The first dimension described the shared cultural stereotypes of the „tomboy‟ and „girly girl‟ labels. The second dimension delineated the social outcomes in terms of the privileges and consequences associated with each label in childhood and in adolescence. The third dimension highlighted girls own negotiated self experiences and identities in relation to this gender dichotomy. Through its prospective design, this research uniquely delineated the complex range of experiences girls have within gender discourses and explored how labels work to control and restrict girls‟ freedom to stay connected to their self and body. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My journey through graduate school has been filled with interesting and challenging experiences that have helped me grow as a researcher, as a clinician and as a woman. I have so thoroughly enjoyed the topic of my doctoral dissertation and have many people to thank and extend my appreciation to for their kindness, support, encouragement, and guidance. As noted in my dedication, I am so very thankful to the twenty-seven bright young women who courageously participated in this research project. Thank you for sharing your time over five years to help us further understand the dilemmas that girls today face. To each of the girls that I personally interviewed, I learned something from each and every one of you at every meeting. Your willingness to explore complex questions about the body, to share your own struggles and triumphs, and to offer your thoughts and emotional experience in your own body journey was inspiring. To the entire team of fellow graduate students who have worked on this embodiment project over the last eight years, thank you for the many discussions throughout the stages of this project that have helped deepen my understanding of qualitative research and feminist analysis. Thank you for your friendship, mentorship, support, and guidance throughout all the stages of my dissertation project. I am extremely grateful to my family and my friends who have supported, encouraged, and motivated me throughout my years in the doctoral program. The support of family and friends was immeasurable in helping me get through to the end. Throughout my rather nomadic journey through this doctoral degree, this dissertation project and I have enjoyed the comforts and caretaking of many different homes in, not just different cities, but different countries as well. Thank you to the friends who have provided couches and spare rooms for weekend (or longer) stays during periods of transition. Thank you to my families in Winnipeg and Iquitos iii for the much longer stays while I worked away on this project. Thank you for tolerating my frustrations during times of great stress, for encouraging me to keep at it when I was feeling overwhelmed, for reminding me to have fun along the way, and for loving me unconditionally. In particular, thank you to my parents for all your love and support throughout my life, for encouraging, supporting and guiding me to believe I am worthy and able to achieve and to succeed throughout my life journey. To my partner Pedro, thank you for supporting me to finish this doctoral degree, despite the distance we have had to maintain in order for that to happen. Your love, encouragement and comfort have helped me more than I can express. I want to thank my committee members, Dr. Karin Jasper and Dr. Brenda Toner. It is such an honour and privilege to have such strong, intelligent, feminist clinicians and researchers on my committee. Your feedback, guidance, and support is most valued and appreciated. To my supervisor, Dr. Niva Piran, I am overwhelmed with emotion as I say thank you for all that you have given me over these last eight years in graduate school. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your understanding and compassion throughout my journey, with all its ups and downs; for your support and flexibility with my unorthodox choices; for your interest in knowing me and seeing me for all that I am; for your encouragement of my academic skills; and for your guidance and mentorship that have helped shape me into the feminist woman I am today. You have inspired so many young women in your role as a professor and researcher and I am thankful and appreciative to be one of them. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………… iii LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………… ix LIST OF APPENDICES………………………………………………………………….. x DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………. xi INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter One Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………………. 5 Post-structuralism…………………………………………………………………. 5 Feminist Post-structuralism………………………………………………………... 8 Literature Review Discourses of Gender……………………………………………………………… 12 Labels of femininity……………………………………………………….. 23 Tomboy……………………………………………………………. 27 Girly Girl…………………………………………………………... 40 Rationale for the Current Study…………………………………………………………… 50 Chapter Two Methodology Qualitative research………………………………………………………………... 53 Subjectivity of the researcher……………………………………………………… 54 Participants………………………………………………………………………… 54 Procedure………………………………………………………………………….. 54 The interview……………………………………………………………………… 55 Data analysis………………………………………………………………………. 56 Chapter Three Cultural Stereotypes: The „tomboy‟ and „girly girl‟ labels……………………………….. 59 Childhood…………………………………………………………………………. 59 The „tomboy‟ label………………………………………………………… 59 Aspects of appearance……………………………………………... 59 Clothing……………………………………………………. 59 Hair………………………………………………………… 60 Activities and interests…………………………………………….. 61 Sports……………………………………………………… 61 Being physically active……………………………………. 62 Being outdoors…………………………………………….. 63 Social Behaviours…………………………………………………. 64 Interpersonal Style…………………………………………. 64 Social Preferences…………………………………………. 65 The „girly girl‟ label……………………………………………………….. 66 Aspects of appearance………………………………………………66 v Clothing……………………………………………………. 66 Hair………………………………………………………… 67 Makeup…………………………………………………….. 68 Activities and interests…………………………………………….. 69 No sports…………………………………………………… 69 Appearance-related activities………………………………. 69 Sedentary activities………………………………………… 70 Social Behaviours…………………………………………………. 72 Interpersonal Style…………………………………………. 72 Social Preferences………………………………………….. 74 Adolescence……………………………………………………………………….. 75 The „tomboy‟ label…………………………………………………………. 76 Aspects of appearance………………………………………………76 Clothing……………………………………………………. 76 Hair………………………………………………………… 78 Activities and interests…………………………………………….. 79 Social Behaviours…………………………………………………. 80 Interpersonal Style…………………………………………. 80 Social Preferences………………………………………….. 81 The „girly girl‟ label……………………………………………………….. 82 Aspects of appearance………………………………………………82 Clothing……………………………………………………. 82 Hair………………………………………………………… 85 Makeup…………………………………………………….. 86 Activities and interests…………………………………………….. 87 No sports…………………………………………………… 87 Appearance-related activities………………………………. 88 Shopping…………………………………………………… 89 Sedentary activities………………………………………… 90 Social Behaviours………………………………………………….. 91 Interpersonal Style…………………………………………. 91 Social Preferences………………………………………….. 93 Summary of Shared Cultural Stereotypes in Childhood and Adolescence………………… 93 Summary Chart of „Tomboy‟ and „Girly Girl‟ Labels in Childhood and Adolescence…… 96 Chapter Four Social Outcomes: Privileges and Consequences of the „Tomboy‟ and „Girly Girl‟ Labels 97 Childhood………………………………………………………………………….. 97 Privileges associated with each label………………………………………. 97 Privileges of being a „tomboy……………………………………… 97 Strong connection to self………………………………….. 98 Comfortable in one‟s body………………………………… 98 Physical freedom to be passionate about activity and sport...101 Privileges of being a „girly girl‟…………………………………… 102 Male romantic attention…………………………………… 102 Social currency…………………………………………….. 103 Consequences associated with
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Gender and Audience Reception of English-Translated Manga
    Girly Girls and Pretty Boys: Gender and Audience Reception of English-translated Manga June M. Madeley University of New Brunswick, Saint John Introduction Manga is the term used to denote Japanese comic books. The art styles and publishing industry are unique enough to warrant keeping this Japanese term for what has become transnational popular culture. This paper represents a preliminary analysis of interview data with manga readers. The focus of the paper is the discussion by participants of their favourite male and female characters as well as some general discussion of their reading practices. Males and females exhibit some reading preferences that are differentiated by gender. There is also evidence of gendered readings of male and female characters in manga. Manga in Japan are published for targeted gender and age groups. The broadest divisions are between manga for girls, shōjo, and manga for boys, shōnen. Unlike Canada and the USA, manga is mainstream reading in Japan; everyone reads manga (Allen and Ingulsrud 266; Grigsby 64; Schodt, Dreamland 21). Manga stories are first serialized in anthology magazines with a specific target audience. Weekly Shōnen Jump is probably the most well known because it serializes the manga titles that have been made into popular anime series on broadcast television in North America (and other transnational markets) such as Naruto and Bleach. Later, successful titles are compiled and reprinted as tankobon (small digest-sized paperback books). The tankobon is the format in which manga are translated into English and distributed by publishers with licensing rights purchased from the Japanese copyright holders. Translated manga are also increasingly available through online scanlations produced by fans who are able to translate Japanese to English.
    [Show full text]
  • Barnett Family Halloween a Vampire and Moana Go Trick-Or-Treating
    CaseBarnettLaw.com 949-565-2993 OCTOBER 2018 BARNETT FAMILY HALLOWEEN A VAMPIRE AND MOANA GO TRICK-OR-TREATING On Sept. 1, my wife and son were both ready to start decorating for the season. Ever since he was a baby, The weather outside may still be hot and beautiful, but inside our house, Nicole Finn has loved going in the has created a cozy fall retreat. It even Halloween stores and seeing smells like fall in our house. Meanwhile, Finn is on a mission to turn our home into all the scary, gory decorations. a real house of horrors. We were a little behind on decorating the new house for fall because we spent a week in San Diego while the water restoration team cleaned up Finn’s waterfall. But we’re personalities will be. Finn back on schedule now and the house certainly shows it. has decided he’s going to be a vampire this year, and he A few weeks ago, we took Finn to Lowes, where they had those big wanted Harlow to be a bat. inflatable Halloween decorations on display. Finn became obsessed with When Harlow heard this, them, and long story short, there’s a 16-foot-tall blow-up ghost hanging she just shook her head and out on our front lawn. It’s so obnoxious and awesome — we’re like the declared, “No! Me Moana!” Halloween Griswolds of our neighborhood. Our family goes bananas for She wants to dress like the Halloween, mainly because of Finn. We end up swinging by the pop-up main character from the Halloween store a few times throughout the season to get all the supplies Disney movie “Moana.” Nicole we need.
    [Show full text]
  • Resources​​To​​Support Equity​​&​​Inclusive​​Education
    Resources to Support ​ ​ ​ ​ Equity & Inclusive Education ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Grades 9-12 ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​ Print Resources ​ ​ Book Kits – A selection of Fiction and Nonfiction books on a topic ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Equity and Inclusive Education: Transgender resources ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Equity and Inclusive Education: LGBTQ resources ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Issues 21 is a dynamic, cutting-edge literacy series that dares students to imagine a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ world where change is possible and, when equipped with the right knowledge, skills, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ and tools, they can make it happen. Sets of 6 copies with a Teacher’s Guide. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Oppression of Women Mental Health ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​ ​ Poverty Justice ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ Discrimination Novel Sets – 10 copies in a bin When E​ v​ eryth​ ​in​ g​ Fe​ e​ ls Like t​ h​ e ​ M​ ​o​ vies ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ I’ll Give You the Sun ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Calling Dr. Laura (graphic novel ) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Kite Runner ​ ​ American Born Chinese (graphic novel) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ A Long Way Gone ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Bifocal Monster Wenjack
    [Show full text]
  • The Power of Live Performance
    THE POWER OF LIVE PERFORMANCE Music director Daniel Meyer tells us why 2011-2012 might be the best season yet for the Asheville Symphony. PAGE 16 Asheville Bravo Concerts opens its 80th season with a performance by the National Acrobats of China, one of four distinct and dynamic performances. PAGE 22 Kristen Hedberg, Asheville Lyric Opera’s new Associate Artistic Director, shares a behind the scenes peek at Madama Butterfly. PAGE 3 PLUS: The Altamont Theatre page 19 Robb Helmkamp, contemporary furniture maker page 21 Chall Gray and Sandee Shaffer Johnson, Steven Samuels owner of the Bizarre Bazaar page 23 at the Magnetic Patti Best, landscape artist page 23 Heritage Weekend Field. PAGE 17 at the Folk Art Center page 24 Blake Sneed of Bogart’s page 37 13th Season Diana Wortham Theatre ashevillelyric.org Box Office: 828-257-4530 PG. 20 A September 2011 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 15, No. 1 PRINTS COLOR RAPID RIVER ARTS performance INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEWED BY DENNIS RAY Kristen Hedberg uccini’s Madama Butterfly returns to Asheville, this time featuring Jennifer Davison, international soprano, in the title role. Jon Truitt, acclaimed director of last season’s The Magic PFlute, returns to direct this beautiful new production. This Italian opera is set in Nagasaki, Japan at the turn of the last century. The story centers on a young geisha whose life is changed forever by an American naval officer, exploring the sacrifices she makes Kristen Hedberg, Associate Artistic Director, for true love and the cruelty of the world Asheville Lyric Opera. around her.
    [Show full text]
  • Chuck Palahniuk Snuff 1
    Chuck Palahniuk Snuff 1. Mr. 600 One dude stood all afternoon at the buffet wearing just his boxers, licking the orange dust off barbecued potato chips. Next to him, a dude was scooping into the onion dip and licking the dip off the chip. The same soggy chip, scoop after scoop. Dudes have a million ways of peeing on what they claim as just their own. For craft services, we’re talking two folding tables piled with open bags of store-brand corn chips and canned sodas. Dudes getting called back to do their bit—the wrangler announces their numbers, and these performers stroll back for their money shot still chewing a mouthful of caramel corn, their fingers burning with garlic salt and sticky with the frosting from maple bars. Some one-shot dudes, they’re just here to say they were. Us veterans, we’re here for the face time and to do Cassie a favor. Help her one more dick toward that world record. To witness history. On the buffet, they got laid out Tupperwares full of condoms next to Tupperwares of mini-pretzels. Fun-sized candy bars. Honey-roasted peanuts. On the floor, plastic wrappers from candy bars and condoms, bit and chewed open. The same hands scooping M&M’s as reaching into the fly and elastic waistband of boxers to stroke their half-hard dicks. Candy-colored fingers. Tangy ranch-flavored erections. Peanut breath. Root-beer breath. Barbecued-potato-chip breath getting panted into Cassie’s face. Tweakers scratching their arms bright red. High-school virgins wanting to lose it on camera.
    [Show full text]
  • The Girl in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction
    Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2011 The irG l in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction Sarah T. O'Connor Union College - Schenectady, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Fiction Commons Recommended Citation O'Connor, Sarah T., "The irlG in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction" (2011). Honors Theses. 1038. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1038 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Title: Chick-Lit Fiction Impact The Girl in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction By Sarah T. O‘Connor * * * * * * * * * Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Departments of English and Psychology UNION COLLEGE June, 2011 ii ABSTRACT O‘CONNOR, SARAH The Girl in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Popular Chick-lit Fiction. Departments of English and Psychology, June 2011. ADVISORS: Professors Judith Lewin, Claire Bracken, Suzanne Benack This thesis discusses ―chick-lit‖ series in relation to popular culture, adolescent development, and feminist theory. The role of the female in the United States is currently dominated by both neo-liberal and conservative postfeminist ideology. Postfeminism advocates female empowerment via consumption, sexual attractiveness and physical beauty, while at the same time valorizing passive femininity and the roles of wife and mother.
    [Show full text]
  • Being Les: Reimagining Masculinity and Femininity Through Body Work
    UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Lipstick tales Beauty and precarity in a southern Philippine boomtown Taqueban, E.M. Publication date 2018 Document Version Other version License Other Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Taqueban, E. M. (2018). Lipstick tales: Beauty and precarity in a southern Philippine boomtown. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:05 Oct 2021 Chapter 3 Being Les: Reimagining Masculinity and Femininity through Body Work True to her promise, Ellie introduces me to her les friends. One of them is Junie, who she grew up and went to school with. “We never became a ‘thing.’ We were not each other’s type,” she confides, laughing. Junie is 19 years old and a self-identified les (a term commonly used by young lesbians in the city to refer to themselves).
    [Show full text]
  • Rich, Attractive People in Attractive Places Doing Attractive Things Tonya Walker Virginia Commonwealth University
    Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2006 Rich, Attractive People In Attractive Places Doing Attractive Things Tonya Walker Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons © The Author Downloaded from http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/992 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Rich, Attractive People Doing Attractive Things in Attractive Places - A Monologue from Hell - - by Tonya Walker, Master of Fine Arts Candidate Major Director: Tom De Haven, Professor, Department of English Acknowledgement This thesis could not have been completed - completed in the loosest sense of the word - had in not been for the time and involvement of three men. I'd like to thank my mentor David Robbins for his unfailing and passionate disregard of my failings as a writer, my thesis director Tom De Haven for his patient support and stellar suggestions that are easily the best in the book and my husband Philip whose passionate disregard of my failings and patient support are simply the best. Abstract RICH, ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE IN ATTRACTIVE PLACES DOING ATTRACTIVE THINGS By Tonya Walker, M.F.A. A these submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2006 Major Director: Tom De Haven, Professor, Department of English Rich, Attractive People in Attractive Places Doing Attractive Things is a fictional memoir of a dead Manhattan socialite from the 1950's named Sunny Marcus.
    [Show full text]
  • Super Cow By: Daniel “Pendragon” © 2002
    Super Cow By: Daniel “Pendragon” © 2002 I know that Super Cow seems a tad hokey, but after thinking long and hard after the debacle that created me, it was the closest thing that I could think of that best described me. That and I was a grand fan of the cartoon Cow and Chicken. My name is Danni Macaw; a simple, eighteen year old, tiny little girl – well… once upon a time ago that is – with no aspirations of anything other than to tend the farm, and be as strong and able-bodied as a woman could be. At the time, however, I could barely lift a single bale of hay. It was at least a start. Most of the boys I knew couldn’t even do that. The day of the change, however, I remember standing in my room, eyeing myself in my bedroom mirror, a floor to ceiling thing that was attached to the back of my door, while I stood there naked and striking one of those poses I saw the female body builders use. Rather unimpressive. My chest was nothing more the buds, my hips were straight instead of broad and rounded, and the V-shaped wedge between my thighs was all of a downy gold… really nothing more than peach fuzz. All of my friends were taller than me, and were fully developed. You guys think you have it bad in the locker rooms… well think of what we girls have to contend with. We have to deal with more ridicule, and hiding one’s groin is a whole lot easier than hiding one’s chest, or lack there of.
    [Show full text]
  • Managing Visibility, Sexualities and Risk in the Night Time Economy in Newcastle, UK Emily Nicholls
    ‘Dulling it down a bit’: Managing Visibility, Sexualities and Risk in the Night Time Economy in Newcastle, UK Emily Nicholls This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Gender, Place & Culture on 08/03/17, available at http://wwww.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0966369X.2017.1298575 Current affiliation: University of Portsmouth Lecturer in Sociology School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies Milldam Building Burnaby Road Portsmouth, Hampshire UK PO1 3AS 02392 842229 [email protected] Affiliation when the research was conducted: Newcastle University School of Geography, Politics and Sociology Newcastle upon Tyne UK NE1 7RU Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council under Grant 1116903. Disclosure Statement: I confirm that no financial interest or benefit has been accrued from the direct application of my research. ‘Dulling it down a bit’: Managing Visibility, Sexualities and Risk in the Night Time Economy in Newcastle, UK Abstract Drawing on qualitative interviews with young women in the UK, this paper highlights how gendered and sexualised negotiations of visibility intersect and continue to be important in the ways in which young women self-regulate bodies and identities to manage risk in the Night Time Economy (NTE). Adopting visible markers of normative, heterosexual femininity on a night out can be understood as simultaneously mitigating against the risks of experiencing certain types of harassment, whilst increasing the risks of experiencing others. This paper reaffirms the relevance of negotiations of visibility in shaping non-heterosexual women’s dress as a strategy for managing the risk of homophobic abuse and demonstrate some of the ways in which all young women – regardless of actual or perceived sexual identification - are required to police their bodies in order to manage the additional risks of ‘heterosexualised’ harassment in the NTE.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rhetorical Critique on the Nerf Rebelle Campaign By
    REBELLING AGAINST FEMININITY 1 REBELLING AGAINST FEMININITY: A Rhetorical Critique on the Nerf Rebelle Campaign By: Whitney Johnson A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with DEPARTMENTAL HONORS From the department of COMMUNICATION Examining Committee: Marlia Banning, Thesis Advisor Communication Jamie Skerski, Member Communication John Henderson, Member Assistant Director of Residence Life/ Leadership RAP UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER APRIL 2014 REBELLING AGAINST FEMININITY 2 Abstract While there has been extensive research that has examined the pressure young girls feel to fit into social norms (Paetcher, & Lafky & Duffy), this study is unique because it investigates society’s anxiety in response to the threat young girls pose to dominant masculinity. Through a feminist critique of the Hasbro Nerf Rebelle campaign, this study analyzes the feminization of typically masculine toys and asks whether the results of the toys and their marketing are empowering, disempowering, or some combination of the two. Drawing on the work of previous scholars and the discussion of the different waves of feminism, Title IX, and more references such as the Hunger Games and the feminization of the NFL, this study will illustrate how the Nerf Rebelle campaign inherently reinforces gender barriers while simultaneously challenging dominant masculinity. Introduction Young American girls struggle with their gender identities: Should they be a girly-girl? A tomboy? A feminized tomboy? These possibilities plague young girls in part because of society’s incessant need to frame how girls see themselves based on the activities they participate in. Tomboy and girly-girl identities tend to be polarized, for instance, “tomboy identities can be constructed not so much in relation to masculinity, but through a rejection of femininity” (Paechter, p.
    [Show full text]
  • (Don't) Wear Glasses: the Performativity of Smart Girls On
    GIRLS WHO (DON'T) WEAR GLASSES: THE PERFORMATIVITY OF SMART GIRLS ON TEEN TELEVISION Sandra B. Conaway A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2007 Committee: Kristine Blair, Advisor Julie Edmister Graduate Faculty Representative Erin Labbie Katherine Bradshaw © 2007 Sandra Conaway All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Kristine Blair, Advisor This dissertation takes a feminist view of t television programs featuring smart girls, and considers the “wave” of feminism popular at the time of each program. Judith Butler’s concept from Gender Trouble of “gender as a performance,” which says that normative behavior for a given gender is reinforced by culture, helps to explain how girls learn to behave according to our culture’s rules for appropriate girlhood. Television reinforces for intellectual girls that they must perform their gender appropriately, or suffer the consequences of being invisible and unpopular, and that they will win rewards for performing in more traditionally feminine ways. 1990-2006 featured a large number of hour-long television dramas and dramedies starring teenage characters, and aimed at a young audience, including Beverly Hills, 90210, My So-Called Life, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks and Geeks, and Gilmore Girls. In most teen shows there is a designated smart girl who is not afraid to demonstrate her interest in math or science, or writing or reading. In lieu of ethnic or racial minority characters, she is often the “other” of the group because of her less conventionally attractive appearance, her interest in school, her strong sense of right and wrong, and her lack of experience with boys.
    [Show full text]