Willett, Rebekah;
(2006)
Poofy Dresses and Big Guns: A poststructuralist analysis of gendered positioning through talk amongst friends.
Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
, 27
(4)
pp. 441-455.
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Abstract
This article uses data collected from a class of eight to nine year-olds to show the specific ways children are defining their gendered positions within the context of their same-sex friendship groups. Children‘s subjectivities are described as both actively formed but also positioned within the surrounding (gendered) discourses. This article will show specific ways that structure and agency is played out through talk amongst friends. Importantly, the analysis of the talk indicates that children are able to both align themselves as well as challenge dominant gendered discourses. The article argues that informal talk amongst friends is an important space for children to make sense of masculinities and femininities and to develop their identities, particularly in the context of schools.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Poofy Dresses and Big Guns: A poststructuralist analysis of gendered positioning through talk amongst friends |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article presents an original piece of ethnographic research to show the specific ways children are defining their gendered positions within the context of their same-sex friendship groups. This is an important addition to studies of children’s subject positioning, which on the whole have not analysed the role of talk amongst friends. The analysis of the talk indicates that children are able to both align themselves as well as challenge dominant gendered discourses. The article argues that informal talk amongst friends is an important space for children to make sense of masculinities and femininities and to develop their identities, particularly in the context of schools. The article is published in an international refereed journal. This is an electronic version of an article published in Willett, Rebekah (2006) Poofy Dresses and Big Guns: A poststructuralist analysis of gendered positioning through talk amongst friends. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 27 (4). pp. 441-455. Discourse is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/01596300600988572 |
| Keywords: | Primary school , English , Language , Gender |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10000214 |
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