Synopses & Reviews
You see it in every schoolyard: the girls play only with girls, the boys play only with boys. Why? And what do the kids think about this? Breaking with familiar conventions for thinking about children and gender, Gender Play develops fresh insights into the everyday social worlds of kids in elementary schools in the United States. Barrie Thorne draws on her daily observations in the classroom and in the playground to show how children construct and experience gender in school. With rich detail, she looks at the "play of gender" in the organization of groups of kids and activities--activities such as chase-and-kiss, "cooties," goin' with," and teasing.
Thorne observes children in schools in working-class communities, emphasizing the experiences of fourth and fifth graders. Most of the children she observed were white, but a sizable minority were Latino, Chicano, or African American. Thorne argues that the organization and meaning of gender are influenced by age, ethnicity, race, sexuality, and social class, and that they shift with social context. She sees gender identity not through the lens of individual socialization or difference, but rather as a social process involving groups of children.
Thorne takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery, provides new insights about children, and offers teachers practical suggestions for increasing cooperative mixed-gender interaction.
Review
"A stunning achievement. Through the most careful, finely wrought sociological observation, Thorne transforms our ability to see gender in social life. She demonstrates that every action . . . is worthy of interpretation and infused with social and cultural meaning. We have been hearing from feminist theorists that gender is contingent and constructed, but only Gender Play shows us—in richly complex detail—how. Feminist scholarship takes a major step forward with this book." Nancy J. Chodorow
Review
"This is a beautifully observed, as well as deeply reflective book . . . pathbreaking research is combined with vivid and enjoyable writing. Thorne will help teachers and parents, as well as students and researchers, gain a new understanding of issues about gender." author of Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory
Review
"Destined to be a classic . . . a wonderful text—beautifully inflected, reflexive, responsive to diversity and differences, and grounded in careful ethnographic work." Bob Connell - author of Gender and Power
Synopsis
Thorne, a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California, offers her insightful observations of elementary school students in class and at play. Though, as she admits, her status as an adult and an observer may have affected what happened around her, Thorne presents a fascinating account of how children divide themselves--and how others divide them--along gender lines. Breaking students into teams for contests and the eternal game of "cooties" (a contamination attributed more often to girls than boys) reveal much about the microcosm that these students inhabit, and an extensive look at the tomboy, both in literature and in life, compares her ambiguity (sometimes an insult, sometimes a compliment) to the negative attitudes often elicited by gender-crossing in the other direction. Thorne argues convincingly against the theories of scholars like Deborah Tannen and Carol Gilligan that boys and girls have different "cultures," and she attempts to discourage "gender antagonism." A final section offers concrete steps for teachers to take in forming the attitudes--about gender and other topics--of coming generations.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-228) and index.
About the Author
Barrie Thorne is the Streisand Professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Men in Society and in the department of sociology at the University of Southern California.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1- Children and Gender
Chapter 2- Learning from Kids
Chapter 3- Boys and Girls Together...But Mostly Apart
Chapter 4- Gender Separation: Why and How
Chapter 5- Creating a Sense of "Opposite Sides"
Chapter 6- Do Girls and Boys Have Different Cultures?
Chapter 7- Crossing the Gender Divide
Chapter 8- Lip Gloss and "Goin' With": Becoming Teens
Chapter 9- Lessons for Adults
Notes
References
Index