Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School / Edition 1

by Barrie Thorne

Overview

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 on 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900813519233
Publication date:	03/01/1993
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Barrie Thorne is a Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. She is a co-editor, with Barbara Laslett, of Feminist Sociology: Life Histories of a Movement, also published by Rutgers University Press.

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

What People are Saying About This

Laurel Anderson

"Destined to be a classic... a wonderful text- beautifully inflected, reflexive, responsible to diversity and differences, and grounded in careful ethnographic work."

- Laurel Richardson, author of The Dynamics of Sex and Gender.

Nancy J. Chodorow

"A stunning achievement... Thorne transforms our ability to see gender in social life."

-Nancy J. Chodorow, author of Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory

Bob Connell

"This a beautifully observed, as well as deeply reflective book... Pathbreaking research is combined with vivid and enjoyable writing."

- Bob Connell, author of Gender and Power.

Editorial Reviews

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. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Thorne, well known among educational psychologists for her work in gender studies, presents her findings on gender roles among children and teenagers in school. Using a three-step approach, she describes recent findings in the field, presents her own findings, and then examines the correlations and discrepancies. In her thoughtful interpretation of these findings, Thorne makes a significant contribution. Her study is important not just for her insight into gender but for her explanation of how research itself operates within conventions and traditions. Recognizing that the way students are grouped and segregated is an increasingly important issue in classroom and school management. Thorne suggests a new paradigm for examining how psychologists and teachers deal with gender. Her study is well documented, with meticulous notes and a comprehensive bibliography. For academic and large public libraries.-- Nancy E. Zuwiyya, Binghamton City Sch. Dist., N.Y.

Library Journal

"Thorne sees the ritualized interactions of boys and girls as power pay and makes it her central issue. She looks across the fun and games as a cycle of domination and subservience... [She] re-examines the gender mystique as it develops through the grades, urging us to understand it as a social process, amenable to change."

- The New York Times Book Review.

Book Review The New York Times

A stunning achievement... Thorne transforms our ability to see gender in social life.

author of Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory - Nancy J. Chodorow

Thorne sees the ritualized interactions of boys and girls as power play and makes it her central issue. She looks across the fun and games as a cycle of domination and subservience... [She] re-examines the gender mystique as it develops through the grades, urging us to understand it as a social process, amenable to change.

The New York Book Times Review

This is a beautifully observed, as well as deeply reflective book... Pathbreaking research is combined with vivid and enjoyable writing.

author of Gender and Power - Bob Connell

Destined to be a classic... a wonderful text - beautifully inflected, reflexive, responsive to diversity and differences, and grounded in careful ethnographic work.

author of The Dynamics of Sex and Gender - Laurel Richardson