Gender identity in school

Double standards and verbal abuse

Lees:

• Argues there is a double standard of sexual morality, with boys boasting about their own sexual exploits but will call a girl a ‘slag’ if she has had previous boyfriends in the past or dresses and speaks in a certain way. This is approved by male peers and ignored by male teachers.

• Feminists see this as a double standard and an example of patriarchal ideology - justifying male power and devaluing women.

The male gaze

Mac an Ghail:

• Identifies the ‘male gaze’ where male pupils and teachers will look at girls as sexual objects. This is a form of surveillance through where the dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity is devalued - a way for boys to prove their masculinity to their friends.

Hyper-heterosexual identity

Archer:

• Working-class girls’ feminine identities often clash with the ethos of the school. By performing these identities of theirs, the girls would gain symbolic capital from their peers instead, leading them into conflict with the school as their identity consisted of having a boyfriend, being ‘loud’, constructing Nike identities, wearing makeup and hairstyles, which the school would punish for having the wrong appearance. Teachers would then define them as being incapable of educational success.

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Bourdieu:

• He identified this as symbolic violence as their culture is being defined as worthless.

Policing identity

Currie:

• Girls are forced to be seen as not too competitive to avoid being ‘slut shamed’ but not to be not as competitive (for boyfriends) to avoid ‘frigid shaming’ through the shaming of other girls and policing each other’s identities.

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Reay:

• This lead to girls having to not be interested in boyfriends or popular fashion. This risks them being excluded by other girls. However, these girls may respond back to working-class girls as being ‘chavs’.