Gender Play

You see it in every schoolyard: the girls play only with the girls, the boys play only with the 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.

You see it in every school playground: the girls play only with girls, the boys play only with boys. Why? And what do children themselves think about this? This book develops fresh insights into the everyday social worlds of kids in schools.

Huckleberry Finn dressing as a girl is a famously comic scene in Mark Twain's novel but hardly out of character--for the author, that is. Twain "troubled gender" in much of his otherwise traditional fiction, depicting children whose sexual identities are switched at birth, tomboys, same-sex married couples, and even a male French painter who impersonates his own fictive sister and becomes engaged to another man. This book explores Mark Twain's extensive use of cross-dressing across his career by exposing the substantial cast of characters who masqueraded as members of the opposite sex or who otherwise defied gender expectations. Linda Morris grounds her study in an understanding of the era's theatrical cross-dressing and changing mores and even events in the Clemens household. She examines and interprets Twain's exploration of characters who transgress gendered conventions while tracing the degree to which themes of gender disruption interact with other themes, such as his critique of race, his concern with death in his classic "boys' books," and his career-long preoccupation with twins and twinning. Approaching familiar texts in surprising new ways, Morris reexamines the relationship between Huck and Jim; discusses racial and gender crossing in Pudd'nhead Wilson; and sheds new light on Twain's difficulty in depicting the most famous cross-dresser in history, Joan of Arc. She also considers a number of his later "transvestite tales" that feature transgressive figures such as Hellfire Hotchkiss, who is hampered by her "misplaced sex." Morris challenges views of Twain that see his work as reinforcing traditional notions of gender along sharply divided lines. She shows that Twain depicts cross-dressing sometimes as comic or absurd, other times as darkly tragic--but that even at his most playful, he contests traditional Victorian notions about the fixity of gender roles. Analyzing such characteristics of Twain's fiction as his fascination with details of clothing and the ever-present element of play, Morris shows us his understanding that gender, like race, is a social construction--and above all a performance. Gender Play in Mark Twain: Cross-Dressing and Transgression broadens our understanding of the writer as it lends rich insight into his works.

Though the Hebrew Bible often reflects and constructs a world that privileges men, many of its narratives play extensively with the gender norms of the society in which they were written. Drawing from feminist, masculinity and queer studies, Gender-Play in the Hebrew Bible uses close literary analysis to argue that the writers of the Bible intentionally challenge gender norms in order to reveal the dangers of destabilizing societal and theological hierarchies that privilege men and masculinity. This book presents a fascinating argument about the construction and import of gender in the biblical narratives, and will be of great interest to academics in the fields of religion, theology, and Biblical studies as well as gender studies.

Does gender, sex and sexuality influence children's play, and their learning? Can/should professionals try to influence children's gender and sexual concepts? Can/should professionals try to prevent gender stereotyping? These and other questions are explored in a lively and thought-provoking text that looks at why and how children inhabit or develop their gender and sexuality. Written in an approachable way and illustrated with case studies and linked to current research and theory, the book helps students, teachers and playworkers understand the debates about biology versus culture and social learning and how these impact on children's expression of gender and sexuality. Engaging the reader in a thorough reflection of their own views and approaches to the genderized and sexualized behaviour of children at play, this text is an invaluable guide for all those interested in the importance of play, gender and sexuality and how they relate to children's lives. Topics include: play and the behaviour of boys and girls within particular social contexts; play and girls' and boys' sexual behaviour and their associated feelings; play and children's self-concepts and expectations; the professional adult workers' role and the manifestation of genderized and/or sexualized play behaviour both in and outside a setting.

Cross-dressing in Shakespeare: a context for Elizabethan gender studies

A revealing look at gender issues in contemporary sport.