Page 123 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 123
orty Boys and Fashion Girls: Manoeuvring
Between Dominant Norms of Gender Identity1
Majda Hrženjak, Peace Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction
Social processes such as globalisation, mobility, labour flexibilisa-
tion, shrinking of the welfare systems, changes in the structure and
dynamics of the family, and the unpredictability of life courses es-
tablish modernity as “risk society” (Beck, 1992) or the “age of uncertain-
ty” (Baumann, 2007) and add to the loosening of the sense of commu-
nity belonging and the fragmentation and individualisation of society.
A fragmented society poses new challenges for the construction of gen-
der identities and the attitude to broader society belongings, such as gen-
der, ethnicity or class. Numerous theorisations reveal how the category of
gender is deployed and changed also by the neoliberal ideology and how
gender binarism is seemingly reformulated through mass media and the
market.
Young women are often held to be key beneficiaries of a range of so-
cio-economic changes that now characterise Western societies while the
neoliberal discourse of freedom, choice and individual empowerment
are increasingly associated with the category “young women”. Girls as
a category are in neoliberalism positioned as a new social and econom-
ic force in ways previously the reserve of boys. Therefore, successful fem-
ininity now involves living a tension between exercising the traditional
feminine mode of relationality, physical attractiveness and beauty ideals
1 This research work was conducted as part of the Masculinities, Equality, Care Practices (J6-8253)
project and the Equality and Human Rights in Times of Global Governance (P5-0413) research
programme, both financed by the Slovenian Research Agency.
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(5-6)121-137 121
Original scientific article
Between Dominant Norms of Gender Identity1
Majda Hrženjak, Peace Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction
Social processes such as globalisation, mobility, labour flexibilisa-
tion, shrinking of the welfare systems, changes in the structure and
dynamics of the family, and the unpredictability of life courses es-
tablish modernity as “risk society” (Beck, 1992) or the “age of uncertain-
ty” (Baumann, 2007) and add to the loosening of the sense of commu-
nity belonging and the fragmentation and individualisation of society.
A fragmented society poses new challenges for the construction of gen-
der identities and the attitude to broader society belongings, such as gen-
der, ethnicity or class. Numerous theorisations reveal how the category of
gender is deployed and changed also by the neoliberal ideology and how
gender binarism is seemingly reformulated through mass media and the
market.
Young women are often held to be key beneficiaries of a range of so-
cio-economic changes that now characterise Western societies while the
neoliberal discourse of freedom, choice and individual empowerment
are increasingly associated with the category “young women”. Girls as
a category are in neoliberalism positioned as a new social and econom-
ic force in ways previously the reserve of boys. Therefore, successful fem-
ininity now involves living a tension between exercising the traditional
feminine mode of relationality, physical attractiveness and beauty ideals
1 This research work was conducted as part of the Masculinities, Equality, Care Practices (J6-8253)
project and the Equality and Human Rights in Times of Global Governance (P5-0413) research
programme, both financed by the Slovenian Research Agency.
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(5-6)121-137 121
Original scientific article
