Page 125 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 125
m. hrženjak ■ sporty boys and fashion girls ...
“techniques of the self ” such as self-care, consumption and leisure, in-
volving practices of grooming, dressing, shaping and decorating bodies.
Many studies reveal how diverse masculinities and femininities are cur-
rently articulated through consumerism that is written onto the body
(Bordo, 1993).
Amid the cacophony of ambivalent representations and meanings
of modern masculinities and femininities which young people face, it
seems interesting that on the level of the construction of gender identities
through body/style young people are continuing to be surprisingly gen-
der-traditional. This was evidenced in interviews with 38 teenagers of both
genders aged 13 and 14,2 the largest share of whom, when asked: “What in
your opinion is most typical of boys and what of girls?”, unambiguous-
ly expressed the view that girls typically dedicate much of their time and
energy to their outfit, shopping for clothes, and to fashion, while boys do
not pay so much attention to their looks, and are more focused on sports,
particularly football. What we thus obtain is the “Lévi-Straussian mythi-
cal formula” – girls : boys = fashion : football, which schematically express-
es the (traditional) symbolic relations and gender differences as well as dif-
ferences within each of the two gender groups as constructed by teenagers.
The article attempts to analyse the symbolic meanings and empirical ef-
fects of this equation on teenagers’ engendering. The teenagers’ responses
corroborate the relational, binary, heteronormative and performative vi-
sion of the gender system, in which the conduct of gender-specific body
practices plays a constitutive role in the construction of gender identities
and relations. The analysis addresses the question of the role of clothing
practices in establishing gender identities and identity negotiations and
conflicts in young people. I specifically highlight the role played by cloth-
ing practices in the construction of masculinity and femininity, while also
paying attention to the intersections of gender, class and ethnicity. I an-
alyse the role of clothing practices in constructing gender identities as ei-
ther dominant or marginalised, traditional or alternative, in both the rela-
tionship between boys and girls as well as within groups of boys and girls.
2 Thirty-eight individual semi-structured interviews with eighth-graders in the schools in Slo-
venian cities and towns of Ljubljana, Koper, Maribor, and Trbovlje were conducted within
the Stamina project – Formation of Non-violent Behaviour in School and Leisure Time among Young
Adults from Violent Families (Daphne programme). The recruiting of children for the inter-
views with the consent of their parents was based on a selection made on the basis of prelim-
inary quantitative interviews. Qualitative interviews took place in the school environment,
lasted 40 minutes to 2 hours, and were recorded and transcribed. Questions referred to fami-
ly life, school, spare time and friends, intimate relationships, self-perception, experiences with
ethnicity and migrations, attitudes about gender and experiences with violence and bullying.
123
“techniques of the self ” such as self-care, consumption and leisure, in-
volving practices of grooming, dressing, shaping and decorating bodies.
Many studies reveal how diverse masculinities and femininities are cur-
rently articulated through consumerism that is written onto the body
(Bordo, 1993).
Amid the cacophony of ambivalent representations and meanings
of modern masculinities and femininities which young people face, it
seems interesting that on the level of the construction of gender identities
through body/style young people are continuing to be surprisingly gen-
der-traditional. This was evidenced in interviews with 38 teenagers of both
genders aged 13 and 14,2 the largest share of whom, when asked: “What in
your opinion is most typical of boys and what of girls?”, unambiguous-
ly expressed the view that girls typically dedicate much of their time and
energy to their outfit, shopping for clothes, and to fashion, while boys do
not pay so much attention to their looks, and are more focused on sports,
particularly football. What we thus obtain is the “Lévi-Straussian mythi-
cal formula” – girls : boys = fashion : football, which schematically express-
es the (traditional) symbolic relations and gender differences as well as dif-
ferences within each of the two gender groups as constructed by teenagers.
The article attempts to analyse the symbolic meanings and empirical ef-
fects of this equation on teenagers’ engendering. The teenagers’ responses
corroborate the relational, binary, heteronormative and performative vi-
sion of the gender system, in which the conduct of gender-specific body
practices plays a constitutive role in the construction of gender identities
and relations. The analysis addresses the question of the role of clothing
practices in establishing gender identities and identity negotiations and
conflicts in young people. I specifically highlight the role played by cloth-
ing practices in the construction of masculinity and femininity, while also
paying attention to the intersections of gender, class and ethnicity. I an-
alyse the role of clothing practices in constructing gender identities as ei-
ther dominant or marginalised, traditional or alternative, in both the rela-
tionship between boys and girls as well as within groups of boys and girls.
2 Thirty-eight individual semi-structured interviews with eighth-graders in the schools in Slo-
venian cities and towns of Ljubljana, Koper, Maribor, and Trbovlje were conducted within
the Stamina project – Formation of Non-violent Behaviour in School and Leisure Time among Young
Adults from Violent Families (Daphne programme). The recruiting of children for the inter-
views with the consent of their parents was based on a selection made on the basis of prelim-
inary quantitative interviews. Qualitative interviews took place in the school environment,
lasted 40 minutes to 2 hours, and were recorded and transcribed. Questions referred to fami-
ly life, school, spare time and friends, intimate relationships, self-perception, experiences with
ethnicity and migrations, attitudes about gender and experiences with violence and bullying.
123
