Page 135 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 135
m. hrženjak ■ sporty boys and fashion girls ...
the self-representation and the gender norm. On one hand, girls thus seem
to be self-disciplined and self-regulated in accordance with male desire or
the need of boys for peer confirmation of their heterosexual masculinity,
while on the other girls’ sexualisation represents a source of their identity
explorations, negotiations, ambiguities, and sometimes transgressions as
well as resistance to the dominant gender norms.
McRobbie (1991) researched the sexualisation of the outfits of teen-
age girls from the aspect of the intersection of gender and class. She an-
alysed the subculture of femininity practised by working-class girls in
England in the 1970s and 1980s, where the sexualisation of outfit repre-
sented one of the major elements in the context of fashion, beauty, ro-
mance and pop culture. McRobbie interprets this seemingly conserva-
tive and traditional girls’ focus on pop culture, looks and romance in the
context of their transition from girlhood to womanhood, to their bud-
ding sexuality and the period of learning of adult sex roles. And while the
school curriculum defines sexuality as a matter of biology, and school cul-
ture and families treat teenage girls as asexual beings, pop culture, fash-
ion and beauty are attractive to girls for their serious treatment of teenage
sexuality. McRobbie hence defines girl’s subculture of looks, romance and
pop culture as a rebellion against asexual images of adolescence and femi-
ninity, as the confrontation with one’s gender and sexual identity, and the
related insecurities, challenges and expectations. School culture avoids all
this by naturalising gender the identities, sexuality and lifestyles of the
middle class.
McRobbie does not define the girly culture of looks, romance and
pop culture merely as a technique of the self that leads to the (self)disci-
plining of girls, but sees it as an ambivalent intermediary in the conflictual
relationship between the pressures to conform with the dominant gender
norms and looking for one’s own identity in girls’ identity negotiations
in the transitional period of adolescence. In this interpretive framework,
taking care for one’s looks and specific clothing practices can be a source
of empowerment, autonomy, and deviance from the dominant norms of
femininity. This may be illustrated by Eva’s story. In the interview, Eva
(aged 13) reported that she had not been getting along with her parents,
among other reasons due to their religious beliefs they had expected her to
reconcile her clothing style with Islamic customs. Eva belongs to the goth-
ic subculture: she wears exclusively black colour and conspicuous make-
up. As she says, she is excluded for her looks also by her schoolmates of
both genders because they perceive her as “other” and different. But, de-
spite her conflict with both her parents and peers, Eva persists in her style.
Even more, she says it is in her persisting with her clothing style that she
133
the self-representation and the gender norm. On one hand, girls thus seem
to be self-disciplined and self-regulated in accordance with male desire or
the need of boys for peer confirmation of their heterosexual masculinity,
while on the other girls’ sexualisation represents a source of their identity
explorations, negotiations, ambiguities, and sometimes transgressions as
well as resistance to the dominant gender norms.
McRobbie (1991) researched the sexualisation of the outfits of teen-
age girls from the aspect of the intersection of gender and class. She an-
alysed the subculture of femininity practised by working-class girls in
England in the 1970s and 1980s, where the sexualisation of outfit repre-
sented one of the major elements in the context of fashion, beauty, ro-
mance and pop culture. McRobbie interprets this seemingly conserva-
tive and traditional girls’ focus on pop culture, looks and romance in the
context of their transition from girlhood to womanhood, to their bud-
ding sexuality and the period of learning of adult sex roles. And while the
school curriculum defines sexuality as a matter of biology, and school cul-
ture and families treat teenage girls as asexual beings, pop culture, fash-
ion and beauty are attractive to girls for their serious treatment of teenage
sexuality. McRobbie hence defines girl’s subculture of looks, romance and
pop culture as a rebellion against asexual images of adolescence and femi-
ninity, as the confrontation with one’s gender and sexual identity, and the
related insecurities, challenges and expectations. School culture avoids all
this by naturalising gender the identities, sexuality and lifestyles of the
middle class.
McRobbie does not define the girly culture of looks, romance and
pop culture merely as a technique of the self that leads to the (self)disci-
plining of girls, but sees it as an ambivalent intermediary in the conflictual
relationship between the pressures to conform with the dominant gender
norms and looking for one’s own identity in girls’ identity negotiations
in the transitional period of adolescence. In this interpretive framework,
taking care for one’s looks and specific clothing practices can be a source
of empowerment, autonomy, and deviance from the dominant norms of
femininity. This may be illustrated by Eva’s story. In the interview, Eva
(aged 13) reported that she had not been getting along with her parents,
among other reasons due to their religious beliefs they had expected her to
reconcile her clothing style with Islamic customs. Eva belongs to the goth-
ic subculture: she wears exclusively black colour and conspicuous make-
up. As she says, she is excluded for her looks also by her schoolmates of
both genders because they perceive her as “other” and different. But, de-
spite her conflict with both her parents and peers, Eva persists in her style.
Even more, she says it is in her persisting with her clothing style that she
133
