Page 136 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 136
šolsko polje, letnik xxxi, številka 5–6
finds her firmness and self-confidence to resist on one hand the pressures
of her parents to conform to the traditional norms of femininity typical
of Islamic culture (which would still establish her as “other” among peers)
and the dominant norms of femininity, into which the peer culture tries
to normalise her (which would then maintain her as “other” in the family
environment). In the conflicted relationship between conformity to gen-
der norms of either the family or the peer environment, Eva tries to nego-
tiate her image of femininity with her unique subcultural clothing style.
Conclusion
Building on the conception of gender identity as unstable, dynamic, rela-
tional and performative, and at the same time extremely normatively bur-
dened, the article has analysed teenagers’ narratives of self-perception and
the meaning of looks and clothing practices from three aspects: from the
aspect of the pressures arising from the conflictual processes and negoti-
ations in the construction of gender identities in adolescence; from the
aspect of the role held by clothing practices for the engendering of boys
and girls; and from the aspect of heterogeneity within the categories of
boys and girls, and the effect of the intersecting social locations (ethnici-
ty and class) on gendered identity constructions. Through the concept of
hegemonic and subordinate masculinities, boys were revealed to establish
a distance from femininity and homosexuality via self-regulation of their
body and clothing practices in the context of peer social control to con-
struct themselves as “real” men. An intersectional perspective was used
to understand the hypersexualised and hegemonic body practices in boys
who are deprivileged in terms of ethnicity and class, for whom the doing
of “real” masculinity helps compensate for social marginalisation; while
these practices simultaneously become the model for the formation of
hegemonic masculinity in some boys of the dominant culture. Further,
girls’ clothing practices show the relational dynamics between the norms
of masculinity and femininity: on one hand, girls are self-disciplined
through sexualised clothing practices that correspond to boys’ need to ob-
tain peer confirmation of their heterosexuality; and girls can also use this
practice as a source of identity exploration and transgression of the dom-
inant gender norms. This especially applies to subcultural clothing prac-
tices that may represent a way of resisting the traditional cultural norms of
femininity and postfeminist fashion consumerism, and at the same time
provide a space for establishing alternative modes of femininity.
Despite the modern conditions of the fragmentation and individu-
alisation of society, neoliberal rhetorics of “free choice” and the postfemi-
nist discourse of gender equality according to which “all battles have been
134
finds her firmness and self-confidence to resist on one hand the pressures
of her parents to conform to the traditional norms of femininity typical
of Islamic culture (which would still establish her as “other” among peers)
and the dominant norms of femininity, into which the peer culture tries
to normalise her (which would then maintain her as “other” in the family
environment). In the conflicted relationship between conformity to gen-
der norms of either the family or the peer environment, Eva tries to nego-
tiate her image of femininity with her unique subcultural clothing style.
Conclusion
Building on the conception of gender identity as unstable, dynamic, rela-
tional and performative, and at the same time extremely normatively bur-
dened, the article has analysed teenagers’ narratives of self-perception and
the meaning of looks and clothing practices from three aspects: from the
aspect of the pressures arising from the conflictual processes and negoti-
ations in the construction of gender identities in adolescence; from the
aspect of the role held by clothing practices for the engendering of boys
and girls; and from the aspect of heterogeneity within the categories of
boys and girls, and the effect of the intersecting social locations (ethnici-
ty and class) on gendered identity constructions. Through the concept of
hegemonic and subordinate masculinities, boys were revealed to establish
a distance from femininity and homosexuality via self-regulation of their
body and clothing practices in the context of peer social control to con-
struct themselves as “real” men. An intersectional perspective was used
to understand the hypersexualised and hegemonic body practices in boys
who are deprivileged in terms of ethnicity and class, for whom the doing
of “real” masculinity helps compensate for social marginalisation; while
these practices simultaneously become the model for the formation of
hegemonic masculinity in some boys of the dominant culture. Further,
girls’ clothing practices show the relational dynamics between the norms
of masculinity and femininity: on one hand, girls are self-disciplined
through sexualised clothing practices that correspond to boys’ need to ob-
tain peer confirmation of their heterosexuality; and girls can also use this
practice as a source of identity exploration and transgression of the dom-
inant gender norms. This especially applies to subcultural clothing prac-
tices that may represent a way of resisting the traditional cultural norms of
femininity and postfeminist fashion consumerism, and at the same time
provide a space for establishing alternative modes of femininity.
Despite the modern conditions of the fragmentation and individu-
alisation of society, neoliberal rhetorics of “free choice” and the postfemi-
nist discourse of gender equality according to which “all battles have been
134
