Response - John Gallagher
Karin Martin’s Becoming a Gendered Body piece was very interesting and informative. She observed and explained how both boys and girls (age 3-5) interact in a pre-school setting. She touched on bodily adornment (dressing up), formal and relaxed behaviors, voice control, bodily instructions, and physical interaction between the kids and teachers.
I think it is important first and foremost to look at this
article understanding that all of the teachers in the study were female. I am not saying that this is a unique
component, as most pre-school teachers in our society are indeed female, but I
think it speaks volumes to how and why boys and girls are actually treated
differently in pre-school. If all
the teachers were male instead, girls and boys would be treated 100%
differently without question. Male
teachers would probably be harsher on boys, therefore who knows how different
society would be if that were actually the case? Anyway it was very interesting
and somewhat appalling to see how female teachers treated both boys and girls.
It caught me by surprise for sure.
They were much harsher on girls than I would have imagined. For instance, Hilary was reprimanded
for loudly saying, “Marshmallows!” right after Keith, Kevin, and Phil had been
aggressively playing with wooden dolls that same afternoon. Hilary was told to repeat
the word in a much softer tone, while the boys were left alone to continue
their play with others. This is
restricting Hilary from expressing herself in an open and free manner, which
isn’t fair to her. Directly following this incident, Nancy, Susan, and Amy are
told to be quiet and cease their game of skipping around on their feet that
they had been playing. The girls
in this experiment are forced to play and act in a more peaceful and confined
manner compared to the boys. They also are involved in activites that make them sit upright at a table or stand, while boys spend most of their time being mobile, or playing on the floor.
Its hard for me to speak about a girl’s confidence/comfort in relation to their wardrobe, especially at the age of three or four, but from what I can remember, what I wore to school in my early years never had an affect on me. Each morning was pretty simple; I wore sneakers that would light up when I walked (because other friends of mine wore them, and they simply were just really cool…), I wore t-shirts, athletic shorts, and jeans when it was winter. I always noticed that girls were “dressed up” more frequently than boys growing up, but never understood why. As I grew older I began to realize that girls focused more on their wardrobes than boys significantly. In the article, it was interesting to see how positive Laura (the teacher) was towards Frances after seeing her in pink and lavender shirts and scarves during dress up time. Also included in the description was the way that she walked around moving her shoulders and hips etc. Frances is five, and smiles after being complimented by the teacher for being so woman like. I think the concept of a five year old being congratulated for moving her hips while she walks in an all pink fancy costume is a little premature and ridiculous, but reading these stories and excerpts has really helped put gender roles in perspective for me.
This article opened up by discussing Pre-school A and Pre-school B. I went to an elementary school similar to Pre-school B, where prayers were mandatory before every meal. They stressed the idea of becoming a gentleman, and how to dress appropriately. While going through the process it was frustrating at times, and often times felt superfluous to me. However as I have matured and grown over the years since eighth grade, it has defiantly shaped me from a gender role perspective.
Your first point of your response is also the biggest question I had while reading this piece by Martin. How would interactions between teacher and student be if the teacher were in fact male? I have to agree with you on the idea that a male teacher would be harsher on the boys who were fooling around while feeling sympathy towards the girls. On a personal standpoint, in my family growing up I always believed my father was harsher on my brother and I, as opposed to my little sister who he has a visible soft side for. I too was fascinated to see how harsh women teachers were on the girl students, while being far more lenient to the boys who were acting like hooligans. I got the sense that these boys had the free will to do what they pleased and rarely faced any repercussions.
ReplyDeleteI think you are accurate in your assessment of how wardrobe plays a greater factor in girls lives than in guys. Girls are restricted to their clothing and it would be rare to see girls playing kickball in there nice dresses.
While I was reading, I did not think about the effects that a male teacher would have on the differential treatment of students of both genders. I am not quite sure as to whether or not having a male authority figure in the classroom would significantly alter the way in which children of different genders are taught to behave, vocalize, and play. I do feel, however, that is not the sex of the teacher, so much as the level of leniency on his/her views of freedom of gender expression, that will shape how children of both genders will learn "appropriate versus inappropriate" behaviors in the classroom. A more feminist teacher, for example, despite the teacher's sex, would be less likely to "shush" a little girl in the midst of a self-expressive moment or would be more likely to encourage little girls to partake in more agentic, more "masculine" play. -Alexa Campagna
ReplyDeleteJohn I was actually thinking about how 3 or 5 year old girls would be affected by preschool. I say this because little girls are taught to be confined and quiet. They are expected to be the opposite of boys which one could argue is independent, free, not aggressive, and loud when they are expressing themselves. When young girls grow up they are not so independent. I know many girls who depend on men in their lives for protection and their own confidence. Young girls learn to be dependent on other people from an early childhood and when they grow up they think this behavior is normal because society has taught them to be this way.
ReplyDeleteJae replying to John