The Declining Significance of Homophobia is, according to its author, a ‘Good News story’ (p xxv). I capitalise ‘Good News’ for reasons that shall become clear. But focusing first on the main thrust of the thesis (and there is no reference to it but I am certain this is a book written out of a PhD thesis), the ‘good news’ is how teenage boys in the UK are less homophobic than in previous eras. Good news indeed. Continue reading “The Softer They Come: Elly Tams reviews ‘The Declining Significance Of Homophobia’”
Presumed Innocence: Sexualisation Research at Cardiff University
In today’s increasingly sexualised culture, Cardiff social scientists are working with the Welsh Assembly on the pressures facing young people. Continue reading “Presumed Innocence: Sexualisation Research at Cardiff University”
Modern Girlhoods: A GEA Seedcorn Event
‘Great papers, lots of interesting people and plenty of opportunity for important dialogue’
‘I was totally blown away by Wednesday. Best conference I’ve ever been to, especially the way that the conversations just got more and more interesting as the day went on’
The 8th February 2012 saw another exciting GEA seedcorn event on the theme of Modern Girlhoods. This day seminar was well attended with over 50 participants from Brunel, across the UK and further afield. Continue reading “Modern Girlhoods: A GEA Seedcorn Event”
World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education
A brilliant new resource for ‘visualising the educational pathways’ of males and females and for observing the changes in disparities over time has been launched by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Maps, charts and tables relating to pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary level education worldwide can be downloaded from the UNESCO website.
Are we all addicted to theory?
I have been thinking for some time about the way that the field of gender and education has developed in recent years. Once political and outward-looking, involving schools and other extra-university institutions in a joint quest for gender knowled Foto Sf Lite ge, the field seems has atrophied into just another university discipline. Continue reading “Are we all addicted to theory?”
Learned to Kill? Now Teach our Children: A Critique of Troops to Teachers
The UK government, following the lead of the US, is devising multiple ways to get more ex-members of the military into our schools – as teachers, mentors, classroom assistants and basic skills tutors. Continue reading “Learned to Kill? Now Teach our Children: A Critique of Troops to Teachers”
Difficult Intersections
On 3rd Feb. 2012 the Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research (LSBU) held a BSA Families and Relationship study group day conference ‘Intersecting Family Lives, Locales and Labours’. Plenary talks by Professor Diane Reay and Professor Michele Goodwin will soon be available on the Weeks Centre website. Continue reading “Difficult Intersections”
Launch of major new resource: Olive Schreiner Letters Online
Olive Schreiner (1855-1920) is one of the world’s great feminist writers and social theorists, with her novels including The Story of an African Farm and her political treatises including Woman and Labour among many other writings. She also wrote c4800+ exceptionally important letters between 1871 and 1920, a period of momentous changes in the world which her letters are concerned with, and which also brought changes regarding letter-writing and literary practices too. Schreiner’s letters – all of them, in full, detailed and easy to read transcriptions – are now available electronically world-wide. Continue reading “Launch of major new resource: Olive Schreiner Letters Online”
Boffins and geeks: geek or chic?
The labels swot, ear ’ole, boffin, keeno, geek and nerd resonate meaningfully across generations of school-goers and echo through the terrains of popular culture. Our Gender and Education viewpoint started life as a conversation about our own research into how such identities are imagined and lived. We wondered: Has ‘the rise of the nerd’ meant that being a ‘boffin’ at school has lost its stigma? Continue reading “Boffins and geeks: geek or chic?”
Education, Activism and Practice: Report from the BERA Sexuality & Youth Studies Event
November 11th 2011 saw an exciting joint symposium between the Youth studies and Sexualities BERA SIG at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Continue reading “Education, Activism and Practice: Report from the BERA Sexuality & Youth Studies Event”