Becky Francis’ keynote took on the task of exploring the current place of gender in the education system. She reflected on our current place as researchers in gender and education, on the theoretical challenges of our work and on our relationship to practice. Continue reading “Conference 2011 Keynote Address: Gender and Education in the Twenty-first Century, Engendering Debate? (Becky Francis)”
‘Sylvia Pankhurst, Everything is Possible’: New Feature Length Documentary Released
A new feature length documentary chronicling Sylvia Pankhurst’s inspiring life as a suffragette and revolutionary has been released by the London based education charity WORLDwrite. Aspiring young filmmakers worked with industry professionals to research, film and produce this in depth epic which is packed with facts from primary sources, rare images from museums and archives, interviews with historians and a compelling testimony from Sylvia’s son Richard Pankhurst and his wife Rita. Continue reading “‘Sylvia Pankhurst, Everything is Possible’: New Feature Length Documentary Released”
Hair, Beauty and Child Care: Gender and Careers Education for Girls
Whilst working in youth projects over the past decade or so, I have often noticed the predominance of highly gendered career guidance for young people. Too often, when discussing what career options girls were considering, the ‘holy trinity’ of beauty, hair and child care cropped up repeatedly in young women’s visions for their future and their Year 10 work placements. Such options were further cemented in areas such as ‘alternative’ education provision, or vocationally orientated training aimed at ‘NEETS’ (Not in Education, Employment and Training), that seemed to guide working class, young women into courses and apprenticeships in beauty or child care, and their brothers into motor mechanics and bricklaying. Continue reading “Hair, Beauty and Child Care: Gender and Careers Education for Girls”
Who protects the protector? The worrying future of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
The UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has a statutory remit ‘to promote and monitor human rights; and to protect, enforce and promote equality across the nine “protected” grounds – age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation and gender reassignment’. According to the Commission, a survey carried out by it in 2007 showed that discrimination and disadvantage are still common across Britain. So EHRC states: ‘We don’t all have equal chances in life and some forms of discrimination are complex and deep-rooted. Sometimes people choose to ignore the rights of others even when this is against the law. This is why the Equality and Human Rights Commission is here’. Continue reading “Who protects the protector? The worrying future of the Equality and Human Rights Commission”
Libyan Women: Defying the Stereotypes
Whatever position you take on the democracy movements in North Africa and the Middle East, and the West’s reaction to them, it’s been heartening to see so many women involved in the demonstrations appearing daily on our television screens. The stereotypes of Arabs that we have grown up with – of bombers, belly dancers, and billionaires – have been blown to the skies as young men and women have taken to the streets wanting the same things as young people in the West – democratic rights, jobs, a good life. Not too much to ask for! Continue reading “Libyan Women: Defying the Stereotypes”
Influences on Young Children’s Gender Identity: Observational Reflections
Bobbie: I’m Snow White.
(Bobbie has placed a cup on his head to symbolise a tiara and has draped his coat around his shoulders like a cloak)
Bobbie looks delicate, has long, blond hair and is easily mistaken for a girl. I made a mistake as I watched Bobbie and a group of boys and girls playing pirates. Thinking Bobbie was a girl, I was shocked when Terry and David, said: “He‘s always like this” “Bobbie is a girl.” “He’s a sissy.” Bobbie‘s response to me about these comments also left me stunned: “You might think this is strange, but I like girls and I like being a girl.” These brief exchanges and the realisation that Bobbie was a boy made me question my understanding of gender. Why had the boys reacted to Bobbie as they had and why, at such an early age, was their behaviour so stereotypical and Bobbie’s not? Perhaps Terry and David were being ‘normal’. Continue reading “Influences on Young Children’s Gender Identity: Observational Reflections”
Supporting Transgender Children in the Primary Classroom: A Reflection
Too often in discussions about gender identity the approach taken is extremely narrow. The discourse is largely dominated by the cisgendered, binary perspective that there is ‘male’ and that there is ‘female’ – and that both of these are biologically determined, stable categories. This is further reinforced when the discourse is situated in the context of children. The prevailing attitude is that any identity, theory or social group that destabilises such assumptions are too complicated and/or too ‘subversive’ to merit acknowledgement. It is therefore unsurprising that when school staff, policy makers and academics come to discus gender identity within the classroom, that transgendered children are usually entirely ignored. What can teachers can do to support such children? Continue reading “Supporting Transgender Children in the Primary Classroom: A Reflection”
Book Review: Cordelia Fine’s ‘Delusions of Gender’
This extremely well researched book, ‘Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences’ dispels many long held and newly emerging myths about sex group difference. The book is divided into three parts: ‘Half changed world, half-changed minds’, ‘Neurosexism’ and ‘Recycling gender’. If you know the field of sex group difference well, you will be most interested in part II where Fine provides an excellent up-to-date review of the field of neuroscience which is extremely helpful in counteracting claims such as, boys and girls need separate pedagogies because they are hard-wired differently. The research reviewed in parts I and III, although also up-to-date, spans a broad range of literatures which feminist scholars will be fairly familiar with. Continue reading “Book Review: Cordelia Fine’s ‘Delusions of Gender’”