Session Information
Contribution
Description: Previous empirical research has shown that role play is often very gender stereotypical. Children use role play to position themselves against others and for gendered identity work (Francis, 1998). Girls are often more flexible when it comes to play and describe fairytale characters, both in matters of gender and other qualities. Boys, on the other hand, often describe their characters in terms of strong and powerful men (Änggård, 2005). Theoretically Connell's, Epstein's and Walkerdine's work on gender in education will have a key part in the paper (Connell, 2002, Epstein, 2003, and Walkerdine, 1998).
Methodology: The paper has arisen from an ongoing Ph.D project, "Gender and Identity", which is a part of a national research programme called "Interaction, Learning and Teaching". Within the programme videomaterial will be analysed and used as the methodical instrument (Pomerantz and Fehr, 1997). In the paper one videosequence is presented and closely analysed from micro-ethnographic perspective (Sahlström, 1999). In the chosen sequence a group of children play a ring game based on faitytale characters, "the Sleeping Beauty", with their pre-school teacher.
Conclusions: Characters in fairytales are often described in a gendered way (Marsh, 2000). However, the characters' gender or qualities do not seem to matter to the children in the chosen sequence. The three children who get the main parts; the Sleeping Beauty, the prince and the fairy, were all boys. One of the boys had been promised the fairy part boforehand, but the other two parts were chosen at the time of the ring game. Although the girls were also very eager to play a main character all the main parts went to boys. One girl particular tried very hard to get the pre-school teachers attention, but failed.
Why the girls are excluded is discussed with reference to gender and the pre-school context in the paper. Analyses of how the part of the Sleeping Beauty is played by the boys with respect to gender stereotypes and transgressions will also be presented.
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