Publisher Description

You see it in every schoolyard: the girls play only with the girls, the boys play only with the boys. Why? And what do the kids think about this? Breaking with familiar conventions for thinking about children and gender, Gender Play develops fresh insights into the everyday social worlds of kids in elementary schools in the United States. Barrie Thorne draws on her daily observations in the classroom and on the playground to show how children construct and experience gender in school. With rich detail,she looks at the "play of gender" in the organization of groups of kids and activities - activities such as "chase-and-kiss," "cooties," "goin' with" and teasing.

Thorne observes children in schools in working-class communities, emphasizing the experiences of fourth and fifth graders. Most of the children she observed were white, but a sizable minority were Latino, Chicano, or African American. Thorne argues that the organization and meaning of gender are influenced by age, ethnicity, race, sexuality, and social class, and that they shift with social context. She sees gender identity not through the lens of individual socialization or difference, but rather as a social process involving groups of children. Thorne takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery, provides new insights about children, and offers teachers practical suggestions for increasing cooperative mixed-gender interaction.

Author Biography

Barrie Thorne is a Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. She is a co-editor, with Barbara Laslett, of Feminist Sociology: Life Histories of a Movement, also published by Rutgers University Press.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1- Children and Gender
Chapter 2- Learning from Kids
Chapter 3- Boys and Girls Together...But Mostly Apart
Chapter 4- Gender Separation: Why and How
Chapter 5- Creating a Sense of "Opposite Sides"
Chapter 6- Do Girls and Boys Have Different Cultures?
Chapter 7- Crossing the Gender Divide
Chapter 8- Lip Gloss and "Goin' With": Becoming Teens
Chapter 9- Lessons for Adults

Notes
References
Index

Review

A stunning achievement... Thorne transforms our ability to see gender in social life. -- Nancy J. Chodorow * author of Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory *
This is a beautifully observed, as well as deeply reflective book... Pathbreaking research is combined with vivid and enjoyable writing. -- Bob Connell * author of Gender and Power *
Destined to be a classic... a wonderful text - beautifully inflected, reflexive, responsive to diversity and differences, and grounded in careful ethnographic work. -- Laurel Richardson * author of The Dynamics of Sex and Gender *
Thorne sees the ritualized interactions of boys and girls as power play and makes it her central issue. She looks across the fun and games as a cycle of domination and subservience... [She] re-examines the gender mystique as it develops through the grades, urging us to understand it as a social process, amenable to change. * The New York Book Times Review *

Long Description

You see it in every schoolyard: the girls play only with the girls, the boys play only with the boys. Why? And what do the kids think about this? Breaking with familiar conventions for thinking about children and gender, Gender Play develops fresh insights into the everyday social worlds of kids in elementary schools in the United States. Barrie Thorne draws on her daily observations in the classroom and on the playground to show how children construct and experience gender in school. With rich detail,she looks at the "play of gender" in the organization of groups of kids and activities - activities such as "chase-and-kiss," "cooties," "goin' with" and teasing. Thorne observes children in schools in working-class communities, emphasizing the experiences of fourth and fifth graders. Most of the children she observed were white, but a sizable minority were Latino, Chicano, or African American. Thorne argues that the organization and meaning of gender are influenced by age, ethnicity, race, sexuality, and social class, and that they shift with social context. She sees gender identity not through the lens of individual socialization or difference, but rather as a social process involving groups of children. Thorne takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery, provides new insights about children, and offers teachers practical suggestions for increasing cooperative mixed-gender interaction.

Review Quote

"This is a beautifully observed, as well as deeply reflective book . . . pathbreaking research is combined with vivid and enjoyable writing. Thorne will help teachers and parents, as well as students and researchers, gain a new understanding of issues about gender."

Description for Reader

Barrie Thorne is a Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. She is a co-editor, with Barbara Laslett, of Feminist Sociology: Life Histories of a Movement , also published by Rutgers University Press.

Details