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For many early childhood teachers, interacting with children about issues concerning gender and sexuality is fraught with feelings of uneasiness and anxiety. For others, familiarity with research on these topics has resulted in rethinking their approaches to sex, gender, and sexuality in their early childhood classrooms. This inquiry examined the tensions associated with the researcher’s attempts to rethink gendered narratives and childhood sexuality in her own classroom. The study took place over the course of 4 months and involved a traditional public kindergarten classroom. Queer theory and feminist poststructuralism, along with a multi-voiced poststructural autoethnography were used to demonstrate the researcher’s shifting identities and the cultural context that shaped the researcher’s behaviors and perspective. Multivocal autoethnographic narratives were written to illustrate the researcher’s journey between trying on, being in, and becoming a feminist poststructural educator who uncovers and troubles gendered teaching practices in her own early childhood classroom. The following insights resulted from this study: young children actively and knowingly talk about gender and sexuality and do have a considerable amount of sexual knowledge; heterosexuality plays an integral part in children’s everyday experiences; and a lack of equity and inclusion associated with family diversity or queer identities exists in the early childhood classroom. Young children’s access to knowledge about gender, relationships, and sexuality has critical implications for their health and well-being, not only in their early years but also throughout their lives. This knowledge can build children’s competencies and resilience, contributing to new cultural norms of non-violence in gendered and sexual relationships. With a growing diversity in the make-up of families, it is now more critical than ever that teacher training programs move away from a single way of knowing and make room for multiple perspectives, which in turn influence innovative kinds of teaching decisions and practices. This research illustrates that it is possible for early childhood teachers to use feminist poststructuralism and queer theory to deepen their understandings and responses to children’s talk, actions, and play regarding sex, gender, and sexuality and to use these understandings to inform their professional practice.

Current theoretical accounts of gender role development argue that children are active participants in their own and their peers' gender role development (Liben & Bigler, 2002; Ruble, Martin, & Szkrybalo, 2002). Specifically, children have been reported to bully peers whose behaviors do not conform to gender norms (Ruble & Martin, 2002). Gender-related bullying is especially problematic among adolescent boys who use gay-baiting (calling a boy gay when he does something atypical of his gender) to publicly harm male peers whose behaviors are incongruent with society's definition of masculinity (Pollack, 1998; Kimmel, 2003a; Kimmel, 2003b). Relationships among endorsing traditional masculine gender roles for the self-and others, contingent self-esteem, gender-based bullying, and academic performance have been hinted at in the literature, although there has not been a study connecting these themes. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is to determine the relations among (a) endorsing traditional masculine gender roles via sex-typing of the self and others, (b) contingent self-esteem, (c) gender-related bullying, and (d) academic success. In addition, I propose and test the notion that contingent self-esteem mediates the relationship between sex-typing of the self and others and gender-related bullying (perpetrators and victims). Participants included 103 7th grade boys (31 European Americans, 72 Latinos) who reported on (a) their personal sex-typed attitudes (OAT-PM) and sex-typed attitudes towards others (OAT-AM), (b) levels of contingent self-esteem, and (c) gender-related bullying (perpetrators and victims) in the spring of 2008. Students' final GPAs were also obtained. Results indicated that Latino boys were more likely than European American boys to be perpetrators of gender-related bullying. European American boys, in contrast, were more likely than Latino boys to become victims of gender-related bullying. In addition, boys were more likely to engage in gender-related bullying if they were highly sex-typed and if their self-esteem was contingent upon proving their masculinity. Such findings suggest the need for researchers to develop intervention programs designed to teach students to have more flexible conceptions of gender in order to minimize the amount of gender-related bullying in the schools. / text

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept. 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Masculinity is a relevant and important research priority in South Africa, where problematic constructions of adolescent masculinity are linked with a range of health issues and psychosocial risks. The theoretical basis for this qualitative research study was social constructionism informed by dialogical theory and psychoanalytic accounts of masculinity, including Kristeva's theory of abjection. The overall aim was to explore the lived experience of adolescent boys in order to understand how boys are subjectively positioned in relation to hegemonic standards for 'acceptable' masculinity in social contexts. Following ethical guidelines, boys were purposively sampled for the study from two school settings, a 'multicultural' urban single-sex school and a 'monoracial' rural coeducational secondary. A mixed method approach was used - a photo-narrative visual research method, focus groups and semi-structured interviews within a constructionist paradigm. Visual and verbal data was analysed by means of an integrated quantitative content analysis and qualitative narrative analysis. Findings suggested that hegemonic standards were experienced in different ways by boys in terms of subjective positioning and microcultural context. Peer-groups were identified as having major importance for adolescent boys as a means of validating masculine norms, with sport functioning as an important masculinity marker. A central finding was that peer group norms created the conditions for inclusion and exclusion, which in turn lead to the construction of 'acceptable identities'. Performative 'doing' and symbolic 'having' were identified as two important ways of constructing masculinity - ways that were not always in accord. Another important finding was that boys battled to create even a rough congruence between masculinity norms and an authentic sense of self. There was a convergence around hegemonic norms of toughness, emphasised heterosexuality and displayed risk-taking across contexts; however, these norms were understood in different ways. Non-relational and objectified sex talk was a strong focus of hegemonic masculinity for most boys in the study. Toughness was understood as alternatively verbal, performative or physical, and these differences were linked to racial and cultural differences. Similarly, there were racial and cultural differences in how expressions of masculinity were 'commodified'. Hybridised identities emerged from the multicultural context of School A but not in the monoracial context of School B. Based on the findings that boys occupied several positions simultaneously and experienced contradiction among various identity positions, it was suggested that Connell's masculinity framework provided only a limited macrosociological perspective that neglected the ambiguities of masculine subjectivity. The study identified a range of means by which boys negotiated distances for alternative masculinities outside of hegemonic standards. The collective pressure of meeting an illusory and unattainable standard of masculine acceptability was identified as a source of conflict and anxiety for most of the boys in this study. This anxiety was managed in various ways including finding alternative constructions of masculinity in sub-cultural contexts, religious experience and in traditional cultural practices. These findings have implications for programmes and policies that address issues of masculinity in relation to the challenges and risks facing adolescent boys in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

The discovery of the variables that impact on the career aspirations of children is important in the development of effective programs and interventions. These variables can also serve as a basis to provide equal opportunities and to promote diversity in the work place. This study was driven by three primary areas of investigation. First, it sought to discover the perceived gender characteristics of selected occupations held by a group of children. Second, it sought to investigate in what ways the occupational patterns within the families of these children related to their perceptions of occupational gender characteristics. Third, it sought to explore in what ways the occupational preferences of these children related to their perceptions of occupational gender characteristics. A qualitative research design using multiple-case studies was utilized. Participants were selected from a pool of 76 fifth-grade students from a suburban elementary school. A purposive sample of 11 boys and 10 girls was selected from this pool for in-depth study. A structured interview schedule was the main source of data collection. Data analysis was based on the tenets of the grounded theory approach. This study revealed that these children assigned gender characteristics to occupations based on their underlying views of the meaning and character of femininity and masculinity. The occupational patterns in the families of these children were traditionally sex-typed and the boys perpetuated that pattern by selecting traditional occupations for themselves. The boys selected occupations which were congruent with their views of masculinity. Several of the girls broke away from the traditional sex-typed occupations of their mothers and aspired to nontraditional occupations. The girls who broke the traditional patterns were cognizant of the dominant social views and practices regarding gender-appropriate occupations. Nonetheless, they were undeterred in stating their aspirations of traditionally male occupations. / Ed. D.

Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Research on how children learn to behave in gendered ways has focused on a „top-down‟ process of socialisation which positions children as passive recipients of gender norms of the societies they inhabit. In contrast, this ethnographic study explores gender as constructed and experienced by children themselves with a specific focus on play as a means through which social identities are produced. This study focuses on children between the ages of six and ten and explores how they construct and experience being „boys‟ and being „girls‟ through play in a township primary school near Durban. This research is influenced by the emerging perspective in academic ways of thinking about childhood; identified by Prout and James (1997) as the „New Sociology of Childhood‟ (NSC). Departing from the traditional socialisation ways of thinking about children‟s social worlds from the perspectives of adults, the NSC views children as active agents in society whose social lives, behaviours and relationships are worthy of study in their own right. In this study, I engage with children‟s agency by adopting a critical child-centred methodological approach to explore symbolic meanings the young boys and girls in the study attach to play. In adopting this research approach, this study generates new understandings about ways in which South African boys and girls in the study construct and experience schooling and play. Findings raise various implications for ways of working with children, both in research and in education, in ways which engages with their own constructions of the stereotypes of masculinity and femininity through play. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nie beskikbaar

Thesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The issue of masculinity is complex, and many theories on how gender is constructed exist. The central premise of this study is that gender construction is the result of dynamic social interaction and, as such, a post-structuralist paradigm is ascribed to. The concept of multiple masculinities exists to explain the influences different contexts have on how masculine ideas are constructed. This is not a passive process and individuals are considered active creators of their own identity. However, research demonstrates that not all masculinities are equal. Hegemonic masculinity maintains its leading dominant position status through using strategies of power and dominance to maintain the pinnacle position of status in the hierarchy of masculinities. The purpose of this study is to listen to the narratives of pre-adolescent boys about masculinity. Post-structuralist and social constructivist ideas that meaning is fluid and open to change, is influenced by culture and the individual meanings that people make. This understanding provides the theoretical framework for this qualitative study. Through a narrative-inquiry design, meaning was made of the individual experiences of six boys within the context of a single-sex preparatory school. The narratives of these participants, purposively selected, were obtained using the data-collecting methods of interviews, a focus group and the construction of a collage. The analysed data was presented both in the form of the narratives of the participants and through a thematic analysis. The findings indicate that within this private, single-sex preparatory school context, multiple constructions of masculinity are formed, and they all appear to be constructed in relation to hegemonic notions of masculinity. It was found that fathers play an important role in the way in which boys construct their masculine identity. However, their peers and the school context also play a significant role. Further, the findings revealed that although hegemonic notions of masculinity in this context had a powerful impact on these participants’ construction of masculinity, there are indications some are challenging overt expressions of hegemonic masculinity and, as such, hold more complex, transitional constructs of masculine identity. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kwessie rondom manlikheid is kompleks en daar bestaan baie teorieë oor hoe geslag gebou word. Die sentrale uitgangspunt van hierdie studie is dat die konstruksie van geslag ‘n resultaat van dinamiese sosiale interaksie is en dus aan 'n post-strukturalistiese paradigma toegeskryf word. As sodanig bestaan die konsep van verskeie vorme van manlikheid om te verduidelik hoe verskillende kontekste manlike idees beïnvloed. Dit is nie 'n passiewe proses nie. Individue word as aktiewe skeppers van hulle eie identiteit beskou. Navorsing toon egter dat nie alle vorme van manlikheid gelyk is nie. Hegemoniese manlikheid hou 'n dominante posisie in stand deur die gebruik van strategieë van mag en oorheersing; die hoogsteposisie van status in die hiërargie van manlikheid word dus gestaaf. Die doel van hierdie studie is om na die narratiewe van pre-adolessente seuns oor manlikheid te luister. Post-strukturalistiese en sosiale konstruktivistiese idees wat aandui dat bedoelings vloeibaar en veranderbaar is, afhangende van kultuur en die betekenis wat deur 'n individu daaraan geheg word, voorsien dus 'n teoretiese raamwerk vir hierdie kwalitatiewe studie. Deur die gebruik van ‘n narratiewe ondersoek-ontwerp, is die betekenis van die individuele ervaringe van ses seuns in die konteks van 'n enkel-geslag voorbereidende skool geevalueer. Die verhale van hierdie deelnemers, wat doelgerig geselekteer is, is verkry deur gebruik te maak van onderhoude, 'n fokus groep en die konstruksie van 'n collage as data insamelingsmetodes. Die geanaliseerde data is beide in die vorm van verhale van die deelnemers sowel as 'n tematiese analise aangebied. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat binne hierdie private, enkel-geslag voorbereidende skoolkonteks, verskeie konstruksies van manlikheid gevorm word en het telkens beblyk in verhouding tot hegemoniese idees oor manlikheid gebou te word. Daar is bevind dat vaders 'n belangrike rol speel in die wyse waarop seuns hul manlike identiteit konstrueer. Eweknieë en die skoolkonteks speel egter ook 'n belangrike rol in die konstruksie van geslag. Die bevindinge het verder aan die lig gebring dat, alhoewel hegemoniese idees oor manlikheid in hierdie konteks 'n kragtige uitwerking op hierdie deelnemers se konstruksie van manlikheid het, daar aanduidings is dat sommige van die deelnemers openlike uitdrukkings van hegemoniese manlikheid uitdaag en sodoende meer komplekse oorgang-konstrukte van manlike identiteit het.

Bibliography: leaves 369-398. / xiv, 398, [19] leaves : ill., maps, ports ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / A comparative study of a selection of South Australian secondary schools during the period 1880-1919. The ideals of gender and national identity of the various schools are investigated through an analysis of archival records relating to their rhetoric, organisation and curricula. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 2000