Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools PDF

Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools Author(s): Karin A. Martin Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Aug., 1998), pp. 494-511 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657264 Accessed: 10-01-2016 17:53 UTC...

Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools Author(s): Karin A. Martin Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Aug., 1998), pp. 494-511 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657264 Accessed: 10-01-2016 17:53 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Sage Publications, Inc. and American Sociological Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Sociological Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions  BECOMING A GENDERED BODY: PRACTICES OF PRESCHOOLS* Karin A. Martin University of Michigan Many feminist scholars argue that the seeming naturalness of gender differ- ences, particularly bodily difference, underlies gender inequality. Yetfew re- searchers ask how these bodily differences are constructed. Through semistructured observation in five preschool classrooms, I examine one way that everyday movements, comportment, and use of physical space become gendered. I find that the hidden school curriculum that controls children's bodily practices in order to shape them cognitively serves another purpose as well. This hidden curriculum also turns children who are similar in bodily comportment, movement, and practice into girls and boys-children whose bodily practices differ I identify five sets of practices that create these dif- ferences: dressing up, permitting relaxed behaviors or requiring formal be- haviors, controlling voices, verbal and physical instructions regarding children's bodies by teachers, and physical interactions among children. This hidden curriculum that (partially) creates bodily differences between the genders also makes these physical differences appear and feel natural. Social science research about bodies of- (Birdwhistell 1970; Henley 1977; Young ten focuses on women's bodies, particu- 1990). Some of these differences, particu- larly the parts of women's bodies that are larly differences in motor skills (e.g., jump- most explicitly different from men's-their ing, running, throwing) are seen in early reproductive capacities and sexuality (E. childhood (Thomas and French 1985).1 Of Martin 1987; K. Martin 1996; but see course, within gender, we may find indi- Connell 1987, 1995). Men and women in the vidual differences, differences based on race, United States also hold and move their bod- class, and sexuality, and differences based on ies differently (Birdwhistell 1970; Henley size and shape of body. Yet, on average, men 1977; Young 1990); these differences are and women move differently. sometimes related to sexuality (Haug 1987) Such differences may seem trivial in the and sometimes not. On the whole, men and large scheme of gender inequality. However, women sit, stand, gesture, walk, and throw theoretical work by social scientists and differently. Generally, women's bodies are feminists suggests that these differences may confined, their movements restricted. For ex- be consequential. Bodies are (unfinished) re- ample, women take smaller steps than men, sources (Shilling 1993:103) that must be sit in closed positions (arms and legs crossed 1 There is little research on differences in things across the body), take up less physical space like step size and sitting positions among children; than men, do not step, twist, or throw from most of the traditional developmental research on the shoulder when throwing a ball, and are children looks at motor skills and the outcomes of generally tentative when using their bodies those skills. "Although the outcome reflects the movement process, it does not do so perfectly and * Direct correspondenceto KarinA. Martin, does not describe this process" (Thomas and Departmentof Sociology, 3012 LSA Building, French 1985:277). I am just as interested in dif- Universityof Michigan,Ann Arbor,MI 48109- ferences in the process as the outcome (also see 1382 ([email protected]). I am gratefulfor Young 1990). For a review of the developmental comments,insights,andassistancefromHoward psychology literature on gender differences in Kimeldorf, Laurie Morgan, Adam Smargon, motor skills see Thomas and French 1985; for EmilyStenzel,andthreeanonymousASRreview- more recent examples in this literature, see ers, andfor supportfroma RackhamFacultyFel- Butterfield and Loovis 1993, Plimpton and lowshipat the Universityof Michigan. Regimbal 1992, and Smoll and Schutz 1990. 494 American Sociological Review, 1998, Vol. 63 (August:494-5 11) This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 495 "trained,manipulated,cajoled, coaxed, orga- women's bodies are often sources of anxiety nized and in general disciplined" (Turner and tentativeness. She suggests that women's 1992:15). We use our bodies to construct our lack of confidence and agency are embodied means of living, to take care of each other, and stem from an inability to move confi- to pleasure each other. According to Turner, dently in space, to take up space, to use one's "... social life depends upon the successful body to its fullest extent. Young (1990) sug- presenting, monitoring and interpreting of gests "that the general lack of confidence bodies" (p. 15). Similarly, according to Fou- that we [women] frequently have about our cault (1979), controlled and disciplined bod- cognitive or leadership abilities is traceable ies do more than regulate the individual in part to an original doubt of our body's ca- body. A disciplined body creates a context pacity" (p. 156). Thus, these theorists sug- for social relations. Gendered (along with gest that gender differences in minute bodily "raced"and "classed") bodies create particu- behaviors like gesture, stance, posture, step, lar contexts for social relations as they sig- and throwing are significant to our under- nal, manage, and negotiate informationabout standing of gendered selves and gender in- power and status. Gender relations depend equality. This feminist theory, however, fo- on the successful gender presentation, moni- cuses on adult bodies. toring, and interpretationof bodies (West and Theories of the body need gendering, and Zimmerman1987). Bodies that clearly delin- feminist theories of gendered bodies need eate gender status facilitate the maintenance "childrening" or accounts of development. of the gender hierarchy. How do adult gendered bodies become gen- Our bodies are also one site of gender. dered, if they are not naturally so? Scholars Much postmodern feminist work (Butler run the risk of continuing to view gendered 1990, 1993) suggests that gender is a perfor- bodies as naturalif they ignore the processes mance. Microsociological work (West and that produce gendered adult bodies. Gen- Zimmerman 1987) suggests that gender is dering of the body in childhood is the foun- something that is "done." These two con- dation on which further gendering of the cepts, "genderperformance"and "doing gen- body occurs throughout the life course. The der," are similar-both suggest that man- gendering of children's bodies makes gender aged, adorned, fashioned, properly com- differences feel and appearnatural,which al- ported and moving bodies establish gender lows for such bodily differences to emerge and gender relations. throughoutthe life course. Other feminist theorists (Connell 1987, I suggest that the hidden school curriculum 1995; Young 1990) argue that gender rests of disciplining the body is gendered and con- not only on the surface of the body, in per- tributes to the embodiment of gender in formance and doing, but becomes embod- childhood, making gendered bodies appear ied-becomes deeply part of whom we are and feel natural. Sociologists of education physically and psychologically. According to have demonstratedthat schools have hidden Connell, gender becomes embedded in body curriculums (Giroux and Purpel 1983; Jack- postures, musculature, and tensions in our son 1968). Hidden curriculums are covert bodies. lessons that schools teach, and they are often a means of social control. These curriculums The social definition of men as holders of include teaching about work differentially by poweris translatednot only into mentalbody- imagesandfantasies,but into muscletensions, class (Anyon 1980; Bowles and Gintis 1976; posture,the feel andtextureof the body. This Carnoy and Levin 1985), political socializa- is one of the mainways in whichthe powerof tion (Wasburn 1986), and training in obedi- men becomes naturalized.... (Connell ence and docility (Giroux and Purpel 1983). 1987:85) More recently, some theorists and research- ers have examined the curriculumthat disci- Connell (1995) suggests that masculine plines the body (Carere 1987; Foucault 1979; gender is partly a feel to one's body and that McLaren 1986). This curriculum demands bodies are often a source of power for men. the practice of bodily control in congruence Young (1990), however, argues that bodies with the goals of the school as an institution. serve the opposite purpose for women- It reworks the students from the outside in This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 496 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW on the presumption that to shape the body is were not associated with the university. to shape the mind (Carere 1987). In such a Many of the kids who attended Preschool A curriculumteachers constantly monitor kids' attended part-time.Although teachers at this bodily movements, comportment, and prac- school paid some attention to issues of race tices.2 Kids begin their day running wildly and gender equity, issues of diversity were about the school grounds. Then this hidden not as large a part of the curriculum as they curriculumfunnels the kids into line, through are at some preschools (Jordan and Cowan the hallways, quietly into a classroom, sitting 1995; Van Ausdale and Feagin 1996). The upright at their desks, focused at the front of fifth classroom was located at Preschool B, a the room, "ready to learn" (Carere 1987; preschool run by a Catholic church in the McLaren 1986). According to Carere(1987), same city as Preschool A. The kids who at- this curriculum of disciplining the body tended Preschool B were children of young serves the curriculumsthat seek to shape the working professionals, many of whom lived mind and renders children physically ready in the vicinity of the preschool. These chil- for cognitive learning. dren attended preschool "full-time"-five I suggest that this hidden curriculum that days a week for most of the day. controls children's bodily practices serves The curriculums and routines of the two also to turn kids who are similar in bodily preschools were similar with two excep- comportment, movement, and practice into tions. First, there was some religious in- girls and boys, children whose bodily prac- struction in Preschool B, although many of tices are different. Schools are not the only the kids were not Catholic. Preschool B re- producers of these differences. While the quired children to pray before their snack, process ordinarily begins in the family, the and the children's activities focused more schools' hidden curriculumfurtherfacilitates on the religious aspects of Christian holi- and encourages the construction of bodily days than did the activities of children in differences between the genders and makes Preschool A. For example, at Christmas, these physical differences appear and feel teachers talked to the kids about the birth of natural.Finally, this curriculummay be more baby Jesus. At Preschool A there was little or less hidden depending on the particular religious talk and more talk about decorat- preschool and particular teachers. Some ing Christmas trees, making cards, and so schools and teachers may see teaching chil- on. The second difference between the two dren to behave like "young ladies" and preschools is that Preschool B had some ex- "young gentlemen" as an explicit part of plicit rules that forbade violent actions at their curriculums. school. Posted on the wall of the playroom was the following sign (which few of the preschoolers could read) DATA AND METHOD 1. No wrestling. The data for this study come from extensive and detailed semistructured field observa- 2. No violentplay, killing games, kicking,ka- tions of five preschool classrooms of three rate, etc. to five-year-olds in a midwestern city.3 Four 3. Bikesbelongon the outsideof the gym. of the classrooms were part of a preschool 4. No crashingbikes. (Preschool A) located close to the campus of 5. Housesarefor playingin not climbingon. a large university. A few of the kids were 6. Older childrenare off bikes when toddlers children of faculty members, more were chil- arrive. dren of staff and administrators, and many 7. Balls should be usedfor catching, rolling, 2 I use "kids" and "children" interchangeably; tossing-not slammingat people. children themselves prefer the term "kids" 8. Adultsand childrenwill talkwitheach other (Thorne 1993:9). about problems and not shout across the 3 There were three physical locations for the room. classrooms, but two of the classrooms had both 9. Use equipmentappropriately. morning and afternoon sessions with a different teacher and different student composition, result- Such rules were usually directed at boys, al- ing in five sets of teachers and students. though they were not enforced consistently. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 497 Preschool A also had some of these rules, but dren were observed this way). We observed they were not as explicit or as clearly out- girls and boys for equal amounts of time, and lined for the teachers or the kids. For ex- we heeded Thorne's (1993) caution about the ample, teachers would usually ask kids to "big man bias" in field research and were talk about their problems or disputes (rule 8) careful not to observe only the most active, at both schools. However, rule 2 was not in outgoing, "popular"kids. effect at Preschool A unless a game got "out We focused on the children's physicality- of control"-became too loud, too disrup- body movement, use of space, and the physi- tive, or "truly" violent instead of "pretend" cal contact among kids or between kids and violent. The data from these preschools rep- teachers. Our field notes were usually not resent some ways that schools may discipline about "events" that occurred, but about ev- children's bodies in gendered ways. As eryday physical behavior and interaction and Suransky's (1982) study of five preschools its regulation. Field notes were coded using suggests, the schools' and teachers' philoso- the qualitative software program Hyper- phies, and styles, and cultural context make Research. Categories that were coded dramatic differences in the content and ex- emerged from the data and were not prede- perience of a day at preschool. termined categories. Excerpts from field A total 112 children and 14 different notes are presented throughout and are ex- teachers (five head teachers and nine aides) amples of representative patterns in the data. were observed in these classrooms.4 All Tables presenting estimates of the numbers teachers were female. Forty-two percent of of times particular phenomena were ob- the kids were girls and 58 percent were served provide a context for the field note boys, and they made up similar proportions excerpts. The data are subject to the observ- in each classroom. There were 12 Asian or ers' attentionand accuratedescriptions in the Asian American children, 3 Latino/a chil- field notes. For instance, most micro and dren, and 4 African American children. The "neutral" physical contact between kids or remaining children were white. The children among teachers and kids is probably under- primarily came from middle-class families. estimated (e.g., shoulders touching during A research assistant and I observed in circle time, knees bumping under the snack these classrooms about three times a week table). Future research might use video re- for eight months. Our observations were as cordings to assess such micro events. unobtrusive as possible, and we interacted little with the kids, although on occasion a child would ask what we were doing or RESULTS would sit next to us and "write" their own Children's bodies are disciplined by schools. "notes." We varied our observation tech- Children are physically active, and institu- niques between unstructuredfield observa- tions like schools impose disciplinary con- tion, in which we observed the classroom in trols that regulate children's bodies and pre- a holistic manner and recorded everyday be- pare children for the larger social world. havior, and more structured techniques, in While this disciplinary control produces doc- which we observed one part of the classroom ile bodies (Foucault 1979), it also produces (the block area, the dress-up area), one par- gendered bodies. As these disciplinary prac- ticular child (25 children were observed this tices operate in different contexts, some bod- way), one particularteacher (seven teachers ies become more docile than others. I exam- were observed this way), or one set of chil- ine how the following practices contribute to dren (boys who always play with blocks, the a gendering of children's bodies in pre- kids that play with the hamsters, the kids that school: the effects of dressing-up or bodily played at the water table a lot-most chil- adornment, the gendered nature of formal and relaxed behaviors, how the different re- 4 Classrooms usually contained 15 to 18 chil- strictions on girls' and boys' voices limit dren on a given day. However, since some kids their physicality, how teachers instruct girls' came to preschool five days a week, some three, and boys' bodies, and the gendering of physi- and some two, a total of 112 different kids were cal interactions between children and teach- observed. ers and among the children themselves. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 498 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW Bodily Adornment: Dressing Up Table 1. Observations of Girls Wearing Dresses and the Color Pink: Five Preschool Perhaps the most explicit way that children's Classrooms bodies become gendered is through their Observation N Percent clothes and other bodily adornments. Here I discuss how parents gender their children Girls wearingsomethingpink 54 61 through their clothes, how children's dress- Girls wearingdresses 21 24 up play experiments with making bodies 3-year-oldgirls 6 14 feminine and masculine, and how this play, 5-year-oldgirls 15 32 when it is gender normative, shapes girls' and boys' bodies differently, constraining Numberof observations 89 100 girls' physicality. 3-year-oldgirls 42 47 Dressing up (1). The clothes that parents 5-year-oldgirls 47 53 send kids to preschool in shape children's Note: In 12 observation sessions, what the chil- experiences of their bodies in gendered drenwere wearing,includingcolor of theirclothing, ways.5 Clothes, particularly their color, sig- was noted. The data in Table 1 come from coded nify a child's gender; gender in preschool is field notes. There were no instances of boys wear- in fact color-coded. On average, about 61 ing pink or dresses, and no age differences among percent of the girls wore pink clothing each girls in wearingthe color pink. day (Table 1). Boys were more likely to wear primary colors, black, florescent green, and Four girls are sitting at a table-Cathy, Kim, orange. Boys never wore pink. Danielle, and Jesse. They are cutting play money out of paper. Cathy and Danielle have The teacher is asking each kid during circle on overalls and Kim and Jesse have on dresses. (the part of the day that includes formal in- Cathy puts her feet up on the table and crosses struction by the teacher while the children sit her legs at the ankle; she leans back in her chair in a circle) what their favorite color is. Adam and continues cutting her money. Danielle imi- says black. Bill says "every color that's not tates her. They look at each other and laugh. pink." (Five-year-olds) They put their shoulders back, posturing, hav- Fourteen percent of three-year-old girls ing fun with this new way of sitting. Kim and wore dresses each day compared to 32 per- Jesse continue to cut and laugh with them, but cent of five-year-old girls (Table 1). Wearing do not put their feet up. (Five-year-olds) a dress limited girls' physicality in preschool. However, it is not only the dress itself, but Dresses are restrictive in other ways as well. knowledge about how to behave in a dress They often are worn with tights that are ex- that is restrictive. Many girls already knew perienced as uncomfortable and constrain- that some behaviors were not allowed in a ing. I observed girls constantly pulling at and dress. This knowledge probably comes from rearranging their tights, trying to untwist the families who dress their girls in dresses. them or pull them up. Because of their dis- Vicki, wearing leggings and a dress-like shirt, comfort, girls spent much time attuned to and is leaning over the desk to look into a "tunnel" arranging their clothing and/or their bodies. that some other kids have built. As she leans, Dresses also can be lifted up, an embar- her dress/shirt rides up exposing her back. Jen- rassing thing for five-year-olds if done pur- nifer (another child) walks by Vicki and as she posely by another child. We witnessed this does she pulls Vicki's shirt back over her bare on only one occasion-a boy pulled up the skin and gives it a pat to keep it in place. It hem of a girl's skirt up. The girl protested looks very much like something one's mother and the teacher told him to stop and that was might do. (Five-year-olds) the end of it. Teachers, however, lifted up 5 Parents are not solely responsible for what girls' dresses frequently-to see if a child was dressed warmly enough, while reading a their children wear to preschool, as they are con- book about dresses, to see if a child was wet. strained by what is available and affordable in children's clothing. More important,children, es- Usually this was done without asking the pecially at ages three to five, want some say in child and was more management of the child what they wear to preschool and may insist on rather than an interaction with her. Teachers some outfits and object to others. were much more likely to manage girls and This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 499 their clothing this way-rearranging their When kids dressed up, they played at be- clothes, tucking in their shirts, fixing a ing a variety of things from kitty cats and ponytail gone astray.6Such management of- puppies to monsters and superheroes to ten puts girls' bodies under the control of an- "fancy ladies." Some of this play was not ex- other and calls girls' attentions to their ap- plicitly gendered. For example, one day in pearances and bodily adornments. November I observed three girls wearing Dressing up (2). Kids like to play dress- "turkey hats" they had made. They spent a up in preschool, and all the classrooms had a long time gobbling at each other and playing dress-up corner with a variety of clothes, at being turkeys, but there was nothing ex- shoes, pocketbooks, scarves, and hats for plicitly gendered about their play. However, dressing up. Classrooms tended to have more this kind of adornmentwas not the most fre- women's clothes than men's, but there were quent type. Children often seemed to experi- some of both, as well as some gender-neu- ment with both genders when they played tral clothes-capes, hats, and vests that were dress-up. The three-year-olds tended to be not clearly for men or women-and some more experimental in their gender dress-up items that were clearly costumes, such as than the five-year-olds, perhaps because masks of cats and dogs and clip-on tails. teachers encouraged it more at this age. Girls tended to play dress-up more than Everett and Juan are playing dress-up. Both boys-over one-half of dressing up was done have on "dresses" made out of material that is by girls. Gender differences in the amount of wrapped around them like a toga or sarong. time spent playing dress-up seemed to in- Everett has a pocketbook and a camera over his crease from age three to age five. We only shoulder and Juan has a pair of play binoculars observed the five-year-old boys dressing up on a strap over his. Everett has a scarf around or using clothes or costumes in their play his head and cape on. Juan has on big, green three times, whereas three-year-old boys sunglasses. Pam (teacher) tells them, "You dressed up almost weekly. Five-year-old guys look great! Go look in the mirror."They boys also did not dress up elaborately, but shuffle over to the full-length mirror and look at themselves and grin, and make adjustments used one piece of clothing to animate their to their costumes. (Three-year-olds) play. Once Phil wore large, men's winter ski gloves when he played monster. Holding up The five-year-old children tended to dress-up his now large, chiseled looking hands, he more gender normatively. Girls in particular stomped around the classroom making mon- played at being adult women. ster sounds. On another occasion Brian, a Frances is playing dress-up. She is walking in child new to the classroom who attended red shoes and carrying a pocketbook. She and only two days a week, walked around by two other girls, Jen and Rachel, spend between himself for a long time carrying a silver five and ten minutes looking at and talking pocketbook and hovering first at the edges about the guinea pigs. Then they go back to of girls' play and then at the edges of boys' dress-up. Frances and Rachel practice walking play. On the third occasion, Sam used ballet in adult women's shoes. Their body move- slippers to animate his play in circle. ments are not a perfect imitation of an adult woman's walk in high heels, yet it does look like an attempt to imitate such a walk. Jen and 6 All of my observations of this uninteractional Rachel go back to the guinea pigs, and Frances, managementwerewith three-year-olds. Teachers now by herself, is turning a sheer, frilly laven- seemed to manage children's bodies more di- der shirt around and around and around trying rectly and with less interactionat this age than to figure out how to put it on. She gets it on with the five-year-olds, perhapsbecause they and looks at herself in the mirror. She adds a could.Five-year-oldsdemandedexplanationsand sheer pink and lavender scarf and pink shoes. interaction.This resultmay also be confounded Looks in the mirror again. She walks, twisting with race.On at least two occasionswhenteach- her body-shoulders, hips, shoulders, hips- ers treatedgirlsthisway, thegirlswereAsianstu- not quite a (stereotypic) feminine walk, but dentswho understoodlittle English.Theteachers close. Walking in big shoes makes her take generallytendedto interactless withnon-English little bitty steps, like walking in heels. She speakingkids and to talk aboutthem as if they shuffles in the too big shoes out into the middle werenot theremorethantheydid withthosewho of the classroom and stops by a teacher. Laura spokeEnglish. (a teacher) says, "don't you look fancy, all pink This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 500 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW and purple."Frances smiles up at her and walks kids collect candy in, or that they might have off, not twisting so much this time. She's goes labeled her a dancer or ballerina because she back to the mirror and adds a red scarf. She was wearing a tutu. Rather, her scary dress- looks in the mirror and is holding her arms up was coded for her by others as "woman." across her chest to hold the scarf on (she can't tie it) and she is holding it with her chin too. Other types of responses to girls dressing She shuffles to block area where Jen is and up also seemed to gender their bodies and to then takes the clothes off and puts them back constrain them. For example, on two occa- in dress-up area. (Five-year-olds) sions I saw a teacher tie the arms of girls' dress-up shirts together so that the girls could I observed not only the children who dressed not move their arms. They did this in fun, of up, but the reactions of those around them to course, and untied them as soon as the girls their dress. This aspect proved to be one of wanted them to, but I never witnessed this the most interesting parts of kids' dress-up constraining of boys' bodies in play. play. Children interpreted each others' bodily Thus, how parents gender children's bod- adornments as gendered, even when other in- ies through dressing them and the ways chil- terpretations were plausible. For instance, dren experiment with bodily adornments by one day just before Halloween, Kim dressed dressing up make girls' and boys' bodies dif- up and was "scary" because she was dressed ferent and seem different to those around as a woman: them. Adorning a body often genders it ex- Kim has worn a denim skirt and tights to plicitly-signifies that it is a feminine or school today. Now she is trying to pull on a masculine body. Adornments also make girls ballerina costume-pink and ruffly-over her movements smaller, leading girls to take up clothes. She has a hard time getting it on. It's less space with their bodies and disallowing tight and wrinkled up and twisted when she some types of movements.7 gets it on. Her own clothes are bunched up un- der it. Then she puts on a mask-a woman's face. The mask material itself is a clear plastic Formal and Relaxed Behaviors so that skin shows through, but is sculpted to Describing adults, Goffman (1959) defines have a very Anglo nose and high cheek bones. It also has thin eyebrows, blue eye shadow, front stage and backstage behavior: blush, and lipstick painted on it. The mask is The backstagelanguageconsists of reciprocal bigger than Kim's face and head. Kim looks at first-naming,co-operative decision making, herself in the mirror and spends the rest of the profanity,open sexualremarks,elaborategrip- play time with this costume on. Intermittently ing, smoking,roughinformaldress, "sloppy" she picks up a plastic pumpkin since it is Hal- sitting and standingposture,use of dialect or loween season and carries that aroundtoo. Kim substandardspeech, mumblingand shouting, walks aroundthe classroom for a long time and playfulaggressivityand"kidding,"inconsider- then runs through the block area wearing this ateness for the other in minorbut potentially costume. Jason yells, "Ugh! There's a symbolic acts, minor physical self-involve- woman!" He and the other boys playing blocks ments such as humming,whistling,chewing, shriek and scatter about the block area. Kim nibbling,belching, and flatulence.The front runs back to the dress-up area as they yell. stage behaviorlanguagecan be taken as the Then throughout the afternoon she walks and absence (and in some sense the opposite) of skips through the center of the classroom, and this. (P. 128) every time she comes near the block boys one of them yells, "Ugh, there's the woman again!" Thus, one might not expect much front The teacher even picks up on this and says to stage or formal behavior in preschool, and Kim twice, "Woman, slow down." (Five-year- often, especially during parents'drop-off and olds) pick-up time, this was the case. But a given The boys' shrieks indicated that Kim was region of social life may sometimes be a scary, and this scariness is linked in their comments about her being a woman. It 7Although girls couldtakeup more spacewith seems equally plausible that they could have theirdressingup-by twirlingin a skirtor wear- interpreted her scary dress as a "trick-o- ing largebrimmedhats or carryinglargepocket- treater," given that it was close to Halloween books-we did notobservethis behaviorat either and she was carrying a plastic pumpkin that preschool. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 501 Table 2. Observations of Formal and Relaxed Behaviors, by Gender of Child: Five Preschool Class- rooms Boys Girls Total Type of Behavior N Percent N Percent N Percent Formal 16 18 71 82 87 100 Relaxed 86 80 21 20 107 100 Note: Structured/formal behaviorswere coded from referencesin the field notes to formal postures,po- lite gestures, etc. Relaxed/informalbehaviorswere coded from referencesto informalpostures, backstage demeanors,etc. backstage and sometimes a front stage. I the floor, and so on. However, my observa- identified several behaviors that were ex- tions suggest that teachers help construct this pected by the teachers, requiredby the insti- gender difference in bodily behaviors.8 tution, or that would be requiredin many in- Teachers were more likely to reprimand girls stitutional settings, as formal behavior. Rais- for relaxed bodily movements and comport- ing one's hand, sitting "on your bottom" (not ment. Sadker and Sadker (1994) found a on your knees, not squatting, not lying down, similar result with respect to hand-raising for not standing) during circle, covering one's answering teachers' questions if hand rais- nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, ing is considered a formal behavior and call- or sitting upright in a chair are all formal be- ing out a relaxed behavior, they find that haviors of preschools, schools, and to some boys are more likely to call out without rais- extent the larger social world. Crawling on ing their hands and demand attention: the floor, yelling, lying down during teach- Sometimes what they [boys] say has little or ers' presentations, and running through the nothing to do with the teacher's questions. classroom are examples of relaxed behaviors Whether male comments are insightful or irrel- that are not allowed in preschool, schools, evant, teachers respond to them. However, work settings, and many institutions of the when girls call out, there is a fascinating oc- larger social world (Henley 1977). Not all currence: Suddenly the teacher remembers the behaviors fell into one of these classifica- rule about raising your hand before you talk. tions. When kids were actively engaged in (Sadker and Sadker 1994:43) playing at the water table, for example, much This gendered dynamic of hand-raising ex- of their behavior was not clearly formal or ists even in preschool, although our field relaxed. I coded as formal and relaxed be- notes do not provide enough systematic re- haviors those behaviors that would be seen cording of hand-raising to fully assess it. as such if done by adults (or children in However, such a dynamic applies to many many cases) in other social institutions for bodily movements and comportment: which children are being prepared. The kids are sitting with their legs folded in a In the classrooms in this study, boys were circle listening to Jane (the teacher) talk about allowed and encouraged to pursue relaxed dinosaurs. ("Circle" is the most formal part of behaviors in a variety of ways that girls were their preschool education each day and is like not. Girls were more likely to be encouraged sitting in class.) Sam has the ballet slippers on to pursue more formal behaviors. Eighty-two his hands and is clapping them together really percent of all formal behaviors observed in 8 Throughout the paper, when I use the term these classrooms were done by girls, and only 18 percent by boys. However, 80 per- "constructed,"I do not mean that preschools cre- cent of the behaviors coded as relaxed were ate these differences or that they are the only ori- boys' behaviors (Table 2). gins of these differences. Clearly, children come to preschool with some gender differences that These observations do not tell us why boys were created in the family or other contexts out- do more relaxed behaviors and girls do more side of preschool. My argumentis that preschools formal behaviors. Certainly many parents reinforce these differences and build (construct) and others would argue that boys are more furtherelaborations of difference upon what chil- predisposed to sloppy postures, crawling on dren bring to preschool. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 502 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW loudly. He stops and does a half-somersault painting and reading were frequently shared, backward out of the circle and stays that way and the three-year-olds often played at fish- with his legs in the air. Jane says nothing and ing from a play bridge together. Following is continues talking about dinosaurs. Sue, who is a list from my field notes of the most com- sitting next to Sam, pushes his leg out of her mon activities boys and girls did during the way. Sam sits up and is now busy trying to put the ballet shoes on over his sneakers, and he is child-structured activity periods of the day looking at the other kids and laughing, trying during two randomly picked weeks of ob- to get a reaction. He is clearly not paying at- serving: tention to Jane's dinosaur story and is distract- ing the other kids. Sam takes the shoes and Boys: played blocks (floor), played at the wa- claps them together again. Jane leans over and ter table (standing and splashing), tells him to give her the shoes. Sam does, and played superhero (running around and in then lies down all stretched out on the floor, play house), played with the car garage arms over his head, legs apart. Adam is also (floor), painted at the easel (standing). lying down now, and Keith is on Sara's (the teacher's aide) lap. Rachel takes her sweater Girls: played dolls (sitting in chairs and off and folds it up. The other children are fo- walking around), played dress-up (stand- cused on the teacher. After about five minutes, ing), coloring (sitting at tables), read sto- Jane tells Sam "I'm going to ask you to sit up." ries (sitting on the couch), cut out pic- (She doesn't say anything to Adam.) But he tures (sitting at tables). doesn't move. Jane ignores Sam and Adam and continues with the lesson. Rachel now lies Children sorted themselves into these ac- down on her back. After about ten seconds Jane tivities and also were sorted (or not unsorted) says, "Sit up, Rachel." Rachel sits up and lis- by teachers. For example, teachers rarely tens to what kind of painting the class will do today. (Five-year-olds) told the three boys that always played with the blocks that they had to choose a different Sam's behavior had to be more disruptive, activity that day.9 Teachers also encouraged extensive, and informal than Rachel's for the girls to sit at tables by suggesting table ac- teacher to instruct him and his bodily move- tivities for them in a sense giving them less ments to be quieter and for him to comport "free" time or structuring their time more. his body properly for circle. Note that the It's the end of circle, and Susan (teacher) tells boys who were relaxed but not disruptive the kids that today they can paint their dino- were not instructed to sit properly. It was saur eggs if they want to. There is a table set also common for a teacher to tell a boy to up with paints and brushes for those who want stop some bodily behavior and for the boy to to do that. The kids listen and then scatter to ignore the request and the teacher not to en- their usual activities. Several boys are playing force her instructions, although she fre- blocks, two boys are at the water table. Several quently repeated them. girls are looking at the hamsters in their cage The gendering of body movements, com- 9 Once a teacher put a line of masking tape on portment, and acquisitions of space also hap- the floor to show where the "block corner" ended pens in more subtle ways. For example, of- because the boys playing with the blocks took up ten when there was "free" time, boys spent one whole end of the classroom. However, this much more time in child-structured activities did not work. As the teacher was making the line than did girls. In one classroom of five-year- on the floor, the boys told her to extend it further olds, boys' "free" time was usually spent outward (which she did) so they could have room building with blocks, climbing on blocks, or to play in an area in which they did not usually crawling on the blocks or on the floor as they play, and in the end the line was ignored. The worked to build with the blocks whereas same teacher tried on another occasion to tell the girls spent much of their free time sitting at boys who played with the blocks that they had to tables cutting things out of paper, drawing, play with Legos instead. They did this, and two girls began playing with the blocks; but in short sorting small pieces of blocks into catego- order two of the boys who were supposed to be ries, reading stories, and so on. Compared to playing Legos asked the girls if they could play boys, girls rarely crawled on the floor (ex- with them, instead of asking the teacher. There cept when they played kitty cats). Girls and was about 10 minutes of mixed gender play be- boys did share some activities. For example, fore the girls abandoned the blocks. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 503 and talking about them, two girls are sitting Table 3. Observations of Teachers Telling Chil- and stringing plastic beads. Susan says across dren to Be Quiet, by Gender of Child: the classroom, "I need some painters, Joy, Five Preschool Classrooms Amy, Kendall?" The girls leave the hamster cage and go to the painting table. Susan pulls Gender N Percent out a chair so Joy can sit down. She tells them Girls 45 73 about the painting project. (Five-year-olds) Boys 16 26 These girls spent much of the afternoon en- joying themselves painting their eggs. Simon Total 61 100 and Jack joined them temporarily, but then Note: Coded from referencesin the field notes to went back to activities that were not teacher- instances of teachersquieting children's voices. structured. Events like these that happen on a regular basis over an extended period of early child- "from the inside" to learn the school's cur- hood serve to gender children's bodies riculums and to participate in other social boys come to take up more room with their institutions. bodies, to sit in more open positions, and to The disciplining of children's voices is feel freer to do what they wish with their gendered. I found that girls were told to be bodies, even in relatively formal settings. quiet or to repeat a request in a quieter, Henley (1977) finds that among adults men "nicer" voice about three times more often generally are more relaxed than women in than were boys (see Table 3). This finding is their demeanor and women tend to have particularly interesting because boys' play tenser postures. The looseness of body-fo- was frequently much noisier. However, when cused functions (e.g., belching) is also more boys were noisy, they were also often doing open to men than to women. In other words, other behaviors the teacher did not allow, and men are more likely to engage in relaxed de- perhaps the teachers focused less on voice meanors, postures, and behaviors. These data because they were more concerned with suggest that this gendering of bodies into stopping behaviors like throwing or running. more formal and more relaxed movements, Additionally, when boys were told to postures, and comportment is (at least par- "quiet down" they were told in large groups, tially) constructed in early childhood by in- rarely as individuals. When they were being stitutions like preschools. loud and were told to be quiet, boys were of- ten in the process of enacting what Jordan and Cowan (1995) call warrior narratives: Controlling Voice A group of three boys is playing with wooden Speaking (or yelling as is often the case with doll figures. The dolls are jumping off block kids) is a bodily experience that involves towers, crashing into each other. Kevin de- mouth, throat, chest, diaphragm, and facial clares loudly, "I'm the grown up." Keith re- expression. Thorne (1993) writes that an el- plies, "I'm the police." They knock the figures ementary school teacher once told her that into each other and push each other away. Phil kids "reminded her of bumblebees, an apt grabs a figure from Keith. Keith picks up two image of swarms, speed, and constant mo- more and bats one with the other toward Phil. tion" (p. 15). Missing from this metaphor is Now all three boys are crashing the figures into each other, making them dive off towers. the buzz of the bumblebees, as a constant They're having high fun. Two more boys join hum of voices comes from children's play the group. There are now five boys playing and activities. Kids' play that is giggly, loud, with the wooden dolls and the blocks. They're or whispery makes it clear that voice is part breaking block buildings; things are crashing; of their bodily experiences. they're grabbing each other's figures and yell- Voice is an aspect of bodily experience ing loudly. Some are yelling "fire, fire" as their that teachers and schools are interested in figures jump off the block tower. The room is disciplining. Quiet appears to be required very noisy. (Five-year-olds) for learning in classrooms. Teaching appro- Girls as individuals and in groups were fre- priate levels of voice, noise, and sound dis- quently told to lower their voices. Later that ciplines children's bodies and prepares them same afternoon: This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 504 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW During snack time the teacher asks the kids to Nancy, Susan, and Amy begin sorting a pile of tell her what they like best in the snack mix. little-bitty pieces of puzzles, soft blocks, Hillary says, "Marshmallows!" loudly, vigor- Legos, and so on into categories to "help" the ously, and with a swing of her arm. The teacher teacher who told them to be quiet and to clean turns to her and says, "I'm going to ask you to up. The three of them and the teacher are stand- say that quietly," and Hillary repeats it in a ing around a single small desk sorting these softer voice. (Five-year-olds) pieces. (Meanwhile several boys are playing blocks and their play is spread all over the These two observations represent a promi- middle of the room.) The teacher turns her at- nent pattern in the data. The boys playing tention to some other children. The girls con- with the wooden figures were allowed to ex- tinue sorting and then begin giggling to each press their fun and enthusiasm loudly other. As they do, they cover their mouths. This whereas Hillary could not loudly express her becomes a game as one imitates the other. Su- love of marshmallows. Girls' voices are dis- san says something nonsensical that is sup- ciplined to be softer and in many ways less posed to be funny, and then she "hee-hees" physical toning down their voices tones while covering her mouth and looks at Nancy, down their physicality. Hillary emphasized to whom she has said it, who covers her mouth and "hee-hees" back. They begin putting their "marshmallows"with a large swinging ges- hands/fingers cupped over their mouths and ture of her arm the first time she answered whispering in each others' ears and then gig- the teacher's question, but after the teacher gling quietly. They are intermittently sorting asked her to say it quietly she made no ges- the pieces and playing the whispering game. tures when answering. Incidents like these (Five-year-olds) that are repeated often in different contexts restrict girls' physicality. Thus, the girls took the instruction to be It could be argued that context ratherthan quiet and turned it into a game. This new gender explains the difference in how much game made their behaviors smaller, using noise is allowed in these situations. Teachers hands and mouths rather than legs, feet, and may expect more formal behavior from chil- whole bodies. Whispering became their fun, dren sitting at the snack table than they do instead of jumping and humming. Besides during semistructured activities. However, requiring quiet, this whispering game also even during free play girls were frequently was gendered in another way: The girls' be- told to quiet down: havior seemed to mimic stereotypical female Nancy, Susan, and Amy are jumping in little gossiping. They whispered in twos and jumps, from the balls of their feet, almost like looked at the third girl as they did it and then skipping rope without the rope. Their mouths changed roles. Perhaps the instruction to be are open and they're making a humming sound, quiet, combined with the female role of looking at each other and giggling. Two of "helping," led the girls to one of their under- them keep sticking their tongues out. They standings of female quietness gossip a seem to be having great fun. The teacher's aide type of feminine quietness that is perhaps sitting on the floor in front of them turns most fun. around and says "Shhh, find something else to Finally, by limiting voice teachers limit play. Why don't you play Simon Says?" All one of girls' mechanisms for resisting others' three girls stop initially. Then Amy jumps a few more times, but without making the noise. mistreatment of them. Frequently, when a (Five-year-olds) girl had a dispute with another child, teach- ers would ask the girl to quiet down and By limiting the girls' voices, the teacher also solve the problem nicely. Teachers also asked limits the girls' jumping and their fun. The boys to solve problems by talking, but they girls learn that their bodies are supposed to usually did so only with intense disputes and be quiet, small, and physically constrained. the instruction to talk things out never car- Although the girls did not take the teacher's ried the instruction to talk quietly. suggestion to play Simon Says (a game Keith is persistently threatening to knock over where bodies can be moved only quietly at the building that Amy built. He is running the order of another), they turn to play that aroundher with a "flying" toy horse that comes explores quietness yet tries to maintain some dangerously close to her building each time. of the fun they were having: She finally says, "Stop it!" in a loud voice. The This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 505 teacher comes over and asks, "How do we say physicality. There may be other ways that that, Amy?" Amy looks at Keith and says more context (e.g., in one's neighborhood instead softly, "Stop trying to knock it over." The of school) and race, ethnicity, and class teacher tells Keith to find some place else to shape gender and voice that cannot be deter- play. (Five-year-olds) mined from these data (Goodwin 1990). Cheryl and Julie are playing at the sand table. Cheryl says to the teacher loudly, "Julie took mine away!" The teacher tells her to say it Bodily Instructions more quietly. Cheryl repeats it less loudly. The Teachers give a lot of instructions to kids teacher tells her, "Say it a little quieter."Cheryl about what to do with their bodies. Of the says it quieter, and the teacher says to Julie, "Please don't take that away from her." (Three- explicit bodily instructions recorded 65 per- year-olds) cent were directed to boys, 26 percent to girls, and the remaining 9 percent were di- We know that women are reluctant to use rected to mixed groups (Table 4). These their voices to protect themselves from a va- numbers suggest that boys' bodies are being riety of dangers. The above observations disciplined more than girls. However, there suggest that the denial of women's voices be- is more to this story the types of instruc- gins at least as early as preschool, and that tions that teachers give and children's re- restricting voice, usually restricts movement sponses to them are also gendered. as well. First, boys obeyed teachers' bodily instruc- Finally, there were occasions when the tions about one-half of the time (48 percent), quietness requirement did not restrict girls' while girls obeyed about 80 percent of the bodies. One class of three-year-olds included time (Table 4).10 Boys may receive more in- two Asian girls, Diane and Sue, who did not structions from teachers because they are speak English. Teachers tended to talk about less likely to follow instructions and thus are them and over them but rarely to them. Al- told repeatedly. Frequently I witnessed a though these girls said little to other children teacher telling a boy or group of boys to stop and were generally quiet, they were what I doing something usually running or throw- term body instigators. They got attention and ing things and the teacher repeated these played with other children in more bodily instructions several times in the course of the ways than most girls. For example, Sue de- session before (if ever) taking furtheraction. veloped a game with another girl that was a Teachers usually did not have to repeat in- sort of musical chairs. They'd race from one structions to girls girls either stopped on chair to another to see who could sit down their own with the first instruction, or be- first. Sue initiated this game by trying to cause the teacher forced them to stop right squeeze into a chair with the other girl. Also, then. Serbin (1983) finds that boys receive a for example, higher proportion of teachers' "... loud rep- Diane starts peeking into the play cardboard rimands, audible to the entire group. Such house that is full of boys and one girl. She patterns of response, intended as punish- looks like she wants to go in, but the door is ment, have been repeatedly demonstrated to blocked and the house is crowded. She then reinforce aggression and other forms of dis- goes around to the side of the house and stands ruptive behavior" (p. 29). with her back to it and starts bumping it with Second, teachers' instructions directed to her butt. Because the house is cardboard, it buckles and moves as she does it. The teacher boys' bodies were less substantive than those tells her, "Stop-no." Diane stops and then directed to girls. That is, teachers' instruc- starts doing it again but more lightly. All the tions to boys were usually to stop doing boys come out of the house and ask her what something, to end a bodily behavior with she's doing. Matt gets right in her face and the little suggestion for other behaviors they teacher tells him, "Tell her no." He does, but might do. Teachers rarely told boys to all the other boys have moved on to other ac- change a bodily behavior. A list of teachers' tivities, so she and Matt go in the house to- gether. (Three-year-olds) 10Therewere severalcases for boys and girls Thus, Diane and Sue's lack of voice in this in which the observerdid not recordthe child's English-speaking classroom led to greater response. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 506 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW Table 4. Observations of Teachers Giving Bodily Instructions to Children, by Gender of Child: Five Preschool Classrooms Boys Girls Mixed Groups Teacher'sInstruction/Child'sResponse N Percent N Percent N Percent Bodily instructionsfrom teachers 94 65 39 26 13 9 Child obeys instructionsb 45 48 31 80 C c Undirectedbodily instructionsfrom teachersb 54 57 6 15 5 55 Note: Bodily instructionsare coded from referencesin the field notes to instances of a teachertelling a child what to do with his or her body. a Percentagesbased on a total of 146 observations. b Percentagesbased on a total of 94 observationsfor boys and 39 observationsfor girls. c In the observationsof mixed groupsof girls and boys, usually some obeyed and some did not. Thus an accuratecount of how the groupsrespondedis not available. instructions to boys includes: stop throwing, children's physicality in some way, and 94 stop jumping, stop clapping, stop splashing, percent of such contacts were directed at no pushing, don't cry, blocks are not for boys. bopping, don't run, don't climb on that. Physical interaction between teachers and Fifty-seven percent of the instructions that children was coded into three categories: teachers gave boys about their physical be- positive, negative, or neutral. Physical inter- haviors were of this undirected type, com- action was coded as positive if it was com- pared with 15 percent of their instructions to forting, helpful, playful, or gentle. It was girls (Table 4). In other words, teachers' in- coded as negative if it was disciplining, as- structions to girls generally were more sub- sertive (not gentle), restraining, or clearly stantive and more directive, telling girls to unwanted by the child (e.g., the child pulled do a bodily behavior ratherthan to stop one. away). Physical interaction was coded as Teachers' instructions to girls suggested that neutral if it seemed to have little content they alter their behaviors. A list of instruc- (e.g., shoulders touching during circle, legs tions to girls includes: talk to her, don't yell, touching while a teacher gave a group of kids sit here, pick that up, be careful, be gentle, directions for a project). About one-half of give it to me, put it down there. Girls may the time, when teachers touched boys or have received fewer bodily instructions than girls, it was positive. For example, the did boys, but they received more directive teacher and child might have bodily contact ones. This gender difference leaves boys a as she tied a shoe, wiped away tears, or tick- larger range of possibilities of what they led a child, or if a child took the teacher's might choose to do with their bodies once hand or got on her lap. For girls, the remain- they have stopped a behavior, whereas girls ing physical interactions included 15 percent were directed toward a defined set of op- that were disciplining or instructing the body tions. and about one-third that were neutral (e.g., leaning over the teacher's arm while looking at a book). For boys, these figures were re- Physical Interaction between Teachers and versed: Only 4 percent of their physical in- Children teractions with teachers were neutral in con- Teachers also physically directed kids. For tent, and 35 percent were negative and usu- example, teachers often held kids to make ally included explicit disciplining and in- them stop running, tapped them to make structing of the body (see Table 5). them turn around and pay attention, or This disciplining of boys' bodies took a turned their faces toward them so that they particular form. Teachers usually attempted would listen to verbal instructions. One- to restrain or remove boys who had "gone fourth of all physical contacts between too far" in their play or who had done some- teachers and children was to control thing that could harm another child: This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 507 Table 5. Observations of Physical Interaction interaction with struggle and anger, and thus between Teachers and Children, by may be more likely to be aggressive or dis- Gender of Child: Five Preschool Class- ruptive. rooms Boys Girls Physical Interaction among Children Type of Contact N Percent N Percent Thorne (1993) demonstrates that children participate in the construction of gender dif- Positive 41 60 21 54 ferences among themselves. The preschool Negative 24 35 6 15 brings together large groups of children who Neutral 3 4 12 31 engage in interactions in which they cooper- ate with the hidden curriculum and discipline Total 68 99 39 100 each others bodies in gendered ways, but Note: Coded from references in field notes to they also engage in interactions in which bodily contact between teachers and children. Per- they resist this curriculum. centages may not sum to 100 due to rounding. Girls and boys teach their same-sex peers about their bodies and physicality. Children Irving goes up to Jack, who is playing dress- in these observations were much more likely up, and puts his arms up, makes a monster face to imitate the physical behavior of a same- and says, "Aaarhhh!"Jack looks startled. Irv- sex peer than a cross-sex peer. Children also ing runs and jumps in front of Jack again and encourage others to imitate them. Some says "Aaaarrhh!"again. Marie (teacher) comes gendered physicality develops in this way. from behind Irving and holds him by the shoul- ders and arms from behind. She bends over him For example, I observed one boy encourag- and says, "Calm down." He pulls forward, and ing other boys to "take up more space" in the eventually she lets him go. He runs up to Jack same way he was. again and growls. Marie says, "He doesn't James (one of the most active boys in the class) want you to do that." (Three-year-olds) is walking all over the blocks that Joe, George, Jane (teacher) tells Jeff to pick up the blocks. and Paul have built into a road. Then he starts He says, "I won't." She catches him and pulls spinning around with his arms stretched out on him toward her by the arm. She holds him by either side of him. He has a plastic toy cow in the arm. He struggles and gets away. He jumps one hand and is yelling, "Moo." He spins up and down. Other kids put the blocks away. through half of the classroom, other children Jane ignores Jeff. (Several minutes later:) Jeff ducking under his arms or walking around him has been throwing the blocks and now Jane when he comes near them. Suddenly he drops pries the blocks from him and grabs him by the the cow and still spinning, starts shouting, "I'm wrist and drags him away from the blocks by a tomato! I'm a tomato!" The three boys who his shirt arm. He is looking up at her and point- were playing blocks look at him and laugh. ing his finger at her and saying, "No, cut it James says, "I'm a tomato!" again, and Joe out!" in a mocking tone. Jane is angry, but she says, "There's the tomato." Joe, George, and talks to him calmly but sternly telling him he Paul continue working on their block road. can't throw the blocks. Jeff is struggling the James then picks up a block and lobs it in their entire time. Jane lets go of his arm, and Jeff direction and then keeps spinning throughout runs right back to the block area and walks on this half of the classroom saying he's a tomato. the blocks that are still on the floor. (Five-year- Joe and George look up when the block lands olds) near them and then they get up and imitate James. Now three boys are spinning through- As Serbin (1983) suggests, frequent loud out much of the room, shouting that they are reprimands of boys may increase their dis- tomatoes. The other children in the class are ruptive behavior; more frequent physical trying to go about their play without getting hit disciplining interactions between teachers by a tomato. (Five-year-olds) and boys may do so as well. Because boys more frequently than girls experienced inter- The within-gender physicality of three- actions in which their bodies were physically year-old girls and boys was more similar restrained or disciplined by an adult who had than it was among the five-year-olds. Among more power and was angry, they may be the three-year-old girls there was more rough more likely than girls to associate physical and tumble play, more physical fighting and This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 508 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW arguing among girls than there was among site of boys' or that all of boys' physical con- the five-year-old girls. tacts were rough and tumble. Boys, espe- cially in pairs, hugged, gently guided, or During clean up, Emily and Sara argue over putting away some rope. They both pull on the helped each other climb or jump. But often, ends of the rope until the teacher comes over especially in groups of three or more and es- and separates them. Emily walks around the pecially among the five-year-olds, boys' classroom then, not cleaning anything up. She physical engagement was highly active, sings to herself, does a twirl, and gets in line "rough," and frequent. Boys experienced for snack. Sara is behind her in line. Emily these contacts as great fun and not as hostile pushes Sara. Sara yells, "Aaahh," and hits or negative in any way: Emily and pushes her. The teacher takes both of them out of line and talks to them about get- Keith and Lee are jumping on the couch, div- ting along and being nice to each other. (Three- ing onto it like high jumpers, colliding with year-olds) each other as they do. Alan watches them and then climbs onto the back of the couch and Shelly and Ann have masks on. One is a kitty jumps off. Keith takes a jump onto the couch, and one is a doggy. They're crawling around lands on Lee, and then yells, "Ouch, ouch-I on the floor, and they begin play wrestling- hurt my private," and he runs out of the room kitties and doggies fight. The teacher says to holding onto his crotch. The teacher tells them them, "Are you ok?" They stop, lift up their to stop jumping on the couch. (Five-year-olds) masks, and look worried. The teacher says, "Oh, are you wrestling? It's ok, I just wanted A group of boys is building and climbing on to make sure everyone was ok." The girls nod; big, hollow, tall blocks. They're bumping into they're ok. Then, they put their masks back on each other, crawling and stepping on each other and crawl on the floor some more. They do not and the blocks as they do it. They begin yell- resume wrestling. (Three-year-olds) ing, "Garbage can," and laughing. They put little blocks inside the big hollow ones, thus From lessons like these, girls have learned "garbage can." Mike pushes Steve away from by age five that their play with each other the "garbage can" and says, "No that's not!" should not be "too rough." The physical en- because he wanted to put a block that was too gagement of girls with each other at age five big into the "can." Steve quits trying and goes had little rough-and-tumble play: to get another block. (Five-year-olds) Three girls leave the dress-up corner. Mary The physical engagement of boys and girls crawls on the floor as Naomi and Jennifer talk. Jennifertouches Naomi's shoulder gently as she with each other differed from same-sex talks to her. They are having quite a long con- physical engagement. Because girls' and versation. Jennifer is explaining something to boys' play is semi-segregated, collisions (lit- Naomi. Jennifer's gestures are adult-like except eral and figurative) in play happen at the bor- that she fiddles with Naomi's vest buttons as ders of these gender-segregated groups she talks to her. Her touching and fiddling with (Maccoby 1988; Thorne 1993). As Thorne Naomi's clothes is very gentle, how a child (1993) demonstrates, not all borderwork is might fiddle with a mom's clothing while talk- negative-40 percent of the physical interac- ing to her-doing it absentmindedly. Mary, on tions observed between girls and boys were the floor, is pretending to be a kitty. Then Jen- nifer gets on the floor and is a kitty too. They positive or neutral (Table 6). are squeaking, trying to mimic a cat's meow. Ned runs over to Veronica, hipchecks her and Naomi then puts her arm aroundSusan's shoul- says "can I be your friend?"and she says "yes." der and leads her to play kitty too. Naomi seems Ned walks away and kicks the blocks again to be a person still, not a kitty. She is in charge three to four times. (Five-year-olds) of the kitties. (Five-year-olds) Two girls are playing with the dishes and sit- However, cross-gender interactions were ting at a table. Keisha touches Alice under the more likely to be negative than same-sex in- chin, tickles her almost, then makes her eat teractions. In fact, physical interactions something pretend, then touches the corners of among children were twice as likely to be a her mouth, telling her to smile. (Five-year- negative interaction if they were between a olds) girl and boy than if they were among same- I do not mean to suggest that girls' physi- gender peers. Approximately 30 percent of cal engagement with each other is the oppo- the interactions among girls and among boys This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 509 Table 6. Observations of Physical Interactions among Children, by Gender of Children: Five Pre- school Classrooms Interactionsbetween: Boys Girls Boys and Girls a Type of Interaction N Percent N Percent N Percent Positive 46 70 42 66 20 18 Negative 19 29 20 31 68 60 Neutral 1 2 2 3 26 23 Total 66 101 64 100 114 101 Note: Physical interactionwas coded from references in the field notes to bodily interactionbetween children. Bodily contact that was minor and seemingly meaningless was not recordedin field notes. For example, childrenbrushingagainst each other while picking up toys was not recordedif both childrenig- nored the contact and did not alter their actions because of it. Percentagesmay not sum to 100 due to rounding. were negative (hostile, angry, controlling, a tight ball on the floor. Phil yells, "No! hurtful), whereas 60 percent of mixed-gen- Aaarrhh." Julie says, "'It's not nice to yell." der physical interactions were negative. (Five-year-olds) Sixty percent of 113 boy-girl physical inter- As Thorne (1993) suggests, kids create, actions were initiated by boys, 39 percent shape, and police the borders of gender. I were initiated by girls, and only 1 percent of suggest that they do so physically. In this these interactions were mutually initiated. way, they not only sustain gender segrega- At the borders of semi-segregated play tion, but also maintain a sense that girls and there are physical interactions about turf and boys are physically different, that their bod- toy ownership: ies are capable of doing certain kinds of Sylvia throws play money on the floor from her things. This sense of physical differences play pocketbook. Jon grabs it up. She wrestles may make all gender differences feel and ap- him for it and pries it from his hands. In doing pear natural. this she forces him onto the floor so that he's hunched forward on his knees. She gets behind him and sandwiches him on the floor as she CONCLUSION grabs his hands and gets the money loose. Children also sometimes resist their bodies Then, two minutes later, she's giving money to being gendered. For example, three-year-old kids, and she gives Jon some, but apparently boys dressed up in women's clothes some- not enough. He gets right close to her face, times. Five-year-old girls played with a re- inches away and loudly tells her that he wants more. He scrunches up his face, puts his arms laxed comportment that is normatively straight down by his sides and makes fists. She (hegemonically) masculine when they sat steps back; he steps up close again to her face. with their feet up on the desk and their chairs She turns away. (Five-year-olds) tipped backward. In one classroom when boys were at the height of their loud activ- Negative interactions occur when there are ity-running and throwing toys and blocks- "invasions" or interruptions of play among girls took the opportunity to be loud too as children of one gender by children of another: the teachers were paying less attention to Courtney is sitting on the floor with the girls them and trying to get the boys to settle who are playing "kitties." The girls have on down. In individual interactions as well, girls their dress-up clothes and dress-up shoes. Phil were likely to be loud and physically asser- puts on big winter gloves and then jumps in the tive if a boy was being unusually so: middle of the girls on the floor. He lands on their shoes. Courtney pushes him away and Jose is making a plastic toy horse fly around then pulls her legs and clothes and stuff closer the room, and the boys playing with the blocks to her. She takes up less space and is sitting in are quite loud and rambunctious. Jose flies the This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 510 AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW toy horse right in front of Jessica's face and processes (Foucault 1979; Shilling 1993; then zooms around her and straight toward her Turner 1984). These data suggest that a sig- again. Jessica holds up her hand and waves it nificant part of disciplining the body consists at him yelling, "Aaaarrrh."Jose flies the horse of gendering it, even in subtle, micro, every- in another direction. (Five-year-olds) day ways that make gender appearnatural.It These instances of resistance suggest that is in this sense that the preschool as an insti- gendered physicalities are not natural, nor tution genders children's bodies. Feminist are they easily and straightforwardly ac- theories about the body (Bordo 1993; quired. This research demonstrates the many Connell 1995; Young 1990), on the other ways that practices in institutions like pre- hand, tend to focus on the adult gendered schools facilitate children's acquisition of body and fail to consider how the body be- gendered physicalities. comes gendered. This neglect may accentu- Men and women and girls and boys fill so- ate gender differences and make them seem cial space with their bodies in different ways. natural. This research provides but one ac- Our everyday movements, postures, and ges- count of how bodies become gendered. Other tures are gendered. These bodily differences accounts of how the bodies of children and enhance the seeming naturalness of sexual adults are gendered (and raced, classed, and and reproductive differences, that then con- sexualized) are needed in various social con- struct inequality between men and women texts across the life course. (Butler 1990). As MacKinnon (1987) notes, Karin A. Martin is Assistant Professor of Sociol- "Differences are inequality's post hoc ex- ogy and Women's Studies at the University of cuse..." (p. 8). In other words, these differ- Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests in- ences create a context for social relations in clude exploring the relationships between gender, which differences confirm inequalities of body, sexuality, and psyche. She is author of Pu- power. berty, Sexuality, and the Self: Boys and Girls at This research suggests one way that bod- Adolescence (Routledge, 1996). ies are gendered and physical differences are constructed through social institutions and REFERENCES their practices. Because this gendering oc- Anyon, Jean. 1980. "Social Class and the Hidden curs at an early age, the seeming naturalness Curriculum of Work." Journal of Education of such differences is furtherunderscored.In 162:67-92. preschool, bodies become gendered in ways Birdwhistell, Ray. 1970. Kinesics and Contexts. that are so subtle and taken-for-grantedthat Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania they come to feel and appear natural. Pre- Press. school, however, is presumably just the tip Bordo, Susan. 1993. Unbearable Weight. Berke- of the iceberg in the gendering of children's ley, CA: University of California Press. bodies. Families, formal schooling, and other Bowles, Samuel and Herbert Gintis. 1976. institutions (like churches, hospitals, and Schooling in Capitalist America. New York: Basic Books. workplaces) gender children's physicality as Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender Trouble. New York: well. Routledge. Many feminist sociologists (West and. 1993. Bodies that Matter. New York: Zimmerman 1987) and other feminist schol- Routledge. ars (Butler 1990, 1993) have examined how Butterfield, Stephen and E. Michael Loovis. the seeming naturalness of gender differ- 1993. "Influence of Age, Sex, Balance, and ences underlies gender inequality. They have Sport Participation on Development of Throw- also theorized that there are no meaningful ing by Children in Grades K-8." Perceptual natural differences (Butler 1990, 1993.) and Motor Skills 76:459-64. However, how gender differences come to Carere, Sharon. 1987. "Lifeworld of Restricted Behavior." Sociological Studies of Child De- feel and appear natural in the first place has velopment 2:105-38. been a missing piece of the puzzle. Carnoy, Martin and Henry Levin. 1985. School- Sociological theories of the body that de- ing and Work in the Democratic State. scribe the regulation, disciplining, and man- Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. aging that social institutions do to bodies Connell, R. W. 1987. Gender and Power. have neglected the gendered nature of these Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BECOMING A GENDERED BODY 511. 1995. Masculinities. Berkeley, CA: Uni- Skills 74:399-402. versity of California Press. Sadker, Myra and David Sadker. 1994. Failing at Foucault, Michel. 1979. Discipline and Punish: Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls. The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage New York: Charles Scribner and Sons. Books. Serbin, Lisa. 1983. "The Hidden Curriculum: Giroux, Henry and David Purpel. 1983. The Hid- Academic Consequences of Teacher Expecta- den Curriculum and Moral Education. Berke- tions." Pp. 18-41 in Sex Differentiation and ley, CA: McCutchan. Schooling, edited by M. Marland. London, En- Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self gland: Heinemann Educational Books. in EverydayLife. GardenCity, NY: Doubleday. Shilling, Chris. 1993. The Body and Social Goodwin, Marjorie Harness. 1990. He-Said-She- Theory. London, England: Sage. Said: Talkas Social Organization among Black Smoll, Frank and Robert Schutz. 1990. "Quanti- Children. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University fying Gender Differences in Physical Perfor- Press. mance: A Developmental Perspective." Devel- Haug, Frigga. 1987. Female Sexualization: A opmental Psychology 26:360-69. Collective Workof Memory. London, England: Suransky, Valerie Polakow. 1982. The Erosion of Verso. Childhood. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Henley, Nancy. 1977. Body Politics. New York: Press. Simon and Schuster. Thorne, Barrie. 1993. Gender Play: Girls and Jackson, Philip W. 1968. Life in Classrooms. Boys in School. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. University Press. Jordan,Ellen and Angela Cowan. 1995. "Warrior Thomas, Jerry and Karen French. 1985. "Gender Narratives in the KindergartenClassroom: Re- Differences across Age in Motor Performance: negotiating the Social Contract." Gender and A Meta-Analysis." Psychological Bulletin 98: Society 9:727-43. 260-82. Maccoby, Eleanor. 1988. "Genderas a Social Cat- Turner, Bryan S. 1984. The Body and Society: egory." Developmental Psychology 24:755-65. Explorations in Social Theory. New York: Ba- MacKinnon, Catharine. 1987. Feminism Unmodi- sil Blackwell. fied. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University 1992. Regulating Bodies. Essays in Press. Medical Sociology. London, England: Rout- Martin, Emily. 1987. The Woman in the Body. ledge. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Van Ausdale, Debra and Joe R. Feagin. 1996. Martin, Karin. 1996. Puberty, Sexuality, and the "Using Racial and Ethnic Concepts: The Criti- Self: Boys and Girls at Adolescence. New cal Case of Very Young Children." American York: Routledge. Sociological Review 61:779-93. McLaren, Peter. 1986. Schooling as a Ritual Per- Wasburn, Philo C. 1986." The Political Role of formance: Towards a Political Economy of the American School." Theory and Research in Educational Symbols and Gestures. London, Social Education 14:51-65. England: Routledge and Kegan Paul. West, Candace and Don Zimmerman. 1987. "Do- Plimpton, Carol E. and Celia Regimbal. 1992. ing Gender." Gender and Society 1:127-5 1. "Differences in Motor Proficiency According Young, Iris. 1990. Throwing Like a Girl. to Gender and Race." Perceptual and Motor Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. This content downloaded from 138.253.100.121 on Sun, 10 Jan 2016 17:53:53 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions