Young people doing dance doing gender: relational analysis and thinking intersectionally

Abstract

Scraton (1992) asserts in her conclusion to 'Shaping up to Womanhood' that feminist analysis of PE (and sport and leisure more broadly) needs to engage more directly with masculinity as a means to understanding the 'dynamics of gender'. Focusing on young people's involvement in recreational dance, this paper demonstrates how some of those dynamics of gender are played out, reproduced and resisted by both boys and girls who participate at community based dance organisations. Selective data in the form of research frames are incorporated to illustrate how gender is constructed, enacted and embodied by young people engaged in recreational dance. Masculine and feminine hegemonies are highlighted and demonstrate that gender is both relational and intersectional. This contributes to ongoing analysis of masculinities and femininities as practices and processes imbued with complex power relations for young people.

Gender stereotypes: the impact upon perceived roles and practice of in-service teachers in physical education

“…Non-adherence to gender stereotypes is linked to peer victimisation, social exclusion or isolation and diminished opportunities (Mulvey & Killen, 2015) which continues to regulate and reinforce stereotypic views and gendered behaviours, thus reinforcing gendered habitus. Gendered norms, stereotypic activities and differences are still prominent within PE (Grabrucker, 2013;Metcalfe, 2018;Valley & Graber, 2017;Watson, 2018). Therefore, through the investigation of gendered perceptions held by in-service teachers surrounding an ambiguous but inevitably gendered PE scenario, the impact of gender stereotypes can be analysed in relation to teacher roles and practice using Bourdieu's (1993) theory Gender stereotypes are applied to individuals, arguably even before birth.…”

“…These qualities are deviant to the social expectations of masculinity (Coon & O'Mitterer, 2013;Vera et al, 2018) and the traditional masculine traits of physical capital that are heavily valued within PE. Feminisation of male individuals, who pursue dance (Torhild Klomsten et al, 2005;Watson, 2018), directly opposes the valued physical capital within PE, therefore devaluing the participants status within the field.…”

Parental Perspectives on Their Sons’ Motivation to Dance

“…Although our findings offer valuable and richer insight into parents' lived experience of raising a dancing boy, a bias in sampling exists -one could fairly argue that parents who brought their sons to the dance open day are those who provide most support. From an intersectionality perspective, ethnicity plays a role in understanding lived experiences of boys who dance (Pascoe 2005;Watson 2018) but this study did not collect this information. Risner's (2009) work suggests there may be dissimilar levels of support for male dancers across ethnic groups.…”