Understanding Gender and Early Childhood

An Introduction to the Key Debates

Jo Josephidou, Polly Bolshaw

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9780367140182
• eBook ISBN:
  9780429639029
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Understanding Gender and Early Childhood is a comprehensive and accessible introduction into the main issues around gender and what these mean for our youngest children. Drawing on key theories and research, and illustrating each topic with case studies, reflective questions and a summary of key points, students are encouraged to question why it is more relevant than ever to consider gender issues and to reflect critically on their own practice and on the practice of others.

The three parts examine gender in relation to the children, the workforce and wider society, concluding with inclusive suggestions for the future of the early years classroom. Topics covered include:

• how gender impacts on children's play, learning and achievement,
• the gender imbalance in the early years workforce and the impact of this on children,
• the gendered ways in which people engage with children,
• gender issues in children's health.

This book is an essential read for those studying on Early Years and Early Childhood courses, along with practitioners and anyone else who wants to develop their understanding of the most pressing issues relating to gender and early childhood practice.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Still talking about gender?

Introduction

It’s 2019; everywhere we look we can see female leaders, powerful women, enjoying success like never before. Our (predominantly female) students tell us that they can do anything they want to in life, that they are not hampered by their gender and that it is purely personality that determines what their opportunities will be. In the same breath, they recount stories of being followed home in the dark, men unable to keep their hands to themselves in public spaces and how differently their brother is treated by their parents. We have decided to keep talking about gender and believe that if you are going to work with young children and impact positively on their lives, then you should be talking about it too. In this first chapter we will:

build your understanding of what is meant by the term ‘gender’ using key theoretical lenses,

explore some of the reasons why it is important to consider gender issues in the context of early childhood,

highlight the structure of the book and how the chapters are linked and build on each other.

We will consider how, despite major advances in gender equality over the last 50 years, it continues to be important to examine the impact of gender issues in the UK and beyond (Girlguiding, 2018; UN Women, 2017) particularly if we work with young children and their families. We will explore how gender issues at a macro level shape early childhood and, conversely, how what happens in the early years impacts on how society moves forward in relation to gender. We will consider the problematic nature of talking about gender (Ashley, 2003; Rohrmann and Brody, 2015) and define what we mean by the term ‘gender’ as a social construction, in contrast to the biological label of ‘sex’. We will set out the feminist, post-structuralist approach of the book, which Robinson and Jones Diaz (2006) assert can be helpful in challenging ‘normalising discourses that operate on micro and macro levels’ (p. 17). At the same time, we will explore some of the difficulties in adopting a binary approach for this kind of discussion (Butler, 1990). We will briefly introduce some key theoretical thinkers on gender who can help us understand the gendered discourses (Burn and Pratt-Adams, 2015) and gendered behaviours we may observe in the early years workplace.

What do we mean by the term gender?

The minute we use the word ‘gender’ we open a whole can of worms. What do we actually mean? We can draw on theoretical models to look for definitions but what does gender mean to the person in the street, to the parents of the children some of you work with in the early years setting, or your colleagues and fellow students who work alongside you? It may seem like a simple term but like many simple terms it is highly contentious and open to debate. In this section of the chapter we will set out the definitions of gender we will use in this book; at the same time, we recognise its problematic nature. We will also highlight some of the key writers on gender who have helped us arrive at these definitions.

The problematic nature of talking about gender

Often conversations about gender can turn into arguments, or we can begin to contradict ourselves, going around in circles but never really getting anywhere or resolving anything. One reason for this difficulty is because gender is not an unchangeable truth written in stone; rather, it is a concept constructed in very many ways influenced by the individual who defines it and everything that has impacted on the formation of their identity. If we throw into this confused mix the way that society has conflated sex with gender, then we can see how difficult it is as a concept to define and talk about.

We are sure that in your day-to-day conversations you will have discovered that talking about gender is problematic. The minute we begin to use the terms male and female we start to get into trouble. First, we need to define what being male and female means. Next, we need to take into account the context in terms of geography and period of history. In addition to this, the impact of class, ethnic background, education and religion on gender definitions must be considered. There are so many ways of doing and performing gender (Butler, 1990) that if we take what is called an essentialist or binary approach (man/woman, boy/girl, male/female) this is really not helpful. One of the issues with looking at gender this way, which has traditionally been the case and still dominates our narratives, is that a process of ‘othering’ occurs; as Ashley (2003) asserts, ‘masculinity must be defined in opposition to femininity’ (p. 258). But what if this is an artificial othering? What if there are more differences, for example, between different males than there are between males and females? What does gender mean anyway?

Gender is often defined as a social construct; that is, it is seen as something which is not an absolute truth that exists but rather as an understanding of how people choose, or are obliged, to act in specific, gendered ways. Connell and Pearse define it as ‘the way human society deals with human bodies and their continuity, and the many consequences of that “deal” in our personal lives and our collective fate’ (2015). Importantly, they reference the physical body here in their definition because this is how we as a society generally make assumptions about the gender, or sex, of our fellow humans.

When we talk about a person’s sex, however, we have a very different understanding to when we talk about their gender. Sex is a biological term which suggests a fixed, essentialist and physiological attribute of an individual. It brings with it assumptions about the role of ‘“natural” differences between men and women’ (Rohrmann and Brody, 2015, p. 407). A further confusion arises when society equates gender and sex, assuming a natural alignment between them. Table 1.1 demonstrates how we can never assume this is the case, and sets out some of the more diverse ways we can talk about sex and gender. At the same time as acknowledging these labels, we must also recognise their dynamic nature and that the ways people identify are not set in stone; one person could adopt several of these labels in a lifetime.

TABLE 1.1 Labels used to talk about sex and gender in non-binary, non-essentialist ways (adapted from Zevallos, 2014)

Label	Definition
Sex	A person’s biological category, based on chromosomes, hormones and genitalia.
Gender	Culturally constructed categories about who a person is, usually based on sex and also associated with behaviour and personality traits.
Cis-gender	When the gender someone was assigned at birth aligns with their gender identity.
Transgender	When a person’s gender identity does not align with the gender identity they were assigned at birth.
Intersexuality	When an individual has ambiguous genitalia, chromosomes or hormones.
Gender queer	When an individual draws on several gender positions or does not identify with a specific gender.
Non-binary	When an individual does not identify with a specific gender.
Gender fluid	When an individual has a changing gender identity, not one fixed identity.
Agender	When an individual rejects gender categories.
Third gender	A term used to describe an established additional gender category in certain cultures.
Heterosexual	When an individual is sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex or gender.
Homosexual	When an individual is sexually attracted to people of the same sex or gender.
Gay	When an individual is homosexual (usually defines a man).
Lesbian	A homosexual woman.
Bisexual	When an individual is sexually attracted to both men and women.
Pansexual	When an individual is sexually attracted to people of any sex or gender (often used interchangeably with bisexual).
Asexual	When individuals do not feel sexual attraction.

We can see from all these terms and definitions that it is no simple matter to talk about gender; before we discuss gender we need to define it, we need to situate it and we need to be clear how we are linking it to the concept of sex. All the while we must be aware of our own assumptions, beliefs and values.

Theoretical lenses to help us think about gender

If we think about gender only in a common-sense, anecdotal way this will not help us get very far or indeed solve any issues that arise around gender. As in all other areas of our work with young children and their families, we need to draw on theoretical ideas to help us understand what might be happening and indeed challenge and disrupt taken-for-granted practices which we feel should not be happening. With this in mind, in this chapter we will set out the feminist, post-structuralist approach of the book which Robinson and Jones Diaz (2006) assert can be helpful in challenging ‘normalising discourses that operate on micro and macro levels’ (p. 17).

It was the rise of feminism that helped society acknowledge that gender relations were a key area that needed to be explored. In particular, it is post-­structuralist feminism that explores ‘issues of knowledge, power, difference, and discourse and how these intersect and entwine in the lives of women’ (English, 2012, p. 2). If we think about the early years workforce, for example, we are talking predominantly about women (approx. 97% according to recent figures by the Department for Education (2019)); this fact should make us consider questions around why this is so and what the impact could be; questions we will explore throughout this book. Therefore, theoretical ideas around post-­structuralism and feminism are an appropriate and useful lens to help us consider some answers. The term ‘feminism’ has now become part of our everyday speech, even if there is often disagreement about its meaning. There are many different definitions of feminism and indeed many different forms of feminism, so before we go any further, we will consider how we are going to use the term in this book. We will use the term ‘feminism’ to describe a way of thinking, seeing and doing that challenges, disrupts and rejects some common and traditional ways of talking about what it means to be a man or woman; these ways are influenced by the traditional structure...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table Of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• 1. Introduction: Still talking about gender?
• Part I: A gendered child
• Part II: A gendered workforce
• Part III: A gendered society
• Part IV: Conclusion
• Index