|
Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsMost Parents OK About School Rules for Kids' Return to Sports: PollSome Kids Snore, and It Could Affect BehaviorKids With Autism Can Really Benefit From ExerciseFDA Approves First New Children's ADHD Drug in 10 YearsWhy Are ER Wait Times Getting Longer for Kids in Mental Health Crisis?About 40,000 U.S. Children Have Lost a Parent to COVID-19Is Empathy Born in Mom's First Hugs?Adding in Stem Cell Therapy Helps Beat a Common Childhood LeukemiaWhat Will Summer Camp Look Like This Year?When Will America's Kids Get Their COVID Vaccines?1 in 4 Parents Won't Vaccinate Their Kids Against COVID-19: PollEven in a Pandemic, Child Vision Tests Are CrucialPfizer Says Its COVID Vaccine Is Very Effective in Kids as Young as 12Secondhand Smoke Is Sending Kids to the ERDrug Shows Promise Against Rare Condition That Stunts Kids' GrowthWhen Coal-Fired Power Plants Close, Kids With Asthma Breathe EasierAnother Study Finds COVID Doesn't Spread in Schools With Proper SafeguardsNearly Half of U.S. Schools Now Offer In-Person LearningLockdowns Gave Boost to Type 1 Diabetes Control in KidsWildfire Smoke Can Send Kids With Asthma to the ERPandemic Has Many Kids Struggling With Weight IssuesLab-Made Heart Valves Can Grow Along With Youngest Heart PatientsSome Kids With Type 1 Diabetes Face High Risk of Severe COVID-19Virtual Learning Has Taken a Toll on Kids' & Parents' Mental HealthCDC Says 3 Feet of Social Distancing Now OK in Most ClassroomsWhich Kids' Sports Have Higher Odds for Head Injury?Social Distancing Probably Stopped 2020 Outbreak of Paralyzing Disorder in KidsAHA News: What Parents Should Know About Rare But Scary COVID-19-Related IllnessSchool Dental Care Program Could Cut Cavities in Half: StudySocial Media, Binge Eating Often Go Together for KidsStressed and Distracted, Kids and Their Teachers Say Virtual Learning Isn't WorkingSports Position Doesn't Affect Risk of Concussion-Linked CTE IllnessPandemic Putting Added Strain on Parents of Kids With CancerDogs and Kids Are 'In Sync,' Study ShowsTeachers Main Drivers of School COVID Outbreaks, So Vaccinations Needed: StudyTips to Keep Young Athletes Injury-FreeMental Illness in Childhood Could Mean Worse Physical Health Decades LaterKids' Robust Immune Systems May Shield Them From COVID-19: StudyFertility Treatments Might Affect Kids' Growth, But Not for LongMom's Heart Health While Pregnant Could Influence Her Child's Health for YearsPandemic Has Affected Kids' Dental Health: PollNew Rabies Prevention Treatment Also Works in Kids: StudyWhen Will Kids Get the COVID Vaccines?U.S. Schools Can Reopen, With Safeguards in Place: CDCFetal Surgery Is Changing Lives for Kids With Spina BifidaKids Who Got Flu Shot Had Milder COVID Symptoms: StudyVery Little Spread of Coronavirus at Kids' Day Camps: StudyWhen Kids Misbehave, 'Verbal Reasoning' Can Sometimes BackfireVaccines Saved 37 Million Lives, Mostly Children, Over Past Two DecadesAnchor It! Toppling TVs, Furniture Can Injure and Kill Kids Questions and AnswersVideosLinksBook Reviews100 Things Guys Need to Know3 NBS of Julian DrewA Guide to Asperger SyndromeA Tribe ApartA User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HDA Walk in the Rain With a BrainAdolescence and Body ImageAdolescent DepressionAfterAggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsAll Alone in the UniverseAmelia RulesAmericaAnother PlanetAntisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsArtemis FowlAssessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems, Second EditionAutistic Spectrum DisordersBad GirlBetween Two WorldsBeyond AppearanceBeyond Diversity DayBig Mouth & Ugly GirlBill HensonBipolar DisordersBody Image, Eating Disorders, and ObesityBody Image, Eating Disorders, and Obesity in YouthBoyBoysBrandedBreaking PointBreathing UnderwaterBringing Up ParentsBullying and TeasingCan't Eat, Won't EatCatalystChild and Adolescent Psychological DisordersChildren Changed by TraumaChildren with Emerald EyesChildren’s Dreaming and the Development of Consciousness City of OneConcise Guide to Child and Adolescent PsychiatryConquering the Beast WithinContentious IssuesCrackedCutDancing in My NuddypantsDemystifying the Autistic ExperienceDescartes' BabyDilemmas of DesireDirtyDoing ItDoing SchoolDying to Be ThinEating an ArtichokeEducating Children With AutismElijah's CupEllison the ElephantEmerald City BluesEmotional and Behavioral Problems of Young ChildrenEvery Girl Tells a StoryFast GirlsFeather BoyFiregirlForever YoungFreaks, Geeks and Asperger SyndromeFreewillGeography ClubGeorgia Under WaterGirl in the MirrorGirlfightingGirlsourceGirlWiseGLBTQGood GirlsGoodbye RuneGranny Torrelli Makes SoupGrowing Up GirlHandbook for BoysHealing ADDHeartbeatHelping Children Cope With Disasters and TerrorismHelping Parents, Youth, and Teachers Understand Medications for Behavioral and Emotional ProblemsHollow KidsHow Children Learn the Meanings of WordsHow to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble and What to Do If You Can'tHug MeIntrusive ParentingIt's Me!It's Perfectly NormalJake RileyJoey Pigza Swallowed the KeyJuvenile-Onset SchizophreniaKeeping the MoonKilling MonstersKim: Empty InsideKnocked Out by My Nunga-NungasLaura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your MonsterLearning About School ViolenceLeo the Lightning BugLet Kids Be KidsLiberation's ChildrenLife As We Know ItLisa, Bright and DarkLittle ChicagoLord of the FliesLoserLove and SexLove That DogManicMastering Anger and AggressionMind FieldsMiss American PieMom, Dad, I'm Gay.MonsterMore Than a LabelMyths of ChildhoodNew Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar DisorderNo Two AlikeNot Much Just Chillin'Odd Girl OutOdd Girl Speaks OutOn the Frontier of AdulthoodOne Hot SecondOne in ThirteenOphelia SpeaksOphelia's MomOur Journey Through High Functioning Autism and Asperger SyndromeOut of the DustOvercoming School AnxietyParenting and the Child's WorldParenting Your Out-Of-Control TeenagerPediatric PsychopharmacologyPeriod PiecesPhobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and AdolescentsPINSPraising Boys WellPraising Girls WellPretty in PunkPrincess in the SpotlightProblem Child or Quirky Kid?Psychotherapy As PraxisPsychotherapy for Children and AdolescentsRaising a Self-StarterRaising BlazeRaising Resilient ChildrenReclaiming Our ChildrenRedressing the EmperorReducing Adolescent RiskRethinking ADHDReweaving the Autistic TapestryRineke DijkstraRitalin is Not the Answer Action GuideRunning on RitalinSay YesSexual Teens, Sexual MediaSexuality in AdolescenceShooterShort PeopleShould I Medicate My Child?Skin GameSmackSmashedStaying Connected to Your TeenagerStick FigureStoner & SpazStop Arguing with Your KidsStraight Talk about Your Child's Mental HealthStrong, Smart, & BoldStudent DepressionSurvival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar DisorderSurviving OpheliaTaking Charge of ADHD, Revised EditionTaming the Troublesome ChildTargeting AutismTeaching Problems and the Problems of TeachingTeen Angst? NaaahThat SummerThe American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook Of Child And Adolescent PsychiatryThe Arctic IncidentThe Bipolar ChildThe Buffalo TreeThe Bully, the Bullied, and the BystanderThe Carnivorous CarnivalThe Depressed ChildThe Developing MindThe Dragons of AutismThe Dream BearerThe Dulcimer Boy The Einstein SyndromeThe EpidemicThe Eternity CubeThe Explosive ChildThe Field of the DogsThe First IdeaThe Identity TrapThe Inside Story on Teen GirlsThe Little TernThe Mean Girl MotiveThe Men They Will BecomeThe Myth of LazinessThe New Gay TeenagerThe Notebook GirlsThe Nurture AssumptionThe Opposite of InvisibleThe Order of the Poison OakThe Other ParentThe Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday LifeThe Real Truth About Teens and SexThe Rise and Fall of the American TeenagerThe Secret Lives of GirlsThe Sex Lives of TeenagersThe Shared HeartThe Spider and the BeeThe StepsThe Thought that CountsThe Unhappy ChildThe Vile VillageThe Whole ChildThen Again, Maybe I Won'tTherapy with ChildrenThings I Have to Tell YouTouching Spirit BearTrauma in the Lives of ChildrenTreacherous LoveTrue BelieverTwistedUnhappy TeenagersWay to Be!We're Not MonstersWhat about the KidsWhat Would Joey Do?What's Happening to My Body? Book for BoysWhat's Happening to My Body? Book for GirlsWhen Nothing Matters AnymoreWhen Sex Goes to SchoolWhen Your Child Has an Eating DisorderWhere The Kissing Never StopsWhose America?Why Are You So Sad?WinnicottWorried All the TimeYes, Your Teen Is Crazy!You Hear MeYoung People and Mental HealthYour Child, Bully or Victim? |
| |
by Valerie Walkerdine, Helen Lucey and June Melody New York University Press, 2001 Review by Janis S. Bohan, Ph.D. on Sep 26th 2003 
Growing up Girl is a
sociological analysis of gender and class, interwoven with commentaries drawn
from the authors' applications of psychoanalytic theory and (primarily) Marxist
class analysis. This discussion is couched largely in postmodern terms. The
result of these many perspectives is a rich but occasionally cumbersome
depiction of the "subjectivities" of these girls and women.
Sociological writings often presume a comfortable familiarity with postmodern
perspectives on identity. For most psychologists, however, this discourse is
less familiar. Those who are not deeply versed in postmodern renditions of
identity might find it helpful to review psychological writings that take
explain this perspective, such as the work of Philip Cushman and Edward
Sampson.
This book provides a deeply
thoughtful and complex perspective on the role of class and gender in the
experience of girls and young women in Great Britain. The analysis is based on
data gathered from three groups of participants, representing a range of ages
and class backgrounds; some were initially interviewed for other studies and
some were interviewed specifically for this book.
The authors describe the girls'
identities as constituted by the needs of a deeply classed society, albeit one
trying to erase class from its national identity. They are further constructed
in and by an economic system in the throes of major change--from a (quasi) welfare
state toward one in which individual ownership and personal responsibility are
the goals prescribed for all in this changing, post-industrial economy. The
resulting expectation that everyone should be an autonomous citizen, constantly
open to reinventing herself, is seen as both the boon and the bane of girls,
whatever their class—although the meaning and impact of this expectation is
profoundly shaped by class.
Those in the middle class, who have
certain of the resources to achieve this state of self-creation, are driven by
the demand that they create identities that, above all, protect them from
slipping into the lower classes. Those in the working class, on the other
hand, are trapped in the realization that the work of the men in their lives
has steadily diminished through deindustrialization so that they are
increasingly expected to sustain the work ethic that threatens to slip
away—indeed, to strive via employment for an elusive status whose possession
yields only tentative grasp on "respectability."
To elaborate this complex dynamic,
the authors call upon extensive scholarly work as well as the voices of participants,
and they address a wide scope of topics including not only matters related directly
to work, but also issues around housing, education, mothering, the meaning and
impact of pregnancy, relationships with parents, and a variety of other issues
that arise in the discussion of these central matters.
The book is sometimes difficult to
follow (at least for this U. S. reader) by virtue of its use of distinctively
British turns of phrase and references to British social programs, housing
arrangements, and so forth. However, the underlying messages come through and
seem pertinent even in the very different economic system of the United States.
I found this book challenging, both
intellectually in the difficulty of grasping its complex analyses and politically
in its challenge to how we understand the intersection of gender and class. I
greatly appreciated the deconstruction of class that the authors provided, a
deconstruction that dismantles the usual notions of how class is defined and
what is the role of work (women's work, in particular) in that definition. The
degree to which this commentary is packaged in jargon and esoteric analysis may
discourage some readers from staying the course. For those to whom this level
of analysis is comfortable, the book should be a very valuable and
thought-provoking read. For those to whom the level of discourse is foreign,
the key points that one can extract in any case are well worth exploring.
My one major criticism of the book
is directed toward its use of psychoanalytic concepts. As a psychologist, I
found the use of these notions disconcerting--sometimes simplistic, sometimes
inappropriate or even erroneous, sometimes helpful. Perhaps the disciplinary
and cultural gaps between their writing and my reading interfered with my
gleaning as much as I might have from these sections. In any case, I offer
this caution to other readers who might be similarly situated.
In summary, Growing Up Girl
unpacks the meaning of gender and class in a time and place where both are
contested and manages to do so in a manner that teaches a great deal. I would
be very interested to see a similar analysis of the gender/class system in the United
States, where a different economic ideal might lend different nuances to the
situation. But I believe the bottom line would be similar even if the
specifics varied: gender and class intersect hugely, and it is impossible to
understand one without taking the other into account.
© 2003 Janis S. Bohan
Janis S. Bohan,
Ph.D, is Professor Emerita (retired) at Metropolitan State College of
Denver. She has published widely in the areas of gender, psychology of
sexual orientation, and history of psychology. |