Postfeminist Practice in Middle School Girls

• In Event: Gender Equity as an Act of Praxis

Abstract

This paper examines early adolescent girls and their teachers and the way in which they experience gender and gender relations in the public middle school context in New York City. Specifically this paper examines the experience of middle school girls in the context of postfeminism. Postfeminist ideology emphasizes the notion that, because of anti-discriminatory legislation and the dominant narrative of competition, individuality and meritocracy in schools, feminism and advocacy for girls and women is no longer needed. Findings reveal the ways in which girls make meaning of gender relations in their school environment and the postfeminist practices – both defiant and subversive - they employ in order to exert control over their school experiences.

Author

• Susan McCullough, City College of New York