Bodily practices and discourses of hetero‐femininity: girls' constitution of subjectivities in their social transition between childhood and adolescence

Abstract

In foregrounding how girls use their bodies when negotiating subjectivities as adolescents, this paper explores possible ways of doing, being and becoming an adolescent girl in urban, multicultural school contexts. Drawing on interview material generated through a longitudinal qualitative study of children's social transitions between childhood and adolescence, the paper more specifically examines how girls constitute subjectivities through bodily practices which position them according to dominant discourses of hetero‐femininity. The paper goes on to argue that the way in which girls negotiate these discourses through practices on and with their bodies has a significant impact on how they subsequently experience their social transition between childhood and adolescence.

Keywords:

• childhood
• adolescent
• bodily practices
• gender
• sexuality
• ethnicity
• age

Acknowledgements

The research project was initiated by Hanne Haavind at the University of Oslo and Liv Mette Gulbrandsen at the Oslo University College. I am indebted to both for inviting me into the project and for always sharing their knowledge.

Notes

1. All names and national backgrounds which appear in this paper have been altered to ensure anonymity. However, all of these have been substituted with names from similar geographic and cultural areas.