‘Playing with or like the girls’: advancing the performance of ‘multiple masculinities in Black boys’ childhood play’ in U.S. early childhood classrooms

ABSTRACT

Play is a gendered activity among young children, especially boys. Boys often tend to be more actively engaged in the (re)production of gendered play. However, most research studies and conceptual papers have misread, ignored, devalued, or scrutinized the gendered ways Black boys engage in play. This idea is particularly true for Black boys who may not play within the monolithic gendered expectations of childhood play. Drawing from [Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Berkeley: University of California Press] notion of multiple masculinities, I propose what I call the performance of ‘multiple masculinities of Black boys’ childhood play’ to embrace the ways some Black boys engage in play activities, which may not fit within the performance of hegemonic and Black masculine norms and expectations. In so doing, I call for educators to broaden how we view Black boys, and our definition of Black masculinity so that embracing what might be traditionally called ‘less masculine’ and/or stereotypically feminine could be valued male traits. Recommendations are provided for early childhood educators to support the confluence of ways Black boys engage in play experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Black boys
• biases
• childhood play
• early childhood education
• gender
• hegemonic masculinity
• multiple masculinities
• microaggressions
• stereotypes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Nathaniel Bryan is assistant professor at Miami University. His research focuses on the constructed identities and pedagogical styles of Black male teachers in early childhood education and the lived schooling and childhood play experiences of Black boys.

ORCID

Nathaniel Bryan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3275-5830

Notes

1 Title 1 schools are those schools which are identified by the federal government to receive funds to support the education of children from highly impoverished backgrounds (https://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html).

2 According to scholars (Alim and Smitherman 2012; Boutte 2016), AAL is a distinct, rule-governed language practice, which is a part of the rich cultural and linguistic tradition of Black communities. It has its roots in the enslavement of African people. More than 95 percent of Black people speak AAL (Boutte 2016).

3 In the U.S. schooling context, early childhood education consists of grades pre-kindergarten to third grade (PreK-3).

4 Commercialized/mainstream hip-hop is different than hip-hop in that it lacks the racial and social justice consciousness components, which challenges white supremacy, racism and social injustices (Hill 2009).