Fussy girls and chattering women – the construct and subordination of femininity in preschool teacher training

ABSTRACT

In Sweden, as in Western countries generally, most preschool teachers are women. This fact sometimes leads to the assumption that preschools are “feminine”, and that this might be bad for boys. We challenge this assumption. Using a gender critical approach we have studied preschool student teachers. “Femininity” might be used as a rhetorical and demeaning stereotype by them. Women and femininity however, are not interchangeable concepts. Failure to acknowledge this can pave the way for subtle sexism against girls and women. Our argument is supported by ethnographic observations and interviews with student teachers. By means of a Foucauldian genealogical analysis we uncover the conditions of possibility for two long-lasting feminine stereotypes. One stereotype argues that young girls should never fuss. The other claims that women are chattering gossipers. Our study shows that these archaic notions persist in Swedish preschool teacher training, despite its long tradition of work for gender equality.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender issues
• preschool
• stereotypes
• genealogy
• femininities

Notes on contributors

Maria Hedlin is an associate professor at the Department of Education at Linnaeus University, Sweden.

Magnus Åberg is a senior researcher at the Centre for Gender Studies, Karlstad University, Sweden. Her research interests lie in the field of gender and education, with particular reference to gender issues in teacher education. Hedlin and Åberg, together with Ph.D. Caroline Johansson, are currently engaged in a project titled Touch in preschool care or risk?, which focuses how preschool teachers perceive the physical interaction between early childhood educators and preschool children.

ORCiD

Maria Hedlin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6016-4416

Magnus Åberg http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8019-2396