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ERIC Number: EJ1300941
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0954-0253
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Discursive and the Material in Early Childhood Play: Co-Constitution of Gender in Open and Subversive Spaces
Gender and Education, v33 n5 p594-609 2021
This paper describes research exploring discursive constructions of gender and discursive/material intra-actions in two PreK classrooms in the United States, specifically through documentation of children's play. Using a feminist poststructuralist lens, the research illustrates ways in which children are subjected through performative iterations of heterosexual gender norms. Extending these insights, we consider the effect of non-human agentic matter, such as spaces and objects in intra-action with children in constituting gender and identity. The research shows how children's performances of gender, and especially their enactments of the heterosexual matrix, were often in relation to the material play items and the adult-deemed acceptable discursive topics for four-year-olds. The heterosexual matrix was both (re)inscribed and resisted in relationality to open and subversive spaces as children brought 'difficult knowledge' into their play. It is proposed that gender fluidity be supported in open and subversive spaces and that gender binaries can be challenged and renarrativized to incite more gender fluid knowings and becomings in early childhood education and care.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A