Overview
- First book to provide an African/South African lens to the study of gender and childhood sexualities
- In-depth analysis of social and cultural theory surrounding childhood innocence discourse
- Makes practical recommendations for context-specific interventions that work with children in local settings
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Perspectives on Children and Young People (PCYP)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (12 chapters)
-
Front Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book is an ethnography of teachers and children in grades 1 and 2, and presents arguments about why we should take gender and childhood sexuality seriously in the early years of South African primary schooling. Taking issue with dominant discourses which assumes children’s lack of agency, the book questions the epistemological foundations of childhood discourses that produce innocence. It examines the paradox between teachers’ dominant narratives of childhood innocence and children’s own conceptualisation of gender and sexuality inside the classroom, with peers, in heterosexual games, in the playground and through boyfriend-girlfriend relationships. It examines the nuances and finely situated experiences which draw attention to hegemonic masculinity and femininity where boys and girls challenge and contest relations of power. The book focuses on the early makings of gender and sexual harassment and shows how violent gender relations are manifest even amongst very young boys andgirls. Attention is given to the interconnections with race, class, structural inequalities, as well as the actions of boys and girls as navigate gender and sexuality at school. The book argues that the early years of primary schooling are a key site for the production and reproduction of gender and sexuality. Gender reform strategies are vital in this sector of schooling.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Professor Deevia Bhana is the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Gender and Childhood Sexuality and Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She has published widely in the fields of gender, childhood sexualities, young masculinities and schooling.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Gender and Childhood Sexuality in Primary School
Authors: Deevia Bhana
Series Title: Perspectives on Children and Young People
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2239-5
Publisher: Springer Singapore
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-10-2238-8Published: 21 October 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-981-10-9570-2Published: 29 June 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-981-10-2239-5Published: 12 October 2016
Series ISSN: 2365-2977
Series E-ISSN: 2365-2985
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 229
Topics: Childhood, Adolescence and Society, Gender Studies, Sociology of Education, Sociology of Family, Youth and Aging, Early Childhood Education