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Learning Bodies pp 39–52Cite as

Broad Minds, Narrow Possibilities: The Embodiment of Gender

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Part of the book series: Perspectives on Children and Young People ((PCYP,volume 2))

Abstract

Pervasive discourses of patriarchy, heteronormativity, and gender normativity impacted on ways in which I, as a male, learned to embody. Incessant policing/self-policing of any inclination I may have had to move in a feminine manner had a very real impact on my social and emotional well-being. Referring to ethnographic fieldwork with high school students, I argue that inherent ideologies regarding the execution and display of feminine and masculine embodiment continue to work, overtly and covertly, as definitive and restrictive barriers to the realm of possibilities of embodied gender expression and appreciation. In a neo-liberal climate in which it is proclaimed that individuals have agency to embody in any manner they choose, this chapter illuminates the forceful pressures on contemporary youth to conform to socially prescribed norms of embodiment that are specific to perceived biological sex and sexual orientation. In order to broaden notions of embodied possibilities of gender for all persons, and in order to safeguard the well-being of those whose embodied performance inclination is at odds with common contemporary norms of behaviour, this chapter argues the need to draw young people’s critical attention to their own assumptions, positions, values, and attitudes concerning the embodiment of gender.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Jack Migdalek

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  1. Jack Migdalek
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Correspondence to Jack Migdalek .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

    Julia Coffey

  2. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Shelley Budgeon

  3. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Helen Cahill

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Migdalek, J. (2016). Broad Minds, Narrow Possibilities: The Embodiment of Gender. In: Coffey, J., Budgeon, S., Cahill, H. (eds) Learning Bodies. Perspectives on Children and Young People, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0306-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0306-6_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0304-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0306-6

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