Chapter 3: Young Children’s Gendered Positioning and Emotional Scenarios in Play Narratives
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Published:2011
Samara Madrid, Laurie Katz, 2011. "Young Children’s Gendered Positioning and Emotional Scenarios in Play Narratives", Gender and Early Learning Environments, Beverly J. Irby, Genevieve H. Brown
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At four years old, Laura is already defining the positions that males versus females can assume. Boys are dogs. Girls are kitties. This is so because boys are just made that way by Allah. Laura, at age 4, is longing to change her appearance. Her hair is curly. She wishes for it to be straight. She also wishes for a prince to dance with her. She is actively constructing notions related to the male/female binary as a Muslim female. At four years old she is appropriating stories about love, beauty, gender, and religion. Her words capture the essence of the questions that are addressed in this chapter:
