Throwing Like a Girl

Situating Gender Differences in Physicality Across Game Contexts

Bibliographic Data

ID3109652
AuthorsA C Evaldsson (0000-0002-6556-4494, Linköping University, corresponding author), Ann-Carita Evaldsson
Year2003
Volume10
Issue4
Pages475-497
Publication date2003-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChildhood (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0907-5682 • E-ISSN: 1461-7013
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0907568203104006
OpenAlexW1997062315
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited25

This study explores interaction in same-sex and cross-sex foursquare games, and, in particular, how throwing (and talk) are adjusted along with diverse configurations of players. The game was played among girls and boys with immigrant backgrounds (Syrian, Kurdish, Chilean) from low-income families in a multiethnic school setting in Sweden. The study investigates girls' physicality across various game contexts, finding that as the configuration of players shifts, the forms of bodily actions the girls invoke to construct social identities shift as well. The girls used slams - ways of throwing that require force and muscular strength, physical behaviour that is not conventionally seen as part of femininity. The same girls altered throwing (and language) style, 'throwing like a girl', to downplay physical skills with less skilled girls. In cross-sex games, the girls (and the boys) playfully mock challenged gender meanings such as boys' domination and girls' subordination. The fact that the girls studied here were not restricted in physicality (or spatiality) indicates that there is considerable variation in female physicality. Overall, the findings underscore that studies of girls' (and boys') physicality should be grounded in detailed analyses of interaction in specific game contexts, with attention to cultural and institutional frameworks embedded in the games

Developmental psychology · Femininity · Girl · Sociology · Throwing · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Physical Education and Pedagogy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Sports, Gender, and Society

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub