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Gender Identity among African American and European American Adolescents

Gender Identity among African American and European American Adolescents. Susan A. O’Neill Melanie H. Overby Oksana Malanchuk University of Michigan Society for Research in Child Development April 25, 2003. Previous Conceptions of Gender Identity.

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Gender Identity among African American and European American Adolescents

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  1. Gender Identity among African American and European American Adolescents Susan A. O’Neill Melanie H. Overby Oksana Malanchuk University of Michigan Society for Research in Child Development April 25, 2003

  2. Previous Conceptions of Gender Identity • Categorization of oneself and others as female or male (Golombok & Fivush, 1994) • Gender knowledge and behavior viewed as separate and distinct (Burn, 1996)

  3. Gender Identity as Socially Constructed • Recent approaches view gender behavior as socially negotiated (Beall, 1993). • Representations of gender derive from the social structure. • Gender identity is historically and culturally relative, dependent on social, economic, and political structures.

  4. Discursive Psychology and Gender Identity • The image of the self is dependent on the language used in everyday life • Identify respondents’ patterns of language and related practices • Language enables and constrains expression of ideas and behavior – “language culture”

  5. Power and Gender Identity • Gender and power are closely connected and power is inequitably distributed • Differences in the discourses available to males and females (Gergen, 1984) • Experimental psychology has been limited in its ability to explain the dynamics of power relations.

  6. Positioning Theory - Conceptual • Individuals are subjected to and produced by societal ideologies • Ideology creates “subjects” by drawing people into particular positions or identities (Althusser, 1971) • Individuals interpret their own and others’ actions from the vantage point of their subject position.

  7. Positioning Theory - Methodological • Who is implied? What does a statement say about the respondent? Examination of three basic features: • The subject positions in relation to socially prescribed rights and actions • The context in which respondents construct their position and others • The ideologies that shape interpretations and understandings of groups

  8. Research Questions • How do African American and European American female and male adolescents negotiate and formulate their gender identities? • Where do adolescents position themselves in relation to different and opposing power ideologies?

  9. Data Analysis • “Voice of authority” framework associated with the construction of a national identity (Berman, 1999) • Allowed categories to emerge from the data • Focused on the inconsistency and diversity within and across respondents’ accounts • Used individual and team analysis • Considered alternative interpretations and our own biases and experiences

  10. Subject Positions of Gender Representations of Empowerment and Disempowerment

  11. White female Black female Black male White male Dominance and Marginalization Positions of Black and White females and males

  12. Manipulation and authority “We rule the world…God created women to be in subjection to the male.” – Anthony, Black male Occupational prestige associated with race and gender “top of the corporate ladder is generally a white male.” – Carl, White male Sexuality as a means of empowerment: “You can get boys to do whatever you want. Boys are stupid.” – Tracy, Black female Inequality between the sexes “We’re not characterized as equals. I don’t think we will be for a long time, if ever.” – Crystal, White female Differential treatment “I have to talk a little louder to be seen or heard” – Belinda, Black female Marginalization Dominance

  13. White female Black female Black male White male Provider/Protector and Protected Positions of Black and White females and males

  14. Adopting the traditional role of primary bread winner “What I believe to be a male is, I guess, should be in charge, take care of his home and family, stuff like that.” – Carl, White male Female as nurturer “I have to be there for my boyfriend and support him and take care of him.” – Ann, White female Protected Provider/Protector • Supported • “I don’t have a problem if my husband was my provider and I didn’t work and I raised the kids.”– Ann, White female

  15. White female Black female Black male White male Individual Agency and Group Constraints Positions of Black and White females and males

  16. Emphasizing humanity “I feel that to be a person, period, you have to be responsible, regardless of whether you’re male or female.”– James, Black male Overcoming gender constraints “I have to keep focused on what I want to do with my life and I can’t let people, or things like boys and stuff, get in my way.” - Lakeisha, Black female Group Constraints Individual Agency • Male stereotypes • Males are viewed as “corrupt”, “wild and crazy” – Travis, White male • Intersectionality and stereotypes • “You get blamed for stuff that you didn’t even do. It’s a double negative when you’re a black male teenager.” – Brian, Black male

  17. White female Black female Black male White male Virtuous Status and Presumed Guilty Status Positions of Black and White females and males

  18. Entitlement through experience “It’s more acceptable for a girl my age to have babies.” – Ann, White female Autonomy “I hate for a person to approach me wrong.” – Stacy, Black female Apportion blame to others “silly” for girls to have sex to keep boyfriends – Colette, Black female Presumed Guilty Status Virtuous Status • Guilt by association • “It’s amazing how you tell people where you go to school, and they find out it’s all girls, and especially boys, and they’re like, what are you all lesbians or something?”– Belinda, Black female

  19. Black female White female Black male White male Subject Positions of Black and White females and males

  20. Summary of Findings Empowered representations of gender were shaped by: • Positioning the person as “an individual” and emphasizing a common humanity • Ascribing personal responsibility to the individual • Renouncing historical and institutional restraints associated with constraining gender roles • Endorsing positions that were situated in the traditional discourses of power

  21. Conclusion • Representations of power were apparent in adolescents’ accounts of what their gender means to them • Findings are intended to open new avenues for exploring the complexity of gender identity • Possible to understand how adolescents’ representations of power create both opportunities and barriers

  22. Thank you! • For more information about this paper and other research projects, please visit http://rcgd.isr.umich.edu/garp/

  23. Language Culture • Although there is a number of available discourses, some discourses are more privileged than others • Variation in discourses allows for fluidity of gender-related identities

  24. Sample and Procedure • 16 (11 = female, 5 = male) African American adolescents • 8 (4 = female, 4 = male) European American adolescents • Semi-structured interviews at the end of 11th grade by matched interviewers • Interview protocol: Meaning and salience of race/ethnicity, gender, and spirituality

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