1
The Counter-School Culture of Playgirls and Its Gender and Class Implication Lin, Yu-Hsuan Abstract Since resistance theory appears, counter-school culture is viewed as a form of class resistance, not deviant behavior. However resistance theory often put too much emphasis on boy s counter culture, ignoring girl s experience. To remedy the gender bias inhabiting in resistance theory, this paper focuses solely on girls counter-school culture and its gender and class dynamics. The research participants are three junior high school girls, who are labeled as bad girls by the school faculty. Qualitative methods such as in-depth interview, observation and document analysis are employed. The author finds that girls counter culture is different form boys. Girls have to resist the ear oles and the good girl images at the same time. Therefore they apply working class gender culture, such as exaggerated femininity and hegemonic masculinity to counter middle class ideologies which is pervading in schools. Keywords: counter-school culture, resistance theory, working class culture, girls culture. 2
1970 delinquency, deviance (Collins, 1995: 6) Willis (1981) (lads) McLaren (1986) (cool guys) Macleod (1987) (hallway hangers) Ecker (1989) (burnouts) Davies, 1995: 663 McRobbie (1978, 1991) 2000 2002 (resistance) Willis (1977) lads Willis 3
Willis Willis Willis MacRobbie Gaber (1976) McRobbie (1977) 13-16 Thomas (1980) Willis 4
5 Davies, 1995: 663 2000 2002 2000 Simmons (2002) 88
6 2002 1 2 1 2
3 3 7
Bettie (2003: 193-194) (fixed class taxonomy) Bettie (2003) 8
ok 940617 9
(school-sanctioned version of femininity) 930318 AB only one 940630 Bettie (2003) practices performances 10
badges of dignity (symbolic economy) (Bettie, 2003: 57-64) 4 30625 930517 4 McRobbie (1978), Thomas (1980), Valli (1986) 11
McRobbie (1978) Thomas (1980) (overt display of sexuality ) (exaggerated femininity) proper femininity Ecker (1993) (jocks) (burnouts) Bettie (2003: 61) (badges of dignity) (proper femininity) 930513 940601 930513 12
13 940512 Proweller (1998) vs. 930514
( 930323) 14
930504 McRobbie (1978) 15
(Willis, 1977: 18-19) 930323 (Cowie & Lees, 1981) (Wilson, 1978; Smith, 1978) 16
17
(femininity) 930318 / 930420 18
19 Willis (1977) Connell (2000 2004 128) Willis Willis Willis 2000 2002
2003 Rachel Simmons 2004 / R. W. Conell Bettie, J. (2003). Women without class: Girls, race, and identity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Collins, J. L. (1995). Discourse and resistance in urban elementary classrooms: A poststructuralist perspective. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Franciaco. (ERIC No. ED 386 506) Cowie, C. & Lees, S. (1981). Slags or drags. Feminist Rreview, 9, 17-31. Davies, S. (1995). Reproduction and resistance in Canadian high schools: An empirical examination of the Willis Thesis. The British Journal of Sociology, 46 (4), 662-687. Eckert, P. (1993). Jocks and burnouts: Social categories and identity in the high school. New York: Columbia University Press. McLaren, P. (1986). Schooling as a ritual performance: Towards a political economy of educational symbols and gestures. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. McLeod, J. (1987). Ain t No Makin it: Leveled aspirations in a low-income neighborhood. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. McRobbie, A. & Carber, J. (1976). Girls and subculture: An exploration. In S. Hall & T. Jefferson (Eds.), Resistance through Rrituals (pp. 209-222). London: HarperCollins Academic. McRobbie, A. (1977). The culture of working-class girls. In Feminism and youth culture (pp. 44-66). London: Macmillan Press. McRobbie, A. (1978). Working class girls and the culture of femininity. In Women take issue. McRobbie, A. (1991). Feminism and youth culture. London: Macmillan Press. Proweller, A. (1998). Constructing female identities: Meaning making in an upper middle class youth culture. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Smith, L. (1978). Sexist assumptions and female delinquency: An empirical investigation. In B. Smart & C. Smart (Eds.), Women, sexuality and social control (pp. 74-86). London: Routledge & Kegal Paul. Thomas, C. (1980). Girls and counter-school culture. Melbourne working papers. Willis, P (1977). Learning to labour: How working class kids get working class jobs. New York: John Wiley &Sons. Wilson, D. (1978). Sexual codes and conduct: A study of teenage girls. In B. Smart & 20
C. Smart (Eds.), Women, Sexuality and Social Control (pp. 65-73). London: Routledge & Kegal Paul. 21