Abstract
In the early 1970s, second-wave feminist theories of sex-role socialization provided a new way of understanding the experience of Australian girlhood. While part of a transnational feminist discourse, this chapter argues that critiques of girls’ socialization gained traction through activists’ often painstaking efforts to trace its origins and generate evidence of its effects at a local level. Three key themes are explored: feminists’ efforts to link girls’ socialization to a distinctive form of Australian sexism; the use of personal testimony to develop more individualized accounts of socialization; and the emphasis in early research studies on the gap between sex-role ideology and social realities. This process in turn brought greater specificity to claims about girls’ socialization while also revealing the limitations of this model.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | A history of the girl |
Subtitle of host publication | formation, education and identity |
Editors | Mary O’Dowd, June Purvis |
Place of Publication | Cham, Switzerland |
Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan |
Pages | 179-200 |
Number of pages | 22 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9783319692784 |
ISBN (Print) | 9783319692777 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Apr 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Socialisation
- Sex roles
- Gender
- Girlhood
- Australia
- Feminism