Citation

Cobbett MC. Gend. Educ. 2013; 25(3): 251-266.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/09540253.2012.721538

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Whilst it is known that Caribbean girls academically outperform boys, much less is known about their experiences of school. This paper, based on qualitative research in Antiguan secondary schools, is concerned with who girls can "be" in their school contexts and the consequences of positioning oneself (or being positioned) within different discourses. Drawing on interview narratives and classroom observations, this paper discusses the stories of six girls to illuminate three broad types of gender performances that were observed: "beauties", "geeks" and "men-john". Using Francis' concepts of gender "monoglossia" and "heteroglossia", the extent to which these girls were able to resist the normative gender-sexual order and the consequences of conformity/non-conformity are examined.

Language: en