2.3 SCHOOLS AS PLACES FOR THE MAINTANANCE OF INEQUITABLE GENDER RELATIONS RELATIONS
2.3.5 How boys perform gender in conformity with the dominant discourse
52 study I aimed to find out how children navigate their daily experiences at school. I argue that presenting schoolgirls basically as victims of violence makes unhelpful circumstance which decreases girls to homogeneous generalizations and disregards the likelihood of various types of femininities, similarly as there are different types of masculinities (see Morojele, 2009). These framings are important however in this study I argue that there is a need for more. I say this because they do not offer clarification of the routes in which primary school girls effectively take an interest in school culture of violence whilst also victims of it see (Bhana, 2005a). In this study I contend that a more profound perspective of primary school girls and boys, will advise the group of their capacities as dynamic individuals, and this can give a viewpoint on the investigation of schooling and gender violence in South Africa, not just as casualties of viciousness. This approach views girls and boys not just as quieted casualties of Africa's vanguard, but rather likewise as dynamic members in ordinary school life inside bigger settings of constant violence and tireless gender imbalances. The following section discusses how boys are made to perform gender within the schooling contexts.
53 at a young age. Therefore, he had to leave school and look for work; hence I say while boys are made to be strong, have powers and protectors, they are also victims of gender in the society. My brother had no option but to leave school and today he is suffering as he could not get a well- paid job and this societal image of a boy (strong, protector, power etc.) took away his childhood.
In this study it means he was therefore forced to conform to hegemonic masculine attributes otherwise he would have suffered the emotions of not being man enough.
In general, the existing research suggests that boys tend to dominate the physical and verbal space in the classroom and school. In classroom interactions, boys in school are much more active than girls in terms of disruptions. The disruptions often consist of teasing girls or other boys. For instance, boys restrict girls‟ movement in class, by, for example, physically blocking a path or not making space on the seating bench (Morojele, 2011b). To me this means girls and boys do not get a chance to live harmoniously together if they always fight. Peer group interactions often serve to separate girls and boys, or to enforce dominant versions of masculinity or femininity. On the playgrounds boys control the larger spaces and the kinds of games they play dominate the playground. When they play soccer they occupy big spaces and girls automatically are excluded in those spaces. Boys also engage in more rough play and frequently get into conflict with different boys now and again prompting to fight. I observed that girls play in isolation and always occupy a small space at school and these limitations were normal and accepted. These perceptions are consistent with those made by Thorne (1993) in his investigation of schools in the United States. Once in a while there was mix group play or cooperation in cross-gender exercises. The dominant values of gender in the schools categorise physical strength as an expected attribute to all boys. Keeping in mind the end goal to be viewed as real
54 men, the majority of boys carry on in ways that connoted durability and aggressiveness. Not all young men can play out these types of masculinities though. Hence this study aimed to explore ways that children navigate their gender experiences at school if they have to act as someone else.
Some boys‟ were unable to fulfil hegemonic masculinities diversifies the forms of gender-based violence which normally are directed against girls (Morojele, 2009). In such a way that boys who are being kind, unable or unwilling to fight suffer physical and emotional costs. Boys are under pressure to perform hegemonic masculinities even in situations where they are failing to uphold the society expectation of them like being brave (Morojele, 2009), these values are seen as appropriate. This shows the dynamic part that primary school children take in policing gender performances which do no connote hegemonic masculinities (Epstein and Telford, 2003).Along these lines, this study foregrounds children as dynamic subjects who can shape their own lives.
The construction of boys physically more grounded than girls may have sweeping antagonistic outcomes for hetero connections in the schools. Alternately, this inadvertently gives the event to the undermining of the dominant construction that boys are physically more grounded than girls.
I have seen some boys persisting physical pressure and confusion in situations when they could not uphold the hegemonic form of masculinities (see Chapter 5 and 6).
I have observed boys fundamentally opposing anything feminine and I believe this is promoted by dominant constructions of gender which perceive boys‟ attributes (masculinities) as oppositional to girls‟ attributes (femininities), thus boys conform to act gender in accordance.
The following section discusses how the curriculum at school reinforces the gender roles.
55 Finally, I emphasise that empowering parents, teachers, children and policy makers by means of educative programmes in how gender inequalities are reinforced at various levels like home, school, church etc. is equally important. Hence in the following section I discuss the critical role that schools are expected to play as places for the enhancement of equitable gender relations.
2.4 SCHOOLS AS PLACES FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF EQUITABLE GENDER