Girl Power: Girls Reinventing Girlhood (original) (raw)

Dawn thanks a range of people who/ over the past many years/ have steadfastly supported her sociological curiosity about the social world and belief that/ as individuals/ together we can "make a difference." These people include her parents (Margaret and Herbert Wiesenberg), her sisters (Joan/ Faye and Sara), and-as always-her long-term compardon Brian. She also wants her graduate students-especially those in her graduate seminar-to know how valuable their interest in her research has been over the years. Deirdre expresses her everlasting thanks to Dave Beers/ partner and soul mate/ for his unflagging support, his sharp wit and political acumen/ his invaluable editorial suggestions/ and his companionship. Thanks, too/ to Nora and Quinn Kelly-your sense of fun/ your amazing drawing abilities and comic artistry/ and your imaginations have nurtured her belief that girls and boys can/ indeed/ reinvent girlhood and boyhood. Shauna would like to thank Jon Eben Field for his deeply felt encouragement, his endless patience, his superb suggestions, and his unconditional love. She would also like to thank her daughter/ Miriam Field/ for arriving at just the right time and for giving "girl power" a dazzling new meaning. Thanks to Hart and Nancy Pomerantz/ who made it clear right from the start that girls can do and be anything they want. And finally/ thanks to Dawn and Deirdre for their friendship and for making this experience so rewarding. We would also like to express our gratitude to the many girls who generously gave of their time to participate in the study/ as well as the community workers/ teachers/ and other adults who brought the study to the attention of young people and thereby helped in the recruitment phase of the study. Although we have used pseudonyms in order to protect the privacy of aU the research participants/ most of you selected your own "fake names." "'We dedicate this book to you. 1 (RE)CLAIMING GIRLHOOD r ;IenlhecuCTent/;cult of the mdiv^^// it may be difficult to rlrognizethe h?storicauy ^P^ific nature of our identitiesê mphaslswe place mthisbo°k on girls' cons^tionuo"f"theî eTties.alyouns :women//l ^ects"its"^portar;cestoTm^sr. tmuclti^f^'/sec;nd^^^^ô T^TdS :T.mhre,bT.mcourf AeiLidentityas mdividu^. What'she7aired"/;l;rfen^e^v°sn e^staSd w^n7/to_Tswe7the"ques;OI;/ /^ocamTbeyZys: S /T^wife;:-Mary/smother-'-"An^encan^mZ xnoZnẐ 7J^nZ?lMIl^^;rorzŵ^p nT^mlw^^^^^^^m iof"personhood// corresP°nded to charactensticFof'fc^oZ' [dc"™!sroupwho (mis)ts;l-^^IZ^^; ^cn;rfor^mF;?rb^=^^l oto^women/ Pe°Pleof^ sexualx//de™te:^whTSr ogated how we become "who we are." ,J^TldlBeauvoir (1953) mspired such m mterrogation when she l'PSted?hat wome^^n^. ^S^thl^; d?ti^"^pote;;^^;;:^^l^w emenrin&e ^3?TOm^^(a^^^Z;Z^| ,am I?" and/ on that basis, "Who can I become?'7The^ce^ do7o "GIRL POWER" I Currie, Kelly, & Pomerantz (Re)claiming Girlhood 3 reflects Beauvoir's claim that what it means "to be a woman" historically has been authored by male "experts." Women themselves were denied control over the production of their identities "as women." Because this denial robbed women of self-determination, second-wave feminists argued that they have been denied the exercise of what makes us Subjects in liberal western democracies.4 Thus the movement for Western women to claim Selfhood began (and continues) to raise questions about the nature of the social world. Claiming Selfhood challenged "femininity" as a seemingly naturally occurring identity by drawing attention to the power for men, as the dominant group/ to name our identity as women.