« What makes us so different ? » - An essay on the use of a ‘lived bodily experience’ approach to explore the formation of embodied gender identities among adolescents

Details

Supervisors

Razy, Elodie

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master de spécialisation en études de genre

Abstract

In the social sciences, both feminist and poststructuralist scholars have contributed to critiques of a (Cartesian) dualist paradigm, who, claim that the instability of social sciences is due to the complexity of humans. The scholars of that school of thought willingly surpass agency/social structure models of understanding and in turn enlarge their theoretical frameworks, which better encapsulates the intricacy of humans and social life. In using the example of the body and the self, I have shown the potential of adopting theories of embodiment, identification and subjectification to achieve a more holistic apprehension when regarding the formation of gender identities. By drawing on my fieldwork at the Collectif Mixité, a Youth House association that works on gender issues such as sexism, I have shown in a parallel argument with poststructuralist concepts of identification and subjectification, how normative conceptions of gender (e.g. on behalf of the organisers) govern the possibilities of identification (e.g. for the participants) in terms of gender identities. Additionally, I have used examples of how participants define 'being a boy' and 'being a girl', as well as their experiences of gender relations and my field observations concerning the bodily use through the conceptual frame of gender. In doing so, presenting the merits and possibilities of adopting the approach of ‘materiality of the body’ to further investigate embodied experiences of gender identities among adolescents. Finally, I argue that the very ingemination of practices encloses the reproduction of the social order but furthermore, opens a potential for change.