| |
Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsUnexplained Drop in Resting Heart Rate in Youth 'Not a Good Thing'Strike Out Kids' Overuse Injuries This Baseball SeasonMost Young Americans Eager to Get COVID Vaccine: PollMany Kids Who Develop Severe COVID-Linked Syndrome Have Neurologic SymptomsMost Parents OK About School Rules for Kids' Return to Sports: PollSome Kids Snore, and It Could Affect BehaviorKids With Autism Can Really Benefit From ExerciseFDA Approves First New Children's ADHD Drug in 10 YearsWhy Are ER Wait Times Getting Longer for Kids in Mental Health Crisis?About 40,000 U.S. Children Have Lost a Parent to COVID-19Adding in Stem Cell Therapy Helps Beat a Common Childhood LeukemiaWhat Will Summer Camp Look Like This Year?When Will America's Kids Get Their COVID Vaccines?1 in 4 Parents Won't Vaccinate Their Kids Against COVID-19: PollEven in a Pandemic, Child Vision Tests Are CrucialPfizer Says Its COVID Vaccine Is Very Effective in Kids as Young as 12Secondhand Smoke Is Sending Kids to the ERDrug Shows Promise Against Rare Condition That Stunts Kids' GrowthWhen Coal-Fired Power Plants Close, Kids With Asthma Breathe EasierAnother Study Finds COVID Doesn't Spread in Schools With Proper SafeguardsNearly Half of U.S. Schools Now Offer In-Person LearningLockdowns Gave Boost to Type 1 Diabetes Control in KidsWildfire Smoke Can Send Kids With Asthma to the ERPandemic Has Many Kids Struggling With Weight IssuesLab-Made Heart Valves Can Grow Along With Youngest Heart PatientsSome Kids With Type 1 Diabetes Face High Risk of Severe COVID-19Virtual Learning Has Taken a Toll on Kids' & Parents' Mental HealthCDC Says 3 Feet of Social Distancing Now OK in Most ClassroomsWhich Kids' Sports Have Higher Odds for Head Injury?Social Distancing Probably Stopped 2020 Outbreak of Paralyzing Disorder in KidsAHA News: What Parents Should Know About Rare But Scary COVID-19-Related IllnessSchool Dental Care Program Could Cut Cavities in Half: StudySocial Media, Binge Eating Often Go Together for KidsStressed and Distracted, Kids and Their Teachers Say Virtual Learning Isn't WorkingSports Position Doesn't Affect Risk of Concussion-Linked CTE IllnessPandemic Putting Added Strain on Parents of Kids With CancerDogs and Kids Are 'In Sync,' Study ShowsTeachers Main Drivers of School COVID Outbreaks, So Vaccinations Needed: StudyTips to Keep Young Athletes Injury-FreeMental Illness in Childhood Could Mean Worse Physical Health Decades LaterKids' Robust Immune Systems May Shield Them From COVID-19: StudyFertility Treatments Might Affect Kids' Growth, But Not for LongMom's Heart Health While Pregnant Could Influence Her Child's Health for YearsPandemic Has Affected Kids' Dental Health: PollNew Rabies Prevention Treatment Also Works in Kids: StudyWhen Will Kids Get the COVID Vaccines?U.S. Schools Can Reopen, With Safeguards in Place: CDCFetal Surgery Is Changing Lives for Kids With Spina BifidaKids Who Got Flu Shot Had Milder COVID Symptoms: StudyVery Little Spread of Coronavirus at Kids' Day Camps: Study Questions and AnswersVideosLinksBook Reviews100 Things Guys Need to Know3 NBS of Julian DrewA Guide to Asperger SyndromeA Tribe ApartA User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HDA Walk in the Rain With a BrainAdolescence and Body ImageAdolescent DepressionAfterAggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsAll Alone in the UniverseAmelia RulesAmericaAnother PlanetAntisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsArtemis FowlAssessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems, Second EditionAutistic Spectrum DisordersBad GirlBetween Two WorldsBeyond AppearanceBeyond Diversity DayBig Mouth & Ugly GirlBill HensonBipolar DisordersBody Image, Eating Disorders, and ObesityBody Image, Eating Disorders, and Obesity in YouthBoyBoysBrandedBreaking PointBreathing UnderwaterBringing Up ParentsBullying and TeasingCan't Eat, Won't EatCatalystChild and Adolescent Psychological DisordersChildren Changed by TraumaChildren with Emerald EyesChildren’s Dreaming and the Development of Consciousness City of OneConcise Guide to Child and Adolescent PsychiatryConquering the Beast WithinContentious IssuesCrackedCutDancing in My NuddypantsDemystifying the Autistic ExperienceDescartes' BabyDilemmas of DesireDirtyDoing ItDoing SchoolDying to Be ThinEating an ArtichokeEducating Children With AutismElijah's CupEllison the ElephantEmerald City BluesEmotional and Behavioral Problems of Young ChildrenEvery Girl Tells a StoryFast GirlsFeather BoyFiregirlForever YoungFreaks, Geeks and Asperger SyndromeFreewillGeography ClubGeorgia Under WaterGirl in the MirrorGirlfightingGirlsourceGirlWiseGLBTQGood GirlsGoodbye RuneGranny Torrelli Makes SoupGrowing Up GirlHandbook for BoysHealing ADDHeartbeatHelping Children Cope With Disasters and TerrorismHelping Parents, Youth, and Teachers Understand Medications for Behavioral and Emotional ProblemsHollow KidsHow Children Learn the Meanings of WordsHow to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble and What to Do If You Can'tHug MeIntrusive ParentingIt's Me!It's Perfectly NormalJake RileyJoey Pigza Swallowed the KeyJuvenile-Onset SchizophreniaKeeping the MoonKilling MonstersKim: Empty InsideKnocked Out by My Nunga-NungasLaura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your MonsterLearning About School ViolenceLeo the Lightning BugLet Kids Be KidsLiberation's ChildrenLife As We Know ItLisa, Bright and DarkLittle ChicagoLord of the FliesLoserLove and SexLove That DogManicMastering Anger and AggressionMind FieldsMiss American PieMom, Dad, I'm Gay.MonsterMore Than a LabelMyths of ChildhoodNew Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar DisorderNo Two AlikeNot Much Just Chillin'Odd Girl OutOdd Girl Speaks OutOn the Frontier of AdulthoodOne Hot SecondOne in ThirteenOphelia SpeaksOphelia's MomOur Journey Through High Functioning Autism and Asperger SyndromeOut of the DustOvercoming School AnxietyParenting and the Child's WorldParenting Your Out-Of-Control TeenagerPediatric PsychopharmacologyPeriod PiecesPhobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and AdolescentsPINSPraising Boys WellPraising Girls WellPretty in PunkPrincess in the SpotlightProblem Child or Quirky Kid?Psychotherapy As PraxisPsychotherapy for Children and AdolescentsRaising a Self-StarterRaising BlazeRaising Resilient ChildrenReclaiming Our ChildrenRedressing the EmperorReducing Adolescent RiskRethinking ADHDReweaving the Autistic TapestryRineke DijkstraRitalin is Not the Answer Action GuideRunning on RitalinSay YesSexual Teens, Sexual MediaSexuality in AdolescenceShooterShort PeopleShould I Medicate My Child?Skin GameSmackSmashedStaying Connected to Your TeenagerStick FigureStoner & SpazStop Arguing with Your KidsStraight Talk about Your Child's Mental HealthStrong, Smart, & BoldStudent DepressionSurvival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar DisorderSurviving OpheliaTaking Charge of ADHD, Revised EditionTaming the Troublesome ChildTargeting AutismTeaching Problems and the Problems of TeachingTeen Angst? NaaahThat SummerThe American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook Of Child And Adolescent PsychiatryThe Arctic IncidentThe Bipolar ChildThe Buffalo TreeThe Bully, the Bullied, and the BystanderThe Carnivorous CarnivalThe Depressed ChildThe Developing MindThe Dragons of AutismThe Dream BearerThe Dulcimer Boy The Einstein SyndromeThe EpidemicThe Eternity CubeThe Explosive ChildThe Field of the DogsThe First IdeaThe Identity TrapThe Inside Story on Teen GirlsThe Little TernThe Mean Girl MotiveThe Men They Will BecomeThe Myth of LazinessThe New Gay TeenagerThe Notebook GirlsThe Nurture AssumptionThe Opposite of InvisibleThe Order of the Poison OakThe Other ParentThe Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday LifeThe Real Truth About Teens and SexThe Rise and Fall of the American TeenagerThe Secret Lives of GirlsThe Sex Lives of TeenagersThe Shared HeartThe Spider and the BeeThe StepsThe Thought that CountsThe Unhappy ChildThe Vile VillageThe Whole ChildThen Again, Maybe I Won'tTherapy with ChildrenThings I Have to Tell YouTouching Spirit BearTrauma in the Lives of ChildrenTreacherous LoveTrue BelieverTwistedUnhappy TeenagersWay to Be!We're Not MonstersWhat about the KidsWhat Would Joey Do?What's Happening to My Body? Book for BoysWhat's Happening to My Body? Book for GirlsWhen Nothing Matters AnymoreWhen Sex Goes to SchoolWhen Your Child Has an Eating DisorderWhere The Kissing Never StopsWhose America?Why Are You So Sad?WinnicottWorried All the TimeYes, Your Teen Is Crazy!You Hear MeYoung People and Mental HealthYour Child, Bully or Victim? |
| |
by Lyn Mikel Brown New York University Press, 2003 Review by Kevin M. Purday on Aug 30th 2005 
The thesis of this book is that 'girlfighting' is a result of girls
having to live in a patriarchal society where male authority is everything and
femininity is trivialised. As a result, boys are subjects who view girls as
objects and girls are persuaded to treat both themselves and other girls as
objects of the male gaze. As part of the objectification process, girls
classify one another as popular or unpopular, as nice or sluttish, as smart or
nerdish or dim, as part of the in-crowd or as outsiders. Deprived of an equal
role in society and conned into thinking that women do not contribute to
Western culture, girls are condemned to fight one another to preserve some sort
of status. In the lower grades of school the author maintains that girls fight
to maintain that status largely within a girls' world while keeping one eye on
the reactions of adults especially parents and teachers. At the top end of
school, boys, always there previously but in a peripheral role, now assume more
and more of a central role as girls fight less for pure status as such and more
for romantic relationships with boyfriends and, ultimately, husbands.
The author is Associate Professor of Education and Women's, Gender, and
Sexuality Studies at Colby College in Waterford, Maine. Her viewpoint is
strongly feminist and in the eyes of many readers this will be regarded as a
strength. The book paints an unremittingly glum picture of life as a girl in
the introduction and first five chapters ('Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna
Do?'; 'Good Girls and Real Boys: Preparing the Ground in Early Childhood';
'Playing It like a Girl: Later Childhood and Preadolescence'; 'Dancing through
the Minefield: The Middle School Years'; and 'Patrolling the Borders: High
School') before coming up with a series of positive suggestions in the final
two chapters: 'From Girlfighting to Sisterhood' and 'This Book Is an Action'.
The book is based not only on the author's personal observations but also
on an analysis of interviews with four hundred and twenty one girls undertaken
as part of various psychological studies carried out between 1981 and 2000.
There is a good bibliography, detailed endnotes and a workmanlike index. It has
all the ingredients of an excellent book.
However, the constant feminist analysis provoked in the reviewer (yes, I
am a man!) the feeling that the feminist perspective on 'girlfighting' does not
exhaust all the possible angles and leaves one particular and important viewpoint
all but untouched. The author shows that she is aware that she is very much
working within a Western cultural perspective (p.131) and that the Western
developed world has problems with its values (pp.123, 133, 172 and 191) but she
does not take that last step of asking whether 'girlfighting' would stop if
women achieved total parity with men, all the glass ceilings were removed, a
woman was president of the U.S.A. and all the other feminist aims were
achieved. This reviewer thinks that the answer would be 'no' quite simply
because a lot of the problem of 'girlfighting' is due to the hyper-competitive
nature of the capitalist society we live in. The author is conscious of the
media -- films, television, books and comics -- and advertising and of the influence
they have on young people. Yet, in the reviewer's opinion, she underestimates
the capitalist society's influence on all young people -- girls and boys --
through the media and concentrates too exclusively on the patriarchal strand of
influence. Competitiveness as a way of life is part and parcel of living in a
capitalist society and competing with others or, at the very least, keeping up
with others is the lifeblood which keeps the shop tills ringing. The author, in
the last two chapters of the book, rightly urges girls and women to move from
'girlfighting' to 'sisterhood'. She is correct in identifying solidarity as a
way of combating the problem but is it not social solidarity -- solidarity
between everyone in a society whether male or female -- that we need? She is
aware that Olweus-based anti-bullying programmes are of limited use but will
'sisterhood' be a solution to the "convoluted ways power is experienced,
desired, expressed, and channelled in a sexist, racist, homophobic
society" (p.200) without addressing the fact that in a capitalist society
- such as that in the developed part of the Western world - we are all being
manipulated by big business? This is linked to another problem alluded to but
never overtly discussed by the author -- the problem of values. Western
capitalist culture is so individualistic and so competitive and puts such a
high value on wealth and appearance that the old-fashioned values of kindness,
humility and compassion are in danger of disappearing. We all have to construct
ourselves, our views and our values out of the raw material with which we are
confronted during our years of childhood and adolescence. Yet, fewer and fewer
children are presented with any values other than those of the
ultra-competitive capitalist society. It is no wonder that in the U.K. the gap
between the richest and the poorest is now as great as it was in the Victorian
era. It is also no wonder that girls use any means at their disposal to claw
their way to the top of the pile. In the reviewer's opinion, tackling
'girlfighting' simply as a feminist issue is like treating a symptom rather
than the cause of an illness.
The book is a good contribution to the discussion so please, kind
reader, do not be put off by the reviewer's reservations. Buy or borrow the
book, read it and make up your own mind.
© 2005 Kevin M.
Purday
Kevin Purday works at The Modern English School, Cairo, Egypt, and has a
Master's degree in the Philosophy & Ethics of
Mental Health from the Philosophy Dept. at the University of Warwick. |