Group 1 : Becoming Gendered

1. Newkirk's article talks about the importance of students' "calculated," or "controlled resistance" (such as parody writing), in response to assignments or tasks that require a student to "identify with the interests of those with power over him- parents, teachers, doctors, public authorities." He suggests that students embrace such resistance, because to "completely accept 'the embrace of the institution' is to lose a sense of personhood." How can we understand Newkirk's theory in relation to other elements of schooling? What student resistance should be accepted, and how should it be met? How do our methods of meeting student resistance challenge or support the power structure?


2. Thorne's discussion of gender divides explores how the "feminine" is implicitly defined in our social structure as the "failed male." "Tomboy" females thus have gained skills and social standing, while "Sissy" is used as a pejorative term for a male who is deemed to have "qualities of immaturity or weakness."  How can we understand this phenomenon, in relation to Newkirk's discussion of the outperformance of males by females in writing? What aspects of our social structure supports writing differences, as well as other gendered patterns in school?  What is the function and value of wider gender boundaries our society constructs, and how can they be challenged in schools?