Talking Young Femininities This page intentionally left blank Talking Young Femininities Pia Pichler Goldsmiths, University of London © Pia Pichler 2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-01328-5 All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House,6-10 Kirby Street,London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England,company number 785998,of Houndmills,Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue,New York,NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom,Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-28458-0 ISBN 978-0-230-23459-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230234598 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.Logging,pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 For Roger This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix Transcription Conventions x 1 Girls’ Talk as a Resource for Identity Construction 1 The discursive construction of (gender) identities 3 The girls’ talk 6 Analysing girls’ talk 9 Overview of chapters 13 Part I Talking Young Femininities: Identity and the Interplay Between Gender, Ethnicity and Social Class 19 2 Cool and Socially Aware Private-School Girls 23 Socially aware girls 25 Cool girls 34 Real girls 57 Conclusion 61 3 Sheltered but Independent East End Girls 64 Mothers and daughters 67 Loving families 84 Grown-ups or adolescents? 93 Conclusion 102 4 Tough and Respectable British Bangladeshi Girls 105 British Asian identities: a crossdisciplinary overview 106 Tough girls: truanting and teasing 109 Respectable girls: balancing discourses of love and dating 123 Traditions of marriage 135 Conclusion 147 vii viii Contents Part II Sex Talk and the Construction of Young Femininities 151 5 Self-disclosing Sex Talk: Self-determined Girls 159 Direct approach to sex talk 160 Personal self disclosure 162 Pro-sex discourse 164 Discourses of morality, romance, pleasure, resistance and self-determination 167 Conclusion 186 6 Playful Sex Talk: ‘Good Girls’ and ‘Bad Girls’ 188 Strategies to prevent serious sex talk 190 Sex talk in a playful frame 195 Conclusion 214 7 Impersonal Sex Talk: Knowing Girls 216 Academic sex talk 217 Sex talk about others 227 Childhood sex talk 233 Conclusion 242 8 Conclusions 244 Notes 250 Bibliography 254 Index 267 Acknowledgements Above all I would like to thank the girls in all three groups for making this book happen. I would also like to express my gratitude to Alan Durant, Eva Eppler, Janet Maybin and Joanna Thornborrow for taking the time to read draft chapters, and to Jan Blommaert, Judith Broadbent, Anthea Irwin, Claire Lindsay and Siân Preece for their helpful comments, suggestions and feedback which all aided the development of this research project. Above all, my thanks go to Jen Coates for never tiring of reading draft chapters for this book, for inspiring my own research and supporting me on both an academic and a personal level. Iam also very grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for supporting this research project (Research Leave Grant AH/E004636/1). Finally, I would like to thank Roger for being my source of calm and sanity at times when I was anything but, and my mother and brother for their continuing support. This research project is supported by ix