RUI: Gender Socialization Through Play Among Fijian Children

Union College, Schenectady NY

Investigators

Abstract

Research in North America indicates that children selectively reinterpret messages about gender and social roles from adults to form their gender and personal identity. Cultures in general offer individuals multiple, often contradictory, models of self, gender, and community. This is particularly true in our contemporary global village where increased exposure to alternative ideologies and lifestyles through mass media, travel and migration lead to increased scope for individual "imagination." This project adds a cross-cultural dimension to a literature now based largely on studies of Western children. This will advance our understanding of how children actively construct gender roles and will shed light on the factors that influence the salience of gender as a category for children. The researchers seek to explore in much greater detail the findings of a preliminary study, which indicated that gender roles among adults were clearly defined and dichotomized; children, however, did not focus on gender. This situation contrasts to the emphasis on gender among many Western children. These findings suggest that neither biology nor an adult emphasis on gender will necessarily cause children to focus on gender. The proposed research will also enhance our understanding of gender in the contemporary Pacific by exploring the many possible ways of constructing gender available in postcolonial Fiji and the factors that make diverse models meaningful to individuals. The project will involve life history interviews with Fijians of all ages, videotaping of children's play and other typical routine interactions, and analysis of aspects of children's speech indexing gender and other identities. The broader impacts of this research include fostering the integration of research and education by building on an existing term abroad in Fiji in order to give undergraduates an unusual opportunity to participate in anthropological research. Research findings will be integrated into an existing webpage about the Fiji Term abroad. Undergraduate research will be included in subsequent publications and in class presentations