“BOYS AND GIRLS SHOULD BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY”: HOW SCHOOL STRUCTURES SUPPORT GENDER AND SEXUAL IDENTIFICATIONS IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN KADUNA STATE NIGERIA
Zaggi, Hilary Yacham, Ph.D
Volume 4 Issue 1
Abstract
Contextualising schools as complex spaces where gender and sexualities are performed entails understanding the interplay of gender and sexuality in school. This means recognising the influences of material and nonmaterial practices and their bearing on young people's understanding and construction of social identities. Using observations and interviews the study explores how the school environment supports the understanding and construction of gender and sexual identities of boys and girls in the school. By studying young people’s interaction in the school environment, the paper reveals how heteronormative values are reflected in the ways school routines are organised to reflect gender differentiation among both staff and students. This restricts young people’s freedom to express agency in constructing their social identities. Instead, they are regularly subjected to the strict control of adult teachers and expected to act in ways that reflect cultural heteronormative values as is obtainable in the society where the school is located. The study presents implications for rethinking forms of stereotypical gendered interactions within the school. This will enable young people operate within a less gendered environment and employ some form of agency in their self-identification. Keywords: Gender, Sexuality, Heteronormativity, Young People, Identity Constructions
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