ABSTRACT
Children develop in a gendered world, with girls socialised throughout life to be pretty, subordinate, indoors and relational, and receiving mixed messages about being both sexy and modest. From a dynamic systems theory perspective, the differential cultural allotment of status and power to the sexes flows through to microsystems including families, preschools and schools, where girls actively seek to make sense of their social world. Interactions with adults, peers and the media result in the internalisation of messages that form, and reinforce, gendered schemas about identity, self-worth, and how to relate to others, and these in turn feed back into girls’ social interactions. Despite their social disadvantage, they are told that ‘girls can do anything’, but become sceptical about this in their teens. This creates a complex landscape for girls seeking to create their identity, negotiate the present and forge their future.
