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Trying on Gender, Gender Regimes, and the Process of Becoming Women
Author(s): L. Susan Williams
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Gender and Society, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Feb., 2002), pp. 29-52
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3081875 .
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content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
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Sage Publications, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Gender and
Society.
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TRYINGON GENDER, GENDER
REGIMES, AND THE PROCESS
OF BECOMING WOMEN
L. SUSANWILLIAMS
Kansas State University
This article uses two concepts-trying on gender and local gender regime-to examine adolescent
genderingprocessesfor 26 girls from two northeasterncommunities.Based on afour-year study,the
authorfoundthat theprocess of becominga womanis muchmoreprovisionalthanpreviouslythought.
Adolescentgirls resist, experiment,andpractice gender in a trying-onprocess; gender,race, and class
structuresin the communitiesmutuallyreinforceparticularkindsoffemininities. Thisarticle describes
thegenderregimeof each communityand examineshow thegender regimesdifferentiallyshape theprocess of tryingon gender as these girls make the transitionto womanhood.
Opheliadied because she could not grow. She became the object of others'lives and
lost her true subjectiveself.
-Mary Pipher (1994, 292)
In herbookRevivingOphelia,MaryPipher(1994) used the allegoricalreference
to Ophelia from Shakespeare'sHamlet to vividly describe adolescence as a time
when almostall girls, like Ophelia,lose theirmarvelouslycompetentandoptimistic
preadolescentselves, become fragmented,andeventuallysubmitto the demandsof
adultfemininity.Similarly,CarolGilligan(GilliganandBrown 1992) writesabout
"thefall"for girls, a time of stress,depression,anddropin self-esteem.The workof
Pipher,Gilligan, and othersdrawsattentionto adolescence as a criticaltime in the
lives of girls and to attendantsocial consequences, such as pregnancy(Thompson
1995), addiction(Johnston,O'Malley,andBachman1997), depressionandsuicide
AUTHOR'SNOTE:Thisresearchwasfunded by the National Science Foundation,Division of Social,
Behavioral, and Economic Research,No. SBR-9505164, withoutwhose support this study could not
havefully developed. The author also wishes to expressappreciationto the remarkableyoung women
who participatedin this study and to thefollowing people for invaluablecommentsand support:Idee
Winfield,MyraMarxFerree,R. W.Connell,Julia McQuillan,Paul Ciccantel,ElizabethCauble,Janice
Dinkel, Dana Britton,and KimberR. Williams,and also to Gender& Society's anonymousreviewers
and to editors ChristineBose and Beth Schneiderfor theirfaith and persistence in makingthis article
possible.
REPRINTREQUESTS:L. Susan Williams,Kansas State University,204 WatersHall, Manhattan,KS
66506; e-mail: lswilli@ksu.edu.
GENDER& SOCIETY,
Vol.16No. 1,February
2002 29-52
? 2002SociologistsforWomenin Society
29
30
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
(CommonwealthFund 1997), violence (ChesneyLind and Sheldon 1998), eating
disorders(Steiner Adair 1990), low self-esteem (Orenstein 1994), and failure to
bond (Gilligan and Brown 1992).
As scholarssoughtto understandwhy some girls aremoresuccessfulthanothers
in the transitionfrom adolescence to adulthood,researchfocused on contextsthat
shapeadolescentgirls'lives. Difficultiesassociatedwith adolescencearenow more
often attributedto social factors such as "poverty,family stresses, and societal
ambivalencetowardyouth ratherthan to some inevitable, internalprocess or to
characteristicsof adolescentsthemselves"(Phillips 1998, 5). However,much less
is known about how girls negotiatethe gender orderand, in turn,how gendering
shapes girls' transition into womanhood. This article focuses on adolescent
genderingprocesses, as describedby girls themselves,and identifiesmultiplecontexts in the gender orderthatinfluence such processes.
In their 1987 article,"DoingGender,"WestandZimmermanfocused on the process of how individuals"dogender"as a "routine,methodical,andrecurringaccomplishment"(p. 126). Gender scholars today typically employ the doing-gender
frameworkto demonstratesituationsin which actorssocially achieveandcontinue
to managea genderedidentity(Gagne and Tewksbury1998; Gallas 1997; Herbert
1998; Lytle and Bakken 1997; Martinand Jurik 1996; Ponticelli 1999; Spitzer,
Henderson,andZivian1999;Thorne1993;Walzer1996).Theseandothersuchstudies havecontributedvaluablyto ourreconceptualizationof genderingas a process.
Early in this project, my colleague' and I struggledto describe the gendering
processeswe witnessedamongadolescentgirls. Theyexperimentedwith whatthey
thoughtto be "womanly"ways butin a moretemporaryandnonthreateningfashion
thanpast studiessuggest. At age 13, the girls sometimesself-identifiedas children,
though definitively as girl-children,clearly supportingThorne's (1993) study of
genderedplay in middle school. Nevertheless,theirtenuousaffiliationwith childhood insulatedthemfrommanydemandsof an adultversionof doing gender.At the
same time, theiridentificationas girl-childrenencouragedthemto experimentwith
whatthey consideredwomen's ways of doing gender.Forexample,the girls in this
studyconsidered,talked,andlaughedaboutdieting anddatingandthenpostponed
enacting such activitiesfor a more grown-uptime. Havingjust finished the eighth
grade, the girls looked forwardto high school with both anticipationand trepidation. "It'slike I know somethingbig is going to happen,butI don't know whatit is,"
Emily said anxiously.Then,in the next instant,Emily andherfriendchatteredhappily abouttripsto the beach or summersoftball.It was as if they were peeringinto
some futuremirror,often with growinguneasiness,but as yet were not full participantsin what they saw. It is this process of anticipating,experimenting,retreating,
and resistingthatI referto as tryingon gender.
The trying-onprocess is relatedto, but distinctfrom, doing gender.Doing gender is an apt metaphorin generalbut fails to capturegenderingas developmental
and contextual.Genderinginvolves multiplephases and contingencies.For example, mostgenderscholarsagreethatgenderingbegins atthe momentof birth,butwe
do not talk aboutbabies doing gender.Doing genderimplies action and outcome;
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
31
actors accomplish gender.Thus, doing gender may begin very early, but day-old
babies do not initiate the process. Development involves change and transitions,
and the trying-on-genderconcept capturesone intervalof gendering:the experimentationandtentativenessthatoccursatthe criticaltransitionfromgirlto woman.
The concept of tryingon genderalso createstheoreticalspace for contextin the
genderingprocess. By conceiving adolescent gendering as tentative,social contexts (such as race and class) and contingencies that shape genderedexperiences
(such as controlover adolescents)can be identified.
Some studiesexplicitly addresscontext (e.g., Ferreeand Roth 1998; Ridgeway
et al. 1998), but social interactionis the salient focus in the doing-genderframework.In a respectfulcritique,Rismanexplainedthatthe doing-genderperspective
does not sufficientlyaddressthe intersectionof "institutionalgenderstratification,
situationalexpectations,andgenderedselves" (1998,23-24) andthat"evenif individuals are capable of change . . . the influence of gendered institutions and
interactionalcontexts persists"(1998, 30). Risman's work identifies the need to
address the intersection of process and structure,and this article explores that
dynamicby situatingtrying-ongenderinteractionswithin specific local contexts.
The questionis, How do we specify ways thatgenderedstructuresshapethe process
of tryingon gender?I adoptConnell's (1987) concept of gender regimeto accomplish this goal.
Connell points out that gender relations are not simply a "shapelessheap of
data"(1987, 16) but constitutea social structure.Connelldefines gender regimeas
the "structuralinventoryof a particularinstitution"(p. 99) thatrepresents"thestate
of play in genderrelationsin a given institution"(p. 120). This definitionof gender
regimehighlightsthe time- andplace-specific aspectsof genderandthe fluidity of
genderstructure.But, how do we applythe theory?How can we systematicallycapture the complexity of situations, conditions, and contexts implied? I argue for
using place-in this case the community-to specify how a local gender regime
shapes the process of tryingon gender.
Attaching social meanings to place has experienced a resurgenceas feminist
geographersuse sociospatial theories to elaborateon both "the diversity and the
solidarityof sisterhood"(Rose 1993, 132). Diversitytakes manyforms. Forexample, muchattentionis given to urbanareas;however,one in fourAmericanslives in
a town with a populationof 2,500 or less (Williams 2001). Scholarsalso increasingly recognize the racialandethnic diversityof youth, even withina culture.Currently,the ethnicdistributionof Americanyouth is about68 percentwhite, 15 percent Black, 13 percentHispanic,4 percentAsian, and 1 percentAmericanIndian
(Montemayer2000), and demographersprojectthat the white populationwill be
reducedto about50 percentby midcentury.Such issues of diversityand place differences inevitablyaffect adolescents as they develop into genderedindividuals.
Attentionto genderedmeanings of space have allowed scholarsto move away
from the determinismof a universal patriarchy(Acker 1989; Smith 1983) and
towardviewing gender relationsas specific to particularplaces and times (Bondi
1993; Foord and Gregson 1986; Massey 1994; Rosaldo 1980; Walby 1989).
32
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
Researchershave specified ways in which both class and gender define social
arrangementsin such disparateplaces as urbanSenegal (Heath 1990); ruralSri
Lanka (Wickramasinghe1993); Australia(Fincher 1992); Greece (Vaiou 1989);
and in cities as disparateas Tampa,Florida (Hewitt 1991), and Madrid, Spain
(RodriguezMoya and Diaz Mufioz 1991). Feminist geographersprovide strong
evidence thatgenderrelationsare "fluid,mutable,and specific to certaincircumstances or contexts"(Hanson 1992) but have not yet developed systematic measures of place-specific effects on genderprocesses. The concept of genderregime
providesa frameworkto identifygendermeaningsthatareattachedto specific locations. Some variationin genderrelationsis tied to economic structureandopportunities. Other differences are rooted in local culture and values. Local gender
regimescapturemeaningfuldifferencesin ways communitiesorganizegenderrelations and reveal how structureintersectswith process to shape the experience of
adolescentgirls.
I argue that a local gender regime exerts influence on individualinhabitants,
regardlessof theirown social class or theirpersonalgenderbeliefs. The influenceis
revealedin how adolescentgirls try on genderandeventuallyadoptgendernorms.
Inthis study,the datadescribelife for adolescentteens fromtwo communities,a 20minutedrive apart,each constitutinga distinctlocal genderregime.
DATAAND METHOD
Participantsin this study are 26 young women from two communitiesin New
England,referredto in this articleas Greenvilleand Rolling Rock. The first interview took place in 1992 when the girls were about 13 years of age. I maintained
contact with most of the girls through follow-up interviews (1993, 1994) and
telephone conversations (as recent as 1998), constituting a qualitative repeatobservationmodel.
The originalsampleconsistedof 30 girls selectedrandomlyfromlists of eighthgrade students in the two communities;after obtaining participantand parental
consent, 14 girls from Greenvilleand 12 from Rolling Rock remainedin the sample. All but3 were self-identifiedas white, 1 was AfricanAmericanandwhite, 1 was
Spanishandunknown,andthe 3rdwas Chinese-born.Using parents'educationand
occupationas indicators,10 of the Greenvillegirls were describedas middle-class
and 4 as working-class;3 Rolling Rock girls were middle-class and 9 were from
working-classfamilies.
Initially,each girl participatedin aboutfive hoursof semistructuredinterviews
conductedovertwo sessions. Issues coveredincludedautonomy,control,influence
of significantothers,friendships,dating,and goals. The girls also completed two
open-endedvignettes(i.e., stories)andthe EatingDisorderInventory(EDI), which
has been used to measuregirls' concern with dieting as well as body image, selfesteem, and efficacy (StunkardandMessick 1985). Researchquestionswere open
and general,andtranscribednarrativesandnotes were organizedaroundemerging
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
33
themes (Becker 1993; Strauss and Corbin 1990). The primary categories that
emergedincludeattractiveness,attachmentto men, andcomplianceandcontrol,all
issues knownto be associatedwith genderstereotyping.Also notedwere inconsistencies between gender ideologies and behavior,resistanceto gender norms, and
contradictions in managing gender identity. Follow-up interviews provided
updatedactivitiesandconcerns,events duringthe past year,andchanges in gender
attitudes.
These data are uniquein thatthe girls show, in their own words, how they constructgender.Overwhelmingly,theirconstructionof genderis basedon a whiteculture;dimensions of race and ethnicity were virtuallyinvisible or unspoken.2Two
primaryfindingsemerged.First,the girls go througha processof trialandretrialas
they constructgender for themselves. Second, there are clear differences in how
girls in each communitytry on and do gender.
TRYING ON GENDER AS PROCESS
Tryingon gender is a segment or phase of the more generaldoing-genderprocess, andthese dataillustratethreecharacteristicsof the trying-onprocess for adolescent girls: tryingon as tenuous(andrelativelyunstable),tryingon as resistance,
andtryingon as exaggerated(or subordinated)femininity(Connell 1987). The trying-on processbecomes even morevisible when changesacrossthe four-yearstudy
are examined.
Tryingon as Tenuous
Tryingon gender,distinct from doing gender,is often playful, fun loving, and
irreverent.After Kyla's first interview(1992), I offered her and her friendAnne a
soda or snack.The girls talkedaboutdietingwhile eatingfrenchfries, thenlaughed
at themselves:"Lookat us-yeah, we're really seriousaboutdieting!,"continuing
to enjoy the moment.Later,Dena, when askedaboutconcernsin herlife, saidwith a
shrug, "Well,I probablyshould be dieting more ... but oh well!" And Heather,
when askedaboutpopularity,said, "Yeah,guys don't really go for the big girls, but
then they [boys] are stupid."
Here we see the girls tryingon gender.They understooddietingas a fact of adult
womanhood,one which doubtless has consequences for their future,but for that
momentthey were exempt.They could tryon this attitudefor size, muchlike a little
girl tries on her mother'shigh-heeled shoes and then puts them aside when they
become uncomfortableor inconvenient.At age 13, most of the girls seemed uninterestedin dietingandbody-imageissues. In fact, the EDI identifiedonly 3 of the 26
responsesthatsuggestedpreoccupationwith weight. This is surprisingconsidering
researchthat indicates dieting is the norm among young adolescent girls. In this
small sample,we foundno evidence of an epidemicobsession with thinness.When
pressedaboutdieting issues, manyexpressedfutureconcerns,"I shouldbe dieting
34
GENDER& SOCIETYI February2002
more,"or "Yeah,probably,next year."They were awareof dietingexpectationsbut
often postponedthe event.
It is well establishedthat adolescentsoften want more freedom to experiment
with grown-uproles, and this wished-for independencewas evident in trying on
gender.However,at 13, these girls werejust as likely to suggest thatthey were not
yet readyfor adultroles. Janellevolunteered,unabashed,thatshe sometimessucks
her thumb,and Christaadmitted,"I really don't want to drive. I'm scared."Girls
assertedindependencebut also exhibiteduncertaintyand ambivalence,as demonstratedin the examples below:
Christa(1992, aboutbecoming a teenager):You don't play with toys any more. You're
foryourYoutalkaboutthestuffyouusedto,butyou'remoreresponsible
grown-up.
self. Youdon'tneedyourmomanddadaround-well,notall thetime.
Alissa (1992, aboutfeeling grown-up):Well... I'm always confused,ask my friends...
we'rejust growingup and we try-sometimes we're not dolls, doing the rightthing,
but we'll keep maturing... we're learningevery day.
The girls expressa rangeof emotionsandexperiencesaboutgrowingup. Theyhave
specific ideas aboutwhat maturitymeans, but they also express ambivalenceand
arenot certainthatgrowingup is always good. Alissa articulatesthe sentimentthat
they want to experimentand learn without standardsof perfection.The trying-on
process demonstrates the uncertainty with which adolescent girls approach
womanhood.
The process of tryingon genderis particularlyvisible at transitions,andpreparing to enterthebold new worldof high school was at once exciting,provocative,terrifying. The girls describedit as "theend of one life andthe beginningof another,"
andthe new one was full of uncertaintyandtrials.The girls understoodthatbecoming a teenager,and especially enteringhigh school, was a threshold:
Christa(1993,discussing1992):Beforethefirstdayof school,I wasthrowingup.I was
so nervous,I just knew I was going to get lost the firstday of school, andI'd neversee
my friendsagain ... I was prettydependent.
After the girls' freshman year in high school, they generally demonstrated less
uncertaintyaboutthemselvesandtheirrole as young teenagewomen. Forexample,
the girls become less dependenton parents'influence, as illustratedby Emily at
age 15:
I'dhaveto tell themthatwasn't
of boyfriend):
Emily(1994,aboutparents'disapproval
theirdecision.I knowI'mnotanadult,butI'mnotakideither.Theydon'trealizethat.
I need to have a life.
Independence was mostly anticipated and valued. However, as Holly, age 15, illus-
trates,maturityfor young womenbecomes conflictedwiththe demandsof an idealtype femininity,which includes passivity:
Williams/ TRYINGON GENDER 35
Holly (1994): Freshmanyearwas an opportunityto change,to developmy new self... so
when I came to high school, I just changed my whole attitudeand I just became my
own person.I, well, I becamemorequietanddidn'tspeakuntilI was spokento. I kept
my mouthshutbecauseI was a big mouth.Andit worked-people likedthata lot better.
The girls try on gender by hesitating then exploring (Alissa's confusion), anticipating and reacting (Christa's high school "butterflies"), and observing and making
choices (Holly's and Emily's self-imposed changes). The instances are strongly
gendered. Holly discovers that a "loud mouth" has negative consequences. Christa
represents a very common thread among these early-teenage girls-they value
attachment to close friends, and the prospect of separation is very painful. The girls
view the transition to high school, and ultimately to adult womanhood, as a threat to
that intimacy and discover ways to resist gender conventions, as demonstrated in
the next section.
Trying on as Resistance
Trying on gender includes various ways in which girls refuse gender-typical
demands. Many of the girls in this study expressed resistance, in varying degrees, to
their ideas of gender-traditional norms:
Nikki(1992): I wantto show people thateven thoughI am female andI'm overweightthat
I still have a say andI could still be just as good as anybodyelse ... I want a tattoo.I
want a rose with little leaves and a stem with prickers,and I want a rosebudon my
ankle.
Heather (1992): Yeah,I'm overweight.But then my friendsare wicked skinny,so I say,
"shutup, I don't want to hear it, because you guys are wicked skinny."
As illustrated earlier, the girls at age 13 actively resisted the thinness norm. They
also experimented with what they interpreted as masculine roles. For example,
although they expressed some ambivalence, most would ask a guy to dance. Lily
represents an even more overt resistance to the "feminine":
Lily (1992): I want to be a cop or somethinglike that.Like, it's not feminine to be in the
army,but that wouldn't keep me from doing it.
Alice provides an interesting display of masculine traits (fighting, aggression) but
also describes characteristically feminine norms such as hair pulling and protecting
the face.
Alice (1993): Girls fight all the time, aboutboys mostly, calling each othernames. There
was this big fight downtown... all girls in a big pile. Theyputvaselineon theirface so
you can'tscratchtheirface.Theylike to use yourhairto pullyou downandpunchyou.
Another common theme of resistance revealed in the trying-on-gender process
is an active denial that gender is relevant at all, as illustrated by Lara and Nicole:
36
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
Lara(1992):Boysandgirlsareequal.Boysarestronger
andfaster,so that'swhytheyget
moreattentionin sports,butthatdoesn'tmeanthey'rebetterin therealworld.
Nicole(1992):Justbecauseboysarebetteratmathdoesn'tmeanthey'rebetterpersonsgirlsarebetterat otherthings,likeEnglish-butwe'reequalas people.
The trying-onprocess includes resistance.Nikki and Heatherforcefully resist
the wafer-womanideal, and the who-asks-whom-to-dancescenario elicits assertivenessfrommost of the girls. Lily andAlice arequiteawareof genderedexpectations about "cop and army"careers,resourcesreservedfor boys, and fighting as
somethingmasculinethatthey can do too. As LaraandNicole attest,young women
find many opportunitiesto reaffirmtheir idea that they are not (or should not be)
judged on the basis of theirgender.Resistanceis evidentas theytest boundariesand
assertthemselves into male-definedterritories.
Tryingon as EmphasizedFemininity
Althoughresistanceoccurs at manylevels, the trying-onprocess generallypromotes certainstereotypicalgenderstandards.Threeconsistentthemesemergefrom
the data-attractiveness, attachment to men, and compliance-that represent
selected culturallyprescribedfeminine ideals. These traitsdo not representa total
femininity but are used to demonstratehow the trying-onprocess adopts gender
normativebehaviorsthatoften result in an emphasizedfemininity.
Attractiveness.Although the girls at age 13 were less personally engaged in
body issues thanthe literaturepredicts,entryinto high school dramaticallyheightened the role of appearance.The following passages are from the second roundof
interviews,afterthey had completedtheir first high school year.
Lee(1993,appeared
verythin,lovely):Afterthatguycalledme"fatandugly,"I couldn't
get it out of my mind.I look at myselfandI see all the thingsthatI havethatare
bad... likemy thighsor something,orI wishI wastalleror skinnier.
If I was
Heather(1993,earlierdismissedbodyimagesandboys'opinionsas "stupid"):
I'dhavemorefriends.Youhaveto be thinandyouneedto havegoodclothes
thinner,
to be popular.I thinkwe all wantto be liked.
I evenlookat
to showpeoplethatweightdoesn'tmatter):
Nikki(1993,earlierproclaimed
I feel guilty
I
don't
like
them.
think
are
that
are
and
who
gross,
they
overweight
boys
aboutit, butI do that.So I can'tblamepeoplefor notlikingme. AndI knowthey
blameme forbeingfat-I do too.
Here young women struggle with an image problemthat they had earlierplayed
down or dismissed.Duringthe trying-onprocess,girls begin to adjusttheirevaluation of gender characteristicsand of themselves in terms of lived experiences.
These girls beganto adoptfeminine standardsof thinnessand attractivenessandto
base theirown worthrelativeto those standards.
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
37
Attachmentto boys. Tryingon gender,for girls, alwaysincludesothers-family,
friends,teachers,role models. As they enteredhigh school, they expressedconcern
aboutlosing touch with friendsor the closeness they experiencedas a group.Much
of this anticipatedloss comes when the girls turnattentionto boys. Tryingon gender includes defining the value of attachmentto a boy:
Nicole(1992,adviceto a newcomeratschool):Don'ttakeFrench.Don'tusea lunchbox.
Don'thangaroundwithallgirls,trytogetsomeguysinthegroup[author's
emphasis].
Emily(1993,aboutsports):Guysget the good stuff.Theyhavewholeuniforms,hats,
shirtswiththeirnameon them,socks,stirrups... girlsget a shirtanda hat.I think
I playedoncewithabunchof guys,andit'sexcitingjust
toplay
that'sabigdifference.
[author's
emphasis].
Jane(1994,in a newschool):Thefirstdayof school,I hadonthesenewshoesandwhite
pantsanda blackandwhiteshirt.Theshoeshurtmyfeet,andI guessmyheelsstarted
bleeding and it got on my pants.People startedmakingfun of me.... People would
evenjab andpunchat me, andmy namebecamethewordeveryoneusedforbeing
"uncool."
I wouldhidein thebathroom
untilmostpeopleweregone,so I couldwalk
homesafe.Sometimes,
I'dlike,go toMcDonald's,
andsomeoneworkingtherewould
talkto me,andI'dgo homethinking,"Wow,that'shealthy,I actuallytalkedto someone today."Anyway,you knowwhatsavedme? Josh.Joshnoticedme one day
becauseI hadona reallycoolskirt,andwe startedtalkingandthendating.Joshwasa
reallycool guy in school-not a jock or anything,butjustreallycool in a different
way.Suddenly,
everyonestartedkissinguptome.Everything
changedfromthenon.
These girls believe thatboys hold the key to success, whetherit is in overallpopularity (Nicole's advice to newcomers);access to resourcesand power (Emily and
sports);or, as Jane explains, a sense of belonging. Mel commented frankly that
"boyfriendsand self-esteem go handin hand."The girls experiencedthe trying-on
process as a time when they experimentwith romanceand sexuality,which almost
always implied a value for boys.
At the same time, ties to boys almost always invoked ambivalence.The storycompletionexercises reflect the girls' perceptionsaboutrelationshipsand sexuality. One storyline began,"KerryandTaylor,suddenlyfindingthemselvesalone and
in a passionateembrace.. ."The characterswere designed with names ambiguous
enoughto be interpretedas eithera heterosexualcouple or as two boys or two girls.
Only 1 of the 25 participantsquestioned the sex of the characters;virtually all
assumedheterosexuality.Most of theirstoriesreflect a suspicionthatrelationships
and sex are disappointingor even dangerous.
Lara:Whensherefusessex,he dumpsher.Shewalksawayintothesunset."Ohwell,I
guessI'mnotalone,"shethinks,as shewalksupthestairs.
The story completions were particularlyrevealingaboutthe girls' ideas of sex
and romance.Anothernarrativebegan, "Jill,age 14, suddenlydiscoveredshe was
38
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
pregnant."Mel's excerptis representativeof a tragedythreadthatrunsthroughout
the narratives:
Mel:Jillrefusedto havesex withhim[afteranabortion]andit angeredhimso he left.
Yearslatershefindssheis unableto havechildren.
Herefused
Holly:Shedecidedshecannotgo toherparents,so sheturnstoherboyfriend.
to believeherandcallshera liar.Hesaysevenif sheis pregnant,
it is nothis.Shehas
anillegalabortionanddiesof a perforated
uterus.
Projectinginto the lives of fictional charactersclearly demonstratesthe tryingon process.The narratives,completedin 1992, illustratethe strainingtowardideals
of romance and also perceived costs, even though most girls were not seriously
involvedwith boys at the time. Lara's"Iguess I'm not alone"intimatesthatwomen
share a common resignationto tragediesassociated with relationships.Mel, who
earlierdescribedher boyfriendas critical to her self-esteem, projectsin her story
the dangerof refusingsex. Holly's storywas unusualonly because the protagonist
died;virtuallyall describedsex as dangerousandboys as untrustworthy.
Yet,at one
time or another,all the girls stated the importanceof attachmentto boys. These
examples illustrate a very seductive trying-on process. Boys bring resources,
belonging, and self-esteem, drawing young women into gender traps that also
effect dangerand even destruction.
Complianceand control.The resignationdescribedin the story completionsis
the productof a gendersystem thatdemandscompliancefrom women; otherswill
hold them accountablefor noncompliance.As the trying-onprocess interactswith
structuralconstraints,it incorporatesseemingly harmlessincidentsthat condition
girls to accept control from others:
He won'tevenlet me leavethedrivewayuntilI'm
Alexis:My dadis so overprotective.
probably20. Mybrotherswill getby witha lot whentheyget older.
Inschool,the
Natalie:Inmyfamily,mybrothergetsoff so easy... andI getgrounded.
orsometeacherspicktheboysmore;theythinktheboysaresupposedto be smarter
thing.In sports,definitelyboys get favoredmore;girlsaren'tsupposedto be that
athletic.
andstuff.I
Nicole:Well,of coursewe haveto worryaboutbirthcontrolandreputations
Thenwe
thinkguysshouldgetpregnant
insteadso thattheycan'tlie aboutit anymore.
couldbe thestudsandtheycouldbe thesluts.
The trying-onprocess encouragesgender traditionsby justifying control over
girls as protection(Alexis andherdad),as devaluationof girls (Natalieandsports),
and as biological inevitability(Nicole and birthcontrol).These narrativesdemonstratehow tryingon gendercan at once demandcompliancefromgirls andyet hold
women accountable.Tryingon gender,an initiallytentativeprocess,is approached
with both experimentationand resistancebut eventuallylures girls into accepting
traditionalfeminine ideals.
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
39
LOCAL GENDER REGIMES: TRYING ON
GENDER IN GREENVILLE AND ROLLING ROCK
GreenvilleandRolling Rock differin a numberof ways, includingmedianfamily income, tax structure,educationallevel, and availableyouth programs.Rolling
Rock is an old mill town with primarily working-class or commuter families.
Greenvilleis a small communitylargely defined by its large universityand large
populationof professionals.Only about 8 percentof the Rolling Rock population
have a college degree, but more than 25 percentof Greenvilleinhabitantshave at
least a bachelor's degree. In Rolling Rock, 33 percent of high school graduates
attenda four-yearcollege, while 62 percentof Greenville'shigh school seniorsdo
so. The average teacher's salary in Greenville is $6,000 greaterthan in Rolling
Rock, andthe statemasteryscores aresignificantlyhigherin Greenville.Both communities are predominantlywhite.
The local milieu of Greenvilleis rural-cosmopolitan.The communityexhibitsa
progressiveair associated with its highly professionalpopulationbut still retains
manytraditionsof ruralNew England.An illustrationis the blue-ribbonschool system and its productionof merit scholars,combined with equal enthusiasmfor the
local softball league. Rolling Rock is best characterizedas parochial. Compared
with Greenville,Rolling Rock is less informedaboutcontemporaryissues such as
multiculturalismanddisplaysfewer signs of cohesiveness.Rolling Rock has a minimumof community-organizedactivities,anda recenteffortto organizegirls' softball in the school systemfailed.In general,Greenvillesupportsa traditionalmiddleclass milieu, and Rolling Rock leans towardworking-class.
Local genderregimesregulatethe ways girls tryon gender.In the two communities in this study, the intersectionof class and gender shapes gender norms and
opportunities.The consequence of these two gender regimes is differentways of
trying on and doing gender.
Greenville
Thelocal gender regime.The local genderregimein Greenvillereflects its class
structurewhile maintainingfirmgenderconventions;class andgendersystems are
interactiveandmutuallyreinforcing.Teenlife in Greenvilleis relativelystructured,
due largelyto manysportsopportunities.As a result,girls aremorelikely to experiment with a wide rangeof venturessuch as soccer, softball,tennis, swimming,and
even kayaking.Also, many activities such as glee club, theater,chess club, choir,
andmathclub meancontactwith a varietyof otherteens, greaterchancesat leadership, and more exposureto role models in the community.Even summersarerelatively organized in Greenville. Activities are sponsoredby the town at minimal
cost, and many teens attend sport camps. Several of the girls reportedfamilyorganized vacations to premier spots such as "The Cape" and "The Vineyard."
Thus, genderbecomes less salient, or at least more subtle, because it is somewhat
40
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
diluted;more alternativesto stereotypicalgenderconventionsareavailable.At the
same time, gender boundariesremain secure, as evidenced by earliercomments
aboutdifferentialvalue and resourcesin sports,the classroom,and relationships.
The large universityadjacentto Greenville High provides a virtualhotbed of
resources such as the arts, speakers,academic opportunities,entertainment,and
nationalsportsandpoliticalfigures.ManyGreenvilleHigh studentstakecoursesat
the university,and virtuallyall attenduniversityevents. As a result, local women
role models arerelativelyabundant:Younggirls regularlyobserve college professors, professionalspeakers,young women in a wide arrayof disciplines, and top
athletes,includinga women'sbasketballteamthatregularlyattractsnationalattention. However ideal this image, though, gendered realities are apparent:The
women's basketballteam, despite winning national titles, remains funded well
below the level of the men's team.Genderdisparitiesin the universityareevidentas
in leadershippositions,tenuretrackfaculty,andmath
women areunderrepresented
science
and
disciplines.
Certainly,the higheraverageincome andprofessionalairof Greenvillecontributes to its lifestyle. However,it is importantto note that most of the activities are
availableto all Greenvilleyouth, regardlessof their individualfamily's lifestyle.
Sportsand camps are often subsidizedby the public school and local taxes. Many
universityevents arefree, andeven family vacationsoften include a numberof the
girls'friends.The class of the communityinteractswith genderedopportunitiesand
genderedexpectationsin ways thataffecthow individualgirls tryon anddo gender,
regardless of their own social class. The girls in Greenville filter experiences
througha middle-classedgenderlens. The Greenvillegenderregimeprovidesmore
opportunitiesfor girls, but it also invokes more control. "Be all you can be" is a
watchword,but it parallelsa demandto do it in a gender-appropriate
way.
Tryingon gender in Greenville.Tryingon genderin Greenvillemeans working
with the wide range of roles, activities, and leadershippositions; Greenvillegirls
have manymodels to emulate.At the same time, they also face more occasions for
comparisonandconflict. Because sportsheavily define who belongs, who is on the
fringe, and who dates whom, competition among girls is often intense. Perhaps
moreimportant,girls often directlycompetewith boys, andthey repeatedlyget the
message thatboys and the masculineare of greatervalue:Boys get the good gym,
the higher-paidcoaches andequipment,primetime on the court,andmoreattention
in the classroom.
One way girls deal with tensionbetweenrelativeprivilegeandmasculinebias is
to compartmentalizegender(as they see it) fromotherpartsof theiridentity.It was
quitecommonfor the Greenvillegirls to deny the relevanceof genderin theirlives.
Recall the strong assertions:"Boys and girls are equal, period.""We'reequal as
people."This is not to say they did not commenton differencesbetween boys and
girls ("Guysarestronger,morepushy,andcan swearmore";"Cheerleadingis a girl
thing";"Guys can't cry, girls have to"). Rather,acknowledgeddifferences were
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
41
generallydismissedas irrelevantto genderinequality,andsexism was passedoff as
a feminist myth, or as a problemsolved long ago.
Competition, especially with boys, shapes how girls in Greenville construct
theirgenderedidentities.Lararemarkedaboutgetting an awardin gym class "even
in competitionwith guys," and Alexis explainedthat her karateachievementwas
special because the class includedboys. Alexis also explainedhow she told off a
"sexist pig in my debateclass [who] thinksbecause I'm a girl I shouldn'tdo anything."Directcompetitionpushes girls to excel, butundertonesof masculinesuperioritymay set girls up for defeat. Alexis, who carriesa near-perfectgradepoint
average,illustrates:
Alexis:I feel likeI'vealwaysbeentheslowestin mymathclass.In7thgrade,I gota low
butmyparents[insisted].... It's
grade,andtheydidn'twantto putmeinpre-algebra
just beenhardfor me ... if a teachersays,"Dothison the board,"I will notdo it
becauseI thinkI'mgoingto getit wrong,andeverybodyis betterthanI am.I realize
thatI'vecaughtup,butI stillhaveinmymind,"I'mbadin math,I'mbadin math,I'm
badin math."
Alexis demonstratesa genderquandaryuniqueto Greenvilleas comparedwith
Rolling Rock. Girls in Greenvillehave many opportunitiesto jockey for recognition in a competitiveenvironment,but because they are in directrivalrywith boys,
they also struggle with insecurity.They contend with fragile egos that are gender
constructed,but because power differentialsbetween the masculineand the feminine are disguised by gender ideologies, they do not recognize it as such. Alexis
does not acknowledge such power differentials, so she internalizes feelings of
incompetence,and the strainspills over into other areasof life:
Alexis:I didn'tevenlook,I glancedatthemathtestandI freakedout.I'mafraidthatI'll
trytoohardandI'll totallyforgetabouttherestof mylife.I won'tgivemyselfanyoff
time... whenI get stressedoutaboutmath,I don'tcareaboutanythinganymore.
Gender,as the girls define it, is not consideredrelevantto theirinsecuritiesabout
gradesandmath.Indeed,they seldom mentiongenderor boys or sex differencesin
thatcontext.These contradictionsdemonstratethe compartmentalization;
the girls'
experiencesexclude genderedexplanations.
The subject of sex and sexuality clearly differs in the two communities.
Greenvillegirls did not talk openly about sex.
Christa:AtWilliamsburg
knows[aboutsexualencoun(aneighboring
town),everybody
tellseverybody.
Inthisschool,nobodyis likethat.Theyhide
ters]becauseeverybody
it more.InWilliamsburg,
theyhandoutcondoms.Thatwouldneverhappenhere.
When the girls in Greenvillefirst talkedaboutrelationshipswith boys, they did so
tentatively.After their freshmanyear in high school, they talkedaboutboys a lot,
42
GENDER& SOCIETY/February2002
butthey also conveyeda sense thatthey shouldhave an identityseparatefromtheir
boyfriend.
Emily(1994):I maynotalwaysbe withJohn.Butfornow,we needto be together.Last
year I was "outof it"because I was so absorbedwith the relationship.Now I can see
I needto be a personformyself.
butnoteverything.
moreclearly.It'simportant,
The Greenvillegirls beganto build an idea of womanhoodthatis characteristic
of the local genderregime.Women(as an ideal type) look good, makethemselves
desirableto men, andgenerallychoose compliance.But women also are assertive,
they can play sports,demandequalaccess andresources(even if they do not always
get it), and they value competition.They understandthatcompetitionwith men is
how women areoftenjudged, andtheybegin to practicethose contests.They dissociate their soccer selves with their gendered selves ("girls can do anything")but
remainsusceptibleto internalizingfailure.Romanceandsex aredesirable,butfeelings are often unspoken;Emily's earlier statementabout not always being with
John,in additionto the story-completionnarratives,suggests anunderlyingdistrust
of boys thatencouragessome degreeof independence.At the same time, they also
harborinsecurities,as demonstratedby Alexis and her math anxiety.
Tryingon genderin Greenvilleelicits a specific kind of conundrum.Relatively
abundantresources encourage participation and competition, and the young
women's denial of gender inequality promotes a sense of immediate empowerment. Relative to Rolling Rock, the Greenville girls have many opportunitiesto
exploregenderoptions.However,even as these young womenobservegenderinequities ("girlscan't ever get the good court";"Ms. [Smith] always favors the boys,
she hatesus"),theyexplainthemawayas individualexceptions.Boys can play professional sports,so they get the good court.Yes, the coach is sexist, but if you performlike a boy, thenhe will treatyou like a boy. No one ever said, "I'm a girl, therefore I'm inferior,"but confidence is ultimately weakened because incidents are
defined as separateand unconnectedto any broadercontext. Like a tight rubber
band, the straining toward gender-traditionalexpectations becomes even more
powerfulwhen contested.Greenvillegirls tryon andtest genderedwaters,but such
opportunities do not automatically translate into less traditional gendered
identities.
Rolling Rock
Thelocal gender regime.Rolling Rock's working-classmilieu accommodatesa
genderregimethatconstructsthe kind of femininitythatreproducesits class structure. Opportunitiesfor girls in Rolling Rock are considerably fewer than in
Greenville.High school sportsfor girls arelimitedto basketballand track,and virtuallyno communityprogramssupplementschool activities.Jamietold of an effort
to organize a girls' softball team. After a confusing series of attemptsto get a
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
43
sponsor,coach, and resources(all initiatedby the girls themselves), the girls were
told by the boys' softball coach, "It'stoo late now-that's your own fault."When
askedaboutleisuretime, Rolling Rock girls uniformlyrespondedwith the plaintive
"There'snothingto do here,trustme!"When pressed,they reportedgoing to either
Roller Derby,a skatingrinkabout20 minutesaway,or CrystalLake, a nearbylowkey recreationarea.
Girls at Rolling Rock experiencea much differentculturalmilieu thanteens at
Greenville.The local high school has few organizedclubs and activities, and the
majorroute to prestige for girls is cheerleading.While counselors at Greenville
High focus on careers,counselingfor Rolling Rock High is contractedoutto a mental healthprovider.The clinic directorreportshavingseen morethanone-halfof the
eighth-gradegirls for mentalhealthissues. The universityat Greenvilleis about20
minutesaway,the same distanceas RollerDerby,butnone of the participantsin this
study reported going to university events; the girls at Rolling Rock seem far
removedfrom the universitycultureand from any vision of enrollingthere.Virtually all of those few who statedcollege plansreportedjuniorcollege as theirgoal.
While leisure opportunitiesare much less abundantand more loosely defined,
structuredworkis very mucha partof life for teen girls in Rolling Rock. Most of the
girls begin gender-traditionalwork early (10 to 12 years old), such as baby-sitting,
andwhen age restrictionsallow,they enterminimum-wagejobs such as fastfood or
clerking. When asked, their role models are usually a teacheror parent;most of
their motherswork in either clerical or factory positions. The Rolling Rock girls
acknowledge their limited options and seem to deal with gender within a more
groundedstreet-smartphilosophy.They are more likely to convey, "my body, my
choice" and often renouncethe idealistic for the practical.
Tryingon gender in Rolling Rock. Trying on gender, for the girls at Rolling
Rock,is closely linkedto sexualityandtraditionalgenderroles.They,like Greenville
girls, tendto equategenderwith sexuality,andbecausefewer optionsareavailable,
they act out sexuality more openly.
Jamie:Yeah,sexis likethemaintopicof conversation.
Ifoneof usis gettingit,thenwe all
talk about it.
Alice(age16,aboutgirlsonbirthcontrol):Nope,butmybestfriendhadanabortion
inher
toilet.(Aboutcondoms):I alwayshearboyssay,oh it givesyoua rash,orsomething
(laughs).Theydon'tlikeit... andsaytheycan'tfeel nothing.
Theseremarksstandin starkcontrastto the mostlyquietsubjectof sex in Greenville.
At age 13, most of the Rolling Rock girls could namefouror five eighth-gradegirls
pregnantor with babies.
Jamie(aboutthe differencebetweengirlsandboys who "sleeparound"):
Well,yeah,
thereis a difference.It'slikeboysgetbrowniepointsorsomething.Butin theend,it
doesn'tmattermuch,becausewe all do it.
44
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
I asked Jamie why she thought sex seemed so important in Rolling Rock, and she
explained, "Well, it's part of getting older, and going out with boys and stuff.
Mostly I think it's because we're bored to death." Others are more idealistic and
tend to link sex with romance and their future.
Alice (about her boyfriend):Yeah, I do have sex with him now, and I don't regret it
becauseI do love him, andI know he loves me very much.SometimesI thinkI waited
too long ... he's going to be going away soon.
Girls in this study reported strategies of getting, keeping, breaking up, or planning
futures with boys.
Heather(abouthow she would approacha guy she likes): I'd thinkof somethingto make
him notice me. I'd tell him he's cool. I'd walk by him everyday,dress real nice, wear
dressy clothes ... my mom's clothes ... skirts,but not heels.
Holly: My boyfriendis reallypopular,andeveryonetells me I'm reallyluckyto havehim.
Thatmakes me feel prettygood aboutmyself.
Lily: Most girls get pregnantbecause they want to get marriedto theirboyfriends,and I
thinktheyjust do it... like planningtheir life way aheadof time.
Rolling Rock, with its fewer resources for girls in sports, structured activities,
and community involvement, also offers fewer alternatives to gender stereotypes.
Rolling Rock girls believe attracting boys requires an exaggerated femininity
(Heather and clothes) and that identity is often tied to boys and boys' status (Holly
and her popular boyfriend). Girls often equate sex with maturity (Lily's friends and
pregnancy), and sex becomes a ploy for getting a guy, which they also equate with
security. Their stories, often playful, center around sexuality:
Jamie:I hungup the phoneandcalled him a bastard.Mom said, "What'sthe matter?"and
I was like, "Mom,I sleptwith him andhe's ajerk."And she was thinkingthatI pitched
a tent next to the kid ... she thoughtI rolled out a sleeping bag.
Nicole (age 16):At my house... JaneandI pretendwe have these lesbiantendencies.We
give each otherbackrubsandthose looks. My folks areso glad when a guy calls thatI
can automaticallygo out. Wow, if they only knew. Jake (Nicole's boyfriend)sometimes sneaksin throughmy window at night. One nightwe had sex while Janewas in
the bed with us (they both laugh).
While we cannot know whether sex is more prevalent in Rolling Rock, the girls
are certainly more open in talking about it, and they suggest that teenage sex is very
common, even expected. Sexuality provides mechanisms for agency (e.g., Jamie,
Nicole, and Jane manipulate parents) but also exacts cost. The overwhelming visibility of sexuality and attending circumstances in Rolling Rock such as abortion,
pregnancy, and teen motherhood seems to limit other options and encourages traditional gender roles.
The Rolling Rock milieu focuses on practical experiences and plans; it champions the streetwise mentality. The girls know sexual terms and experiences, some
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
45
well beyond what society dictates as appropriatefor their age. Most knew about
birthcontrolbutconsideredit irrelevant.Alice talkedaboutherfriend'shome abortion, and Holly knew seven classmates with HIV.
Rolling Rock, with its lower level of educationoverall and its emphasison the
pragmatic,fosters a more groundedapproachto life. Rolling Rock girls, perhaps
because they more often talk aboutcommon genderedexperiences,develop strong
womanbonds. Nicole and Janedescribedthemselves as "wise beyond our years."
Nicole and Jane had developed a Thelma-and-Louise-typepersonification.They
describedtheir friendship:
Nicole:Yeah,wehaveeachother... sometimesyousetyourselfupforheartache,
butit's
a heartache
thatyoubothshare,so it's worthit.
Jane:Weknowmorethaneveryoneelse. We'renotbetter,justourselves.Theyhaven't
foundthemselvesyet... we lovemore.
Nicole:We'reeasierto love.
Jane:Welovemore,theydon'tknowhowto loveyet.
Nicole: They don't want to. There's always a light inside everybody;it just depends if
theywantit to showornot.
Jane:Yeah,we'vemadea pact.If we havekidsandtheguydumpsus,thenwe'llalways
be thereforeachother,andwe'll helpeachotherraisethekids.
Nicole:Yeah,we'llbe like60 andtrippingoverouroxygentubes(bothlaugh),butwe'll
be together.
Nicole andJane'sdialogueexemplifiesthe groundedrealityin Rolling Rock. Their
version of experimentingwith gender acknowledgesthe importanceof boys and
sex, but they also recognize that they may be abandoned,and they make specific
contingencyplans to deal with such circumstances.
One might assume that these experiences would engendera feminist identity,
but these girls do not accept the feminist label. Jamie's idea of a feminist is "a
womanwho doesn't shave her armpits."Holly explains some issues she defines as
"feminist:"
Holly:I don'tknowwhy [women]takethe male'sname,butI thinkit's honorable.It
doesn'tnecessarily
meanthatoneis better,it'sjusthonoring
thehusband.
That'sall.
Rolling Rock inspires a different kind of paradox from that identified in
Greenville.On one hand,the girls are strong,assertive,well-grounded,and aware
of realities that limit women's chances in the world. On the other hand, they are
more likely to denounce feminist ideas and have lower aspirations.One possible
explanationis the silencing factor.Alice's story illustrates.
At age 14, Alice was one of the few in Rolling Rock who was vocal aboutgender
inequalities. She noted that her brothernever had serious consequences for his
delinquentacts, while she could get groundedweeks for "talkingback."At school,
the "teachersalways favorthe boys just because they arejocks or flirt with them."
Then, aftera series of events duringher freshmanyear in high school, the ax fell.
46
GENDER& SOCIETY/ February2002
Alice was suspendedfrom school duringa criticalexam periodfor talkingback to
teachers.
Alice: Yeah,talking.I havethis stubbornproblem... they'll say sit downandI haveto say
"why"beforeI doit, andthatreallygetsthemmad.MymomsaysI havea realproblemwithauthority,
whichI don'tthinkI do. I wouldn'tsayno to a policeman.
Afterward,Alice was placed in a special educationclass; she felt she was labeled
"dumb."(Frommy own relationshipwith Alice, I detectedno sign of learninglimitations.) She became increasinglymore rebellious,and afteragain "talkingback,"
she was suspended from school for the remainderof the school year, which
includedbeing barredfrom her class prom.
Alice:I thoughttheyweregoingto sendmeto a schoolforkidsthathaveproblems,andI
wasscared.I didn'tthinkI neededto dothat.I neverhita teacher-thatwouldmake
mefeellikeI hadaproblem.Guysdostufflikethatallthetime,andtheydon'tgetsuspended.Thisonekid,he broughta [highvelocityair]gunto schoolandhe didn'tget
[kickedout].
Alice droppedout of school when she turned16. When I last saw her, she was
living with her boyfriendand had a baby.Her once-spiritedvoice soundedlistless.
It appearedthat Alice was finally and effectively silenced. Otheryoung women
relatedstories,althoughnot as extreme,of being disciplinedfor "talkingback,"or
talkingtoo much, or for being too stubborn.
The Rolling Rock girls, like those in Greenville,drew on their experiences of
trying on gender to develop an idea of womanhood. Some of the qualities they
attachedto being a womanparalleledthose at Greenville:They acceptednormsof
looking good (althoughdetails might differ), attachmentto men, and compliance.
For them, women are more assertive in attractinga man but less aggressive in
demandingequalaccess to resources.The Rolling Rock girls havefew occasions to
directlycompete with men, such as in sportsand the classroom,but they compete
with other women (in both physical and emotional fights) for men as a resource.
Pregnancyis seen as a directtie to a man, even though the expectationis that the
relationshipmay not last. Sexuality is integratedinto their daily practices and
affectswho they are,whatthey regularlydo, andwho they will be. Traditionsfoster
more gender-typicalideals such as honoringthe husband.Independencefrom men
is not encouragedas a goal but is acceptedas a potentialhazard.
The Prom: Greenville and Rolling Rock
As one final example, the eighth-gradeprom illustrateshow each community
supportsa particularmilieu of trying-on-genderprocesses for adolescent girls. In
Greenville,Janinesat before me dressed in just-rightcasual attirefor the preppy
look so popularin thatcommunity.She had a Black Dog shirt(fromMartha'sVineyard),Dockerskhakishorts,andAdidastennis shoes. Janine,portrayinga vision of
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
47
middle-class appearance,was very shy and obviously nervous. She carefullytold
me how she preparedfor the eighth-gradeprom (which had been the previous
week), describingher outfitin detail. She concludedwith, "AndI hadpinknail polish. Usually I just wear clear, but I had pink for the prom."
In contrast,one of the Rolling Rock girls, at her first interview,joked abouther
eighth-gradeprom:
Chris:Wow,you shouldhavebeenthere!Thisgirlcometo theprompregnant,
andher
waterbroke!Thenshestillwantedto getheryearbooksigned,buteveryoneelse was
andno one wantedto be thefirstto signheryearbook.
embarrassed,
The two promstories-one centeredon pink nail polish andthe otheron a pregnantteen's waterbreaking-score the starkcontrastbetweentwo communities,20
minutes apart,in defining trying on gender for adolescentgirls. This is not to say
thatteen pregnancyis acceptablein Rolling Rock, nordoes nail polish define what
is importantin Greenville. There remains a deeper structureof gender identity
glimpsed but for the most partuntouchedby empiricalanalysis;genderconstruction is deeply entrenchedin patriarchy.The girls in this study,like all girls, know
thatthey aregirls aboutto be women. Like otherinstancesof tryingon genderillustratedin this study,pink nail polish is an externalgendermarker,butit is also a part
of the deeperprocess-it is both reflective of and constitutiveof gender.
There are no startingblocks of gender;rather,genderis constantlyconstituted.
Nevertheless,each prom symbolizes genderedthresholdsthroughwhich girls pass
as they constructideas aboutwomanhood,andthey reflectlocal variationin gender
meanings.It is temptingto dismiss the incidentsas individualclass differences,and
certainly class distinctions mark the two communities. It is instructiveto note,
though,thatthese genderedexperienceswere commonto all the girls (andboys) at
their respectiveproms, regardlessof whetherthey returnedto their colonial twostoryor to a working-classcottage.The local genderregimepreparesa compelling
gender guide for all teens within its reach.
CONCLUSIONS
Segments of gender processes have distinct qualities, and the exact natureof
processes and outcomes varies by gender regime. The trying-on-genderphase is
particularlysalient for adolescent girls. Narrationsof girls in this study, ranging
from when they were age 13 to age 16, demonstratethatearly adolescenceis a time
when genderingis surprisinglymutableand open to a rangeof femininities.However, the window of opportunityfor shaping alternativesto the dominantemphasized femininitymay be fairlynarrow.In this study,the firstyearof high school was
particularlyinfluentialin defining a limited version of womanhoodthat includes
values of attractiveness,attachmentto men, and compliance.
48
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
The trying-onphasemay be only one of manydistinctgenderingprocesses.Just
as conceiving multiplefemininitiesand masculinitieshelps to understanda range
of genderoutcomes,we can now seek to identify variousprocesses thatareunique
to infanthoodor early adulthoodor postretirementgendering.Also, women may
revisitthe trying-onprocess at othercriticalpoints of change, such as enteringcollege or the workforce, or at especially life-alteringjunctures such as long-term
commitmentsor motherhoodor separation.Furtherresearchmay determinethat
certaingenderattributesare more fundamentalthanothersand thus more resilient
to negotiation.Certainly,girls in this study remainstronglygenderedindividuals
regardlessof how they try on genderin each community,and for the most part,the
gender orderremainsintact.
Experiencesof girls in this studyreflectboththe "diversityandsolidarityof sisterhood"to which Rose (1993) refers. Most of the young women adoptedgender
conventions recognized as feminine ideals-they were aware of thinness and
attractivenessstandards,they valuedrelationshipswith men, and they understood
expectationsof feminine passivity,even if they enactedthe rules somewhatdifferently.Forthe most part,these young womeneventuallyespouseda versionof white
heterosexualfemininity.Even so, they did not do so uniformlyor withoutquestion
or with the same consequences.This study clearly demonstratesthat not only are
communitiesdefined by class characteristics(including both economic and culturalattributes);they are also identifiedby specific genderregimes that shape the
ways adolescentgirls try on and adopt gender standards.Three structuraldimensions-gender, class, andrace-are mutuallyreinforcingandencourageparticular
kinds of femininitiesand masculinities.The whiteness of the communitiesin this
studyinvokedfemininitiesthat,for the most part,ignoredidentitieslinkedto other
races and ethnicities.
A fundamentalimplicationof this studyis thatnot only areplaces gendered,but
space-definedstructureshave "structuralholes" thatallow for direction,intervention, and redirectionof genderingprocesses. Structuralholes can mean the difference between compliance to and changes in the gender order.The most obvious
exampleemergingfromthese datais thatof sportsopportunitiesfor girls. Sportsa widerangeof organizedsportswithresources,structure,andcompetition-provide
alternativesto a narrowlydefined femininity. With sports come time, attention,
resources, skills, role models, and exposure to a variety of life situations, all of
which nourisha broaderperspectiveof what women do. The sportsexampleis not
new;otherstudieshaveassertedthatsportsactivitiesarehealthyoptionsfor girls. A
largerpoint is underscoredby this study:The slate of sportsoptions widely available (notjust a limitednumberof choices for a limitednumberof girls) agitatesthe
gender regime to accommodatea wider range of alternativesfor all girls in its
boundaries,notjust for those individualgirls who actuallyparticipatein sports.Of
course, sportsis only one example.Otherpotentialcontingenciesin the local gender regime include strongwomen role models for girls, especially in high-profile
positions such as politics, anda wide rangeof programsand activitiesthatemphasize the contributions and participation of girls and women, particularly in
Williams / TRYING ON GENDER
49
traditionallymasculinizedareassuch as mathandscience. The availabilityandvisibility of such initiativesultimatelyprovide greatergender space for girls.
Structuralholes do not emergenaturally.Genderregimesareresistantto change,
and change demandsmotivationand action. The girls in this study provide hope
that collective resistance can change the gender regime. Individually,and sometimes in small groups, these young women challenge the gender order.Girls in
Greenvillefight for equal resourcesand striveto excel in male-dominatedareasof
sportsand disciplines. When Rolling Rock girls face what they perceive as unfair
advantages,they talk back and fight and act out sexually. In both communities,
social controlworksto keep girls "intheirplace."In Rolling Rock, girls aresilenced
in the classroomandat home (even as they areactingout on the streets),anda working-class femininitydepresseshopes andaspirations.In Greenville,girls fail to recognize common bonds as women;they dismiss any perceivedgenderinequalityas
individualdifferencesandinternalizeblameandguilt. Genderedsocial controlprecludes genderedcollective action.
This study demonstratesthat girls go throughprovisionalphases of trying on
genderand thatwe (as women, mothers,sisters, scholars,communities)can exert
considerableinfluence at criticalthresholds.Just as important,place significantly
shapes genderprocesses;we can conceptualizea genderregime thatencodes gender locally, overlappingwith other regimes, but also contributinguniquely to the
genderingof adolescent girls. The sociological literatureon sex-segregatedcontexts such as women's colleges lends insight to other kinds of environmentsin
which the genderorderis contested.The task remainsto furtherdevelop the study
of structuralholes in local communitiesthat will enable and empowergirls.
Including the voices of young women is vital to our research.We as gender
scholarshave been remiss in failing to include adolescentwomen in ourdiscourse,
andas such, we have failed to fully integrateage as a politicalconstruct.Recall that
in trying on gender, the ideal of heterosexualromance replaces, or threatensto
replace,intimacyamonggirls. Will we discovera similarmechanismin the doinggenderprocessthatalienatesadolescentgirls fromadultwomen?Justas white feminists must recognize theircomplicity in the hierarchyof power,we must also recognize the role of age in disempowering adolescents. In Revisioning Gender,
Ferree,Lorber,and Hess assert,"Withouta groundingin the multiplesocial locations of gender,class, race,andethnicity,as well as bodies andsexualities,research
andtheorieswill seem thinandunreal"(1999, xxxxiv). Withoutthe voices of young
women who contributedto this study,this articlealso would seem thinandunreal.
NOTES
1. JuliaMcQuillanwas a full partnerin the earlystages of this study,andI acknowledgehervaluable
contributionsincludingthe adventof the termtryingon gender.Julia went on to otherprojects,while I
continuedwith the currentstudy,incorporatingit into my dissertation.
50
GENDER & SOCIETY / February 2002
2. Occasionally, nonwhite culturalissues were raised. The girl who is Chinese-bornsometimes
spoke of differencesbetweenAmericanandChinese standardsof education,andthe AfricanAmerican
girl mentionedstories that her mother(who was African-born)told of life in Africa. However,overwhelmingly,theirconstructionof gender was based on the assumptionsof their white friends and the
predominantlywhite community.The "whiteness"of the culturalmilieu in which all the girls live and
constructgenderwas evidencedprimarilyby the notableabsenceof anymentionof raceor ethnicity,the
lack of any identifiableritualstied to racialethnic traditions,and the absence of any community-based
celebrationscenteredon race or ethnic customs.
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L. Susan Williamsis an assistantprofessorof sociology at KansasState University.She heads a
Healthy Places initiativefor girls and advises the Kansas JuvenileJusticeAuthority.Publications includea chapterin Social Awakenings:Adolescents'Behavioras AdulthoodApproaches
and aforthcomingarticle, "TheProphecyof Place," in the AmericanJournalof Economics and
Sociology.