Fourth, sixth, and eighth graders' preferred writing topics and identification of gender markers in stories

Abstract

In their identification of gender in the writing of nine narratives, students in this study reproduced a narrow range of gendered subject positions offered within dominant discourses. Congruent with Davies’ and Harré’s observations (1990), students defined the categories of female middle-grade writer and male middle-grade writer as binary opposites. Whether students identified a writer’s gender correctly or incorrectly, their positioning of a writer as female foregrounded specific characteristics: (1) the location of elements within primary territory; (2) limited or mitigated evidence of violence and/or action; (3) the demonstration of writing competence and a conscientious attitude toward writing, and (4) a positioning of female characters in more powerful roles. Students positioned writers as male using the following contrasting characteristics: (1) the location of elements within tertiary territory; (2) strong and graphic evidence of violence and/or action; (3) the demonstration of a lack of writing competence and an uncaring attitude toward writing, and (4) a positioning of male characters in powerful roles.