This paper aims to contextualise debates on the sexualisation of girls by providing ways of interpreting it from different perspectives--including the perspectives of girls themselves. Asking not "are" girls being prematurely sexualised but "how" can this debate be understood as a feature of time and place and how does it relate to the lives of…

This paper explores the transition to first-time motherhood as experienced by a small sub-sample of women engaged in the professional care of young children. In the context of a wider study of motherhood in the UK, their experience of combining work with new motherhood was distinctive. Women who professionally care for young children present a…

Focuses upon the role of humor in the cultures of young men in school and argues that humor is a technique used for the regulation of masculinities and the negotiation of sexual hierarchies within pupil cultures. Also focuses on conformist aspects of humor and recognizes the oppressive dynamics articulated in these exchanges. (GR)

Explores the links between personal story-telling, autobiographical writing, and the processes of identity construction. It is suggested that autobiographical writing produces particular versions of identity, framed by social context and dominant gender relations. A more critical approach to personal story-telling is outlined to explain…