TY - JOUR
T1 - Marching to a Different Drummer
T2 - A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Young Adolescents Who Challenge Gender Norms
AU - Yu, Chunyan
AU - Zuo, Xiayun
AU - Blum, Robert W.
AU - Tolman, Deborah L.
AU - Kågesten, Anna
AU - Mmari, Kristin
AU - De Meyer, Sara
AU - Michielsen, Kristien
AU - Basu, Sharmistha
AU - Acharya, Rajib
AU - Lian, Qiguo
AU - Lou, Chaohua
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded in part by the World Health Organization, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation's China office, the fund for scientific research program of Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission, and the Fund for Scientific Research-Flanders, Flemish Ministry of Innovation, Public Investment, Media and Poverty Reduction.
Funding Information:
This work was undertaken as part of the Global Early Adolescent Study; a study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the World Health Organization, and United Nations Population Fund in collaboration with 15 global institutions. The authors would also like to thank the Ford Foundation's China office, Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission (by grant no.20144Y0068) provided funds for Shanghai site to make this collaborative study possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Purpose Little is known about how gender norms regulate adolescents’ lives across different cultural settings. This study aims to illustrate what is considered as violating gender norms for boys and girls in four urban poor sites as well as the consequences that follow the challenging of gender norms. Methods Data were collected as part of the Global Early Adolescent Study, a 15-country collaboration to explore gender norms and health in early adolescence. The current study analyzed narrative and in-depth interviews conducted in urban poor sites in two middle-income (Shanghai, China; and New Delhi, India) and two high-income countries (Baltimore, U.S.; and Ghent, Belgium). A total of 238 participants, 59 boys and 70 girls aged 11–13 years old and 109 of their parents/guardians (28 male adults and 81 female adults), were interviewed. A thematic analysis was conducted across sites using Atlas.Ti 7.5 software. Results Findings revealed that although most perceptions and expressions about gender were regulated by stereotypical norms, there was a growing acceptability for girls to wear boyish clothes and engage in stereotypical masculine activities such as playing soccer/football. However, there was no comparable acceptance of boys engaging in traditional feminine behaviors. Across all sites, challenging gender norms was often found to lead to verbal, physical, and/or psychological retribution. Conclusions While it is sometimes acceptable for young adolescents to cross gender boundaries, once it becomes clear that a behavior is socially defined as typical for the other sex, and the adolescent will face more resistance. Researchers, programmers, and clinicians working in the field of adolescent health need not only attend to those who are facing the consequences of challenging prevailing gender norms, but also to address the environment that fosters exclusion and underscores differences.
AB - Purpose Little is known about how gender norms regulate adolescents’ lives across different cultural settings. This study aims to illustrate what is considered as violating gender norms for boys and girls in four urban poor sites as well as the consequences that follow the challenging of gender norms. Methods Data were collected as part of the Global Early Adolescent Study, a 15-country collaboration to explore gender norms and health in early adolescence. The current study analyzed narrative and in-depth interviews conducted in urban poor sites in two middle-income (Shanghai, China; and New Delhi, India) and two high-income countries (Baltimore, U.S.; and Ghent, Belgium). A total of 238 participants, 59 boys and 70 girls aged 11–13 years old and 109 of their parents/guardians (28 male adults and 81 female adults), were interviewed. A thematic analysis was conducted across sites using Atlas.Ti 7.5 software. Results Findings revealed that although most perceptions and expressions about gender were regulated by stereotypical norms, there was a growing acceptability for girls to wear boyish clothes and engage in stereotypical masculine activities such as playing soccer/football. However, there was no comparable acceptance of boys engaging in traditional feminine behaviors. Across all sites, challenging gender norms was often found to lead to verbal, physical, and/or psychological retribution. Conclusions While it is sometimes acceptable for young adolescents to cross gender boundaries, once it becomes clear that a behavior is socially defined as typical for the other sex, and the adolescent will face more resistance. Researchers, programmers, and clinicians working in the field of adolescent health need not only attend to those who are facing the consequences of challenging prevailing gender norms, but also to address the environment that fosters exclusion and underscores differences.
KW - Early adolescent
KW - Gender
KW - Gender norms
KW - Qualitative research
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.07.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.07.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 28915993
AN - SCOPUS:85029173360
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 61
SP - S48-S54
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 4
ER -