Geographies of Girlhood Explores Girls Identities in Different Settings

Do girls want a CD or another Barbie for their birthday? Do they define themselves as part of the Preppies or the Sex Mob? How do they define the Girl Power movement? Pamela Bettis, an assistant professor at Washington State University College of Education, co-edited and co-authored a new book that offers some insight into adolescent girls in American today.

“Geographies of Girlhood. Identities In-between” presents girls’ identities as seen by the adolescents themselves at a time where they are in between being a child and an adult. “There is a lot of research of girls at the school setting,” said Bettis. “This book tries to understand the world from the girls’ perspective in different scenarios outside the classroom.”

The book, co-edited by Bettis and Natalie Adams, University of Alabama, presents the work of several girl studies authors, including Bettis and Adams. The authors analyze some of the physical spaces where girls acquire their identities, such as the school bus or their rooms, and explore girls’ discourses on everyday issues such as group, gender, race and religious identities, cheerleading, menstruating at school or dealing with motherhood. “The book is about who they [the girls] are becoming,” said Bettis.

Bettis said that girls today are different from girls 15 or 20 years ago because of changes in society. “First of all, researchers are looking at girl studies differently, not so much from an adult perspective. It is also important to understand the attention to pop culture and the role it plays in the lives of girls today. Title IX also had a major impact in the percentage of girls participating in sports compared to before.”

Although the book, which was published in 2005, is geared towards academics in the girls study area, Bettis said that teachers who work with adolescents might find it useful too. “To teachers and parents I will say to keep up with and be aware of popular culture. It’s a way to connect with the students and gives knowledge of the ideas kids are thinking about. Do not dismiss pop culture. Listen to a CD with your kid and talk about the meaning, use pop culture to talk about important life issues.”

Bettis can be reached at (509) 335.2653 or bettis@wsu.edu.