Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Power Plays: Nerdy Boys And Influential Girls "Playing" In The Outdoors, Katherine J. Pinch

Research in Outdoor Education

A major premise of this study is that gender is a system as well as a part of individual actions. Giddens (1999) described systems as "reproduced relations between actors or collectivities, organized as regular social practices" (p. 127). If one does not see gender as a category, but as a process that structures identity, behavior, and social norms, Giddens' definition of a system may easily be applied to gender. The study was begun with this understanding and a desire to look inside the gender system, as it operated within and through an outdoor adventure program for adolescents, and to explore …