Mellem genkendelighed og forandring: En etnografisk undersøgelse af, hvordan børn konstitueres som piger og drenge i børnehaven

he study investigates how gender is constituted in everyday practices among children in a Danish kindergarten. The study builds on ethnographic fieldwork that shows how children both reproduce traditional gender roles and challenge them. The study focuses on how gendered practice is constituted through complex interactions. The research questions are:

1. How is gendered practice constituted in kindergarten, and what complex processes contribute here?
2. How does one relate to complex understandings of gender as a social category, compared to more fixed empirical understandings of gender?

The results show that kindergarten children both construct and challenge traditional gender roles through play, language and social interactions. Both boys and girls participate in gender-stereotypical activities, but they also demonstrate the ability to break with these expectations by engaging in unconventional role-play and using objects in ways that challenge traditional gender norms. The study also shows that the adults in kindergarten unconsciously reinforce gender stereotypes through their interactions with the children. The researcher behind the study believes the findings highlight the importance of working with gender equality in kindergartens to give children the freedom to explore gender on their own terms.

The data collection is based on participant observations in a Danish kindergarten, where detailed field notes were taken over several months. The study used video recordings of children’s play, as well as interviews with both children and adults to explore how gender is shaped and expressed in different everyday situations. Through visual methods and observations of children’s interactions, the researcher investigated the material and social conditions that affect how gender is constituted.

Thorsen, G. E. (2022). Mellem genkendelighed og forandring: En etnografisk undersøgelse af, hvordan børn konstitueres som piger og drenge i børnehaven. Akademisk avhahndling. Roskilde Universitet.