What does it mean to be a girl? Implications of girls' and boys' experiences of gender roles in rural Lesotho primary schools

Abstract

Abstract A doctoral study on constructions of gender has found that meanings attached to children's identities play a role in their experiences of gender in schools. From the view of the sociological theory of social constructionism the data were analysed to search for everyday gendered experiences of female and male children in a primary school. Drawing from ethnographic data (conversations, observations and informal discussions), this article discusses girls' and boys' experiences of gender in three co-educational rural primary schools in Lesotho. Analysis denotes experiences of sexual violence and gender-motivated fights as predominant in girls' and boys' experiences of gender, and that these had inequitable effects that militated against girls more than boys. These painful experiences occurred against the backdrop of high female enrolment in Lesotho primary schools (Unicef 2008). The article cautions that statistics on increased girls' school attendance might create a false impression concerning gender equality in these schools. Keywords: Free primary educationgender motivated-fightssexual violenceLesotho Acknowledgements The author wishes to express gratitude to the following:1. The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (United Kingdom), National Manpower Development Secretariat (Lesotho) and the Spencer Fellowship Grant (University of KwaZulu-Natal) for financially supporting the PhD study on which this article is based.2. Professors Deevia Bhana and Relebohile Moletsane for supervising the PhD study that led to the production of this article.3. Mr Crispin Hemson for critically reading and editing this article.4. The Education as Change editor/s and reviewers of this article. Attempts to address their critical and constructive comments have had far-reaching positive implications in enhancing the author's research and academic capacity. Acknowledgements The author wishes to express gratitude to the following:1. The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (United Kingdom), National Manpower Development Secretariat (Lesotho) and the Spencer Fellowship Grant (University of KwaZulu-Natal) for financially supporting the PhD study on which this article is based.2. Professors Deevia Bhana and Relebohile Moletsane for supervising the PhD study that led to the production of this article.3. Mr Crispin Hemson for critically reading and editing this article.4. The Education as Change editor/s and reviewers of this article. Attempts to address their critical and constructive comments have had far-reaching positive implications in enhancing the author's research and academic capacity.