Corpi di ragazze: oppressi, dimenticati, liberati. Una lettura incrociata tra infanzia e pedagogia di genere

Abstract

We are born either female or male and become women and men through a long and arduous process of socialisation aimed at creating a clear and unequivocal link between sexual belonging and gender identity. A constitutive part of this gender-role training process is the disciplining of children's bodies, which is particularly oppressive in the case of girls. Starting from these premises, the essay will intersect the analytical tools of Childhood Education and those of Gender Education in the aim of investigating on one hand, the cultural and social cages that have historically moulded girls' bodies, and on the other, the unprecedented spaces of exploration and experimentation of diverse types of corporeity. More specifically, while drawing on the new "little girl" models conveyed by children's books, we will also look at contemporary figurative art and at the work of several female artists committed to deconstructing the stereotypes of feminine childhood.