Study: “I’m Kind of a Feminist”: Using Master Narratives to Analyze Gender Identity in Middle Childhood

Professor Onnie Rogers of the Department of Psychology is the author of a study that analyzed the ways children’s gender narratives reinforce or disrupt gender inequality. “I’m Kind of a Feminist”: Using Master Narratives to Analyze Gender Identity in Middle Childhood was published in the journal Child Development on September 5, 2018.

In the study, a racially diverse group of more than 230 children, ages 7 to 12 years old, told four types of narratives about their gender identities. The analysis revealed two “master narratives” (difference and genderblind), which are shared cultural stories defined as those that reinforce the existing gender hierarchy and “alternative narratives” (incongruent and counternarrative) as those that disrupt it.

“To date, master narratives have only been used with emerging adults,” said Professor Onnie Rogers. “But by middle childhood, children are capable of narrating stories about their own lives and about gendered experiences.”

“As we analyzed the data, we discovered that children were speaking in two voices — a voice of society, what they are ‘supposed to say’ and a more authentic voice that seemed to represent their own experiences,” said Rogers.

Professor Onnie Rogers

Read more about this study in the Northwestern Now story, “Gender identities disrupted — and reinforced: By middle childhood, children are capable of narrating stories about their own lives”

Related:

“Black Lives Matter” Matters for Children’s Development – Realities of racial oppression highlighted by BLM are keenly noticed by children – Psychology Today by Professor Onnie Rogers

Confronting Stereotypes – Psychologist Onnie Rogers finds that kids understand and engage with inequality issues – Northwestern Magazine