Smart Girls: Success, School, and the Myth of Post-Feminism

by Shauna Pomerantz, Rebecca Raby

Overview

Are girls taking over the world? It would appear so, based on magazine covers, news headlines, and popular books touting girls’ academic success. Girls are said to outperform boys in high school exams, university entrance and graduation rates, and professional certification. As a result, many in Western society assume that girls no longer need support. But in spite of the messages of post-feminism and neoliberal individualism that tell girls they can have it all, the reality is far more complicated. Smart Girls investigates how academically successful girls deal with stress, the “supergirl” drive for perfection, race and class issues, and the sexism that is still present in schools. Describing girls’ varied everyday experiences, including negotiations of traditional gender norms, Shauna Pomerantz and Rebecca Raby show how teachers, administrators, parents, and media commentators can help smart girls thrive while working toward straight As and a bright future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520284159
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Shauna Pomerantz is Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. She is the author of Girls, Style, and School Identities: Dressing the Part and the coauthor of “Girl Power”: Girls Reinventing Girlhood.
 
Rebecca Raby is Professor of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. She is the author of School Rules: Obedience, Discipline, and Elusive Democracy and the coeditor of Power and Everyday Practices.


 

Table of Contents

Foreword Anita Harris ix

Acknowledgments xvii

1 Are Girls Taking Over the World? 1

2 Driven to Perfection 27

3 Fitting In or Fabulously Smart? 57

4 Sexism and the Smart Girl 93

5 A Deeper Look at Class and "Race": Belongings and Exclusions 123

6 Cool to Be Smart: Microresistances and Hopeful Glimpses 149

Appendix: Study Participants 181

Notes 187

Bibliography 235

Index 257

Editorial Reviews

"A​ textured and meaningful account of gender in perceptions of intelligence, academic effort, and​ ​aspirations. . . . Smart Girls is an engaging, highly readable book that I would recommend to anyone interested in childhood and gender. Ideally, it will help families and schools support girls by realizing that true success grows from identifying and challenging, not ignoring, gender inequality."

American Journal of Sociology

12/01/2016
Popular media narratives have created the perception that smart girls can easily achieve their goals and therefore have no need for feminism. However, Pomerantz and Raby (both, child & youth studies, Brock Univ.) have found that these narratives don't take into account the lived experience of said smart girls. To interrogate the stereotype, the authors interviewed 57 self-identified smart girls and 17 boys in southern Ontario and found that conforming to the stereotype has caused the subjects stress, pressure to hide their intellect, and conflict in their social lives. Even though the girls tended to ascribe their success to a neoliberal framework of self-directed hard work, the authors' analysis discovered that the interviewees tended to belong to racial and economic classes that support their achievements. This examination also revealed that racism and sexism is still present in these individuals daily lives. As the study took place in one town in Canada, it remains to be seen whether the findings can be applied to a broader, perhaps non-Western audience. VERDICT A compelling look into the complex topic of female academic success. Recommended for readers interested in education or gender studies.—Rebekah Kati, Durham, NC

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