| Abstract: | This paper looks at the relationship between the discourses of racism and sexism and the configuration of school space in an Australian high school. I argue that school space is proliferative of racialised and sexualised divisions. Divisions can be identified between groups of 'Asian' girls, between 'Asian' girls and 'Asian' boys, and between 'Asian' students and 'non-Asian' students. While these divisions are legislated by discourses of racism and sexism, this paper focuses attention on 'Asian' girls response to this situation. I argue that against the experience of social marginality 'Asian' girls tactically reproduce differences. By highlighting the changing dynamics of spatial-social divisions in school, I show how 'Asian' girls contest and rework racialising/sexualising discourses to recompose 'Asian'/femininity. |
