The Hidden Life of Girls: Games of Stance, Status, and Exclusion

This title is the winner of the Best Book of 2008 from The International Gender and Language Association. In this ground-breaking ethnography of girls on a playground, Goodwin offers a window into their complex social worlds. It combats stereotypes that have dominated theories on female moral development by challenging the notion that girls are inherently supportive of each other. It examines the stances that girls on a playground in a multicultural school setting assume and shows how they position themselves in their peer groups. It documents the language practices and degradation rituals used to sanction friends and to bully others.