What makes a [girl / boy] game?

Source: Dr. Ariana Brazier

Instructions:

  • Write the following prompts on a public, chalkable space:

    • What was your favorite toy? 

    • What did you aspire to be when you grew up? (Before 10 years old) 

    • What other gender gaps exist – specifically in childhood? 

    • Words often used to describe “girls”? 

    • Words often used to describe “boys”?

  • Have participants write a short response under each prompt

  • Give everyone time to read and process responses before reconvening as a group and discussing

Praxis (why + theory):

My pedagogical approach demonstrates how play is an expression of agency that enables an individual or group of individuals to control space and confront prevailing narratives.

This activity is largely included for its ability to shift defaults while fostering critical thinking and ongoing engagement with a concept. Inviting students to move outside, use chalk to take their notes for others to read in real time, in a format that visually juxtaposes their answers next to others, challenges participants to extend themselves beyond the comfort zone that has formed within their typical learning spaces. Sidewalk chalk may feel like child’s play and answering questions publicly may be intimidating, but moving people out of their default opens a space for them to realize their own conditioning. In this way, the activity is somewhat meta: participants are deconstructing their own gender conditioning while also deconstructing their educational conditioning.

Challenging stringent perceptions of what constitutes a classroom space and who has access to learning communities, I took my university students outside on multiple occasions. During our discourse on gender, students responded to the aforementioned questions in colorful sidewalk chalk outside of the university building. When I was leaving to catch the bus, I noticed people stopping and reading our sidewalk notes. Specifically, two men discussing the notes; I overheard one say, “That’s a lot of negative” as he stood over the “girls” categories. Now, the entire campus was a part of the conversation.