FRAMÅT MARSCH! En studie om hästtjejers identitet- och genuskonstruktion inom stallkulturen

Forward, march! – a ethnografic study of girls gender and identity construction in the stable culture. By Julia Mielke My essay is about the swedish ridning school and the girls that have been active in it since they were children. I wanted to find out if the ”all-girl” stable culture and community had any special impact on the girls contruction of identity and gender. Much effort was put on analyzing how the stables manual labour and knowledge created special attributes and qualites that were important markers in their identity. To understand how the girls create their identity, I also had to define the stable culture and what symbols, language and menings it’s made of. This also includes the stables history, traditions and materiality, which all play an important part in what norms and ideals the girls have to adjust themselves after. My questions of research are: How do the girls describe the relationships that were created between them, and how does one get included in the community? What experiences had most impact on the girls character and identity, and how can they use what they’ve learned in the culture outside of the stable? To answer these questions I have interviewed nine girls and women in ages between 20 and 80 years old about their time in the stable community, I also met with a group of 8 girls between 15 and 18 years old who were active in their riding schools youth administration, which I had a group interview with. I’ve analyzed the interviews by using three theoretical perspectives. To define the stable culture and it’s collective menings i’ve used culture analyzies as a method of ineterpretation. The girls identity and gender construction is understood with the use of gender theory and concept of masculinities. All three perspectives is grounded in a social constructive notion, that no behaviour is natural, but a creation of the social and cultural context. The results show that the stable culture produces a way to explore gender behavour to a larger extent than other girls in different contexts. The girls can play with both female and male manners, which offers the opportunity to act away from the expected norms and ideals girls otherwise have to adjust after. The physical and practical labour plays an important role in the culture, it is where the girls have a opportunity to feel efficient and climb in the social hierarchy. Because of this the practices of the stable becomes a large part of the girls identity, there is no way to separate actions from the ”horse-girl”. Which is why the ”horse-girls” identity follow the girls even outside of the stable. The knowledge they get in the stable is well interpreted to other aspects of life, the experiences can be useful in their working careers and relationships