An investigation of the discourses children draw on their constructions ofgender

The mechanisms behind children's constructions of gender are examined in an attempt to identify the various narratives that children draw on. The ways in which these narratives are used in children's talk about gender are ana lyzed in order to provide a greater understanding of discursive resources a vailable to children. The different types of discourse evident in children' s discussion of gender are listed. The discursive contradictions in childre n's speech and discursive resistance to the construction of gender dichotom y are examined. It is concluded that the children in the sample drew on a w ide variety of gender discourses, suggesting that they have a more develope d understanding of gender issues than has been recognized previously. Final ly, the paper considers the possible methods for deconstruction of dominant gender discourses.