The Making of a Good Woman: Why Do Pre-School Girls in the KSA Have to Navigate Two Different Worlds to Survive Socially?

Abstract

The article discusses how young females navigate and develop a solid sense of two worlds in order to be perceived a ‘good girl’ that can be positioned within the society and maintain the female gender identity that is expected of them in the future. One world is where they are expected to show all the attributes of femininity and beauty and the other world is where they are required to develop a strong sense of ‘self-control’, to be ‘a good girl’ who complies with societal confinements and restrictions on their female body and mobility. This article has emerged from a doctorate research entitled: The Making of a Good Woman: Analysing children’s narratives on female gender identity and role in pre-school Saudi Arabia. It was a study into how female gender identity is constructed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by analysing children’s (young girls 4-6 years) perspectives within pre-school, exploring their perceptions of female identity and role in the KSA. Exploring the ways in which gender identities were interpreted and manifested; studying the influences, apparent ideologies and discourses that affect female gender construction. Through the analysis of the data, interesting results emerged that exposed the consideration of gender roles, permissible and non-permissible behaviour and attitudes, and the realisation that female gender is often constructed, in the KSA, through fear and restrictions.