Gender on Class Journeys

Abstract

Over the last three generations, young women in Norway have gradually defined themselves more as individuals and less by gender. This individualisation certainly does not mean that they have ceased to understand themselves as gendered, but gender is seen as only one of many aspects of their individuality, rather than something that defines who they are or should be. The implications of what it means to be a man or a woman have also become less self-evident: gender is today understood as something we interpret, do and continually re-work. What appear as stereotypically gendered choices may also be understood and defended as an individual choice, and as such an expression of a ‘modern’ way of doing gender. In this chapter, I will look at such redefinitions of gender in the context of generational transmission and social mobility, through a focus on young women’s agency, affective work and privileged positions. The examples are drawn from a qualitative study of three generations of Norwegian women that I have conducted together with Monica Rudberg.¹