Nordic Girlhoods : New Perspectives and Outlooks

This edited collection is an interdisciplinary and dialogical endeavor focused on the field of Nordic Girlhood Studies. It investigates young femininity as well as the key themes and concepts of Girlhood Studies, including girl power, feminisms, femininity, gender equality, postfeminism and sexualities in the specific cultural, historical and political context of the Nordic region. The chapters of the book consist of thematic case studies, including memories of girl power in the Finnish context, gendered harassment experienced and explained by Finnish girls, troublesome girlhood within the Swedish context and girls’ subjectification projects in Nordic welfare state. Further, the case studies are accompanied by dialogical Outlook-essays, where researchers either outside Nordic region or from adjacent research fields reflect on Nordic Girlhood Studies through comparisons and reflections form their vantage point. The book will be of scholarly interest to researchers and students working especially on the fields of Girlhood Studies, Youth Studies, Gender Studies, Sociology and Cultural Studies both within the Nordic region and outside. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction: Nordic Girlhoods—New Perspectives and Outlooks (Bodil Formark, Heta Mulari, Myry Voipio)....Pages 1-22 Negotiating Emancipation and Nationalism: Finnish Girls’ Literature from 1889–1901 (Myry Voipio)....Pages 23-47 Explosive Self-Confident Femininity: Experienced and Remembered Girl Energy (Aino Tormulainen, Heta Mulari, Myry Voipio)....Pages 49-72 Outlook: What Do Finnish Fiction and Girl Energy Have to Do with Feminism and Gay Liberation in South Africa? (Ann Smith)....Pages 73-81 Grin and Bear It! Downplaying Sexual Harassment as Part of Nordic Girlhood (Sanna Aaltonen)....Pages 83-102 “Prevention, Prevention, Prevention. It’s All About Prevention and Diseases.” Migrant Girls’ Views on Sexuality Education (Veronika Honkasalo)....Pages 103-125 Outlook: Girlhood, Agency, and Embodied Space for Action (Fiona Vera-Gray)....Pages 127-135 When the Problem of Incorrigible Girls Became a Problem of Psychopathy (Bolette Frydendahl Larsen)....Pages 137-159 Narrating Family: Talk About a Troublesome Girlhood in the Swedish Context (Linda Arnell)....Pages 161-178 The Girl and the Feminist State? Subjectification Projects in the Nordic Welfare State (Elina Oinas)....Pages 179-206 Outlook: Nordic Girlhoods from a Russian Perspective (Olga Zdravomyslova)....Pages 207-217 Conclusion: A Conversation (Bodil Formark, Heta Mulari, Myry Voipio)....Pages 219-225 Back Matter ....Pages 227-231