Gender Representation in Scouting Handbooks
Saved in:
| Title: | Gender Representation in Scouting Handbooks |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Corrine M. Wickens (ORCID |
| Source: | Gender and Education. 2026 38(2):146-163. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Guides, Adolescents, Sex Stereotypes, Gender Bias, Youth Programs, Pictorial Stimuli, Photography |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09540253.2025.2544529 |
| ISSN: | 0954-0253 1360-0516 |
| Abstract: | Youth organizations have long provided nonformal, yet significant educational experiences that are communicated through their handbooks. The handbooks also serve to convey ongoing messages around gender norms and discourses. In this article, we explore the representation in Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America) handbooks for youth ages 11-17. We analyse the main photos within the 16 different sections for content representation, compositional design, gender discourses and intersectional representation. Despite perceived parallelisms in the respective handbooks, we note critical distinctions in the framing of these signifying images, which perpetuate discourses of young women as highly relational and cautious and young men as individualistic and thrill-seeking. Intersectional representation, however, is limited to race/ethnicity and follow gendered framing. The study contributes to the research of educational materials attending to the distributed, technological biases that replicate ongoing discourses around gender. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1503527 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Youth organizations have long provided nonformal, yet significant educational experiences that are communicated through their handbooks. The handbooks also serve to convey ongoing messages around gender norms and discourses. In this article, we explore the representation in Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America) handbooks for youth ages 11-17. We analyse the main photos within the 16 different sections for content representation, compositional design, gender discourses and intersectional representation. Despite perceived parallelisms in the respective handbooks, we note critical distinctions in the framing of these signifying images, which perpetuate discourses of young women as highly relational and cautious and young men as individualistic and thrill-seeking. Intersectional representation, however, is limited to race/ethnicity and follow gendered framing. The study contributes to the research of educational materials attending to the distributed, technological biases that replicate ongoing discourses around gender. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0954-0253 1360-0516 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09540253.2025.2544529 |
