Negotiating Masculinities in a Danish preschool: exploring the marginalising effects of gender norms

Nordic countries are often celebrated for their high level of social equality. Recent research, however, finds that gender equality is often perceived as a goal already achieved (Utoft, 2020), thereby clouding the need for continued research on gender issues. Drawing on an ethnographic study of children and staff at a Danish preschool, this article explores how masculinities are negotiated through everyday practices. With a theoretical outset in critical, feminist poststructuralism (Butler, 1990, 1993) and positioning theory (Davies & Harré, 1990), this article discusses how gender norms affect one boy in a community of children and adult staff. The study is situated at the intersection between Early Childhood Studies and Gender Studies, while contributing to the sparse studies on masculinities in Early Childhood Studies. The study concludes that there is a continued need for professional awareness about how gender norms can marginalise children in preschool settings.