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This article explores the role that the sex–gender system plays in shaping both the vio- lence and victimization of girls. Taking first the issue of girls’ violence, the article argues that steep increases in girls’ arrests are not the... more
This article explores the role that the sex–gender system plays in shaping both the vio- lence and victimization of girls. Taking first the issue of girls’ violence, the article argues that steep increases in girls’ arrests are not the product of girls becoming more like boys. Instead, forms of girls’ minor violence that were once ignored are now being criminal- ized. Shifting gears, the article explores how “gender-neutral” relabeling of girls’ victim- ization in schools, a site of much violence against girls, is extremely problematic. Renaming “sexual harassment” as “bullying” tends to psychopathologize gender violence while simultaneously stripping girl victims of powerful legal rights and remedies. To illustrate this latter point, a “model” antibullying program, The Bullying Prevention Program, is reviewed. Offering a one-size-fits-all view of bullying, it assumes all bully- ing can be approached psychologically or relationally, thereby minimizing the structural underpinnings of such behavior.