Feminist New Materialism Girlhood and the School Ball

Employing a feminist new materialist approach Toni Ingram reveals the ways in which the school ball (or prom) can be understood as an assemblage of 'things': material objects practices ideas and imaginings which contribute to the process of becoming a school ball-girl. The ball-girl is not a fixed identity or subject but is an intra-active becoming - a dynamic shifting process where bodies and femininities are relationally produced. (Re)conceptualising the school ball-girl as emergent phenomena provides openings for thinking about girls and this schooling practice beyond popular cultural narratives. Building on the social theory of Barad Bennett Best Deleuze and Guattari this book offers a new perspective on girls sexuality gender posthumanism and childhood while also exploring the potential of feminist new materialisms for rethinking educational practices and the human subject.