Unequal Childhoods - Annette Lareau [48]
Unexpected events produce hilarity:
At one point Anisha accidentally threw the ball and it bounced off of Tyrec’s head. All the kids laughed; then Tyrec, who had the ball, went chasing after Anisha. It was a close, fun moment—lots of laughter, eye contact, giggling, chasing.
Soon a different game evolves. Tyrec is on restriction. He is supposed to remain inside the house all day. So, when he thinks he has caught a glimpse of his mom returning home from work, he dashes inside. He reappears as soon as he realizes that it was a false alarm. The neighborhood children begin an informal game of baiting him:
The kids keep teasing Tyrec that his mom’s coming—which sends him scurrying just inside the door, peering out of the screen door. This game is enacted about six times. Tyrec also chases Anisha around the street, trying to get the ball from her. A few times Anisha tells Tyrec that he’d better “get inside”; he ignores her. Then, at 6:50 [P.M.] Ken (a friend of Tyrec’s) says, “There’s your mom!” Tyrec scoots inside, then says, “Oh, man. You were serious this time.”
Informal, impromptu outdoor play is common in Tyrec’s neighborhood. A group of boys approximately his age, regularly numbering four or five but sometimes reaching as many as ten, play ball games together on the street, walk to the store to get treats, watch television at each other’s homes, and generally hang out together.4 One afternoon, the boys stand around on the street next to a parked car. Heads close together, Tyrec and his friends pursue interesting conversations:
The first topic is about weird finger tricks. Shawn tells a story about a girl who could bend her middle finger back to the back of her hand, then lock her pinky finger behind the middle finger . . . Somehow the conversation turns to health and babies. Ken tells the boys that “what you eat, what you feed them, is how they turn out. So, you want your babies healthy, you should feed them healthy.” Tyrec: “I’ll feed mine pizza.” (laughter) Ken: “Nah, I’ll feed mine healthy stuff like fruit . . . Shawn: “Carrots?” Ken says loudly, “No, FRUIT.” Ken continues, “Even when your wife is pregnant, you got to feed her healthy.” . . . Then they move on to talk about how health is related to sports . . . Next, they talk about how someone’s sister is dating someone else . . . Soon after this exchange, Ken decides that he’s going to the store. Shawn says he’ll come. Shawn asks Tyrec if he is coming, too. Tyrec says that he needs to ask his mom first. He goes in; I follow.
Gender also played an important role in shaping Tyrec’s activities with his friends. Compared to the girls in the study, he was more physically active and was given more latitude in the distance he could travel from home as well as how late he could be out with his friends. In addition, many of their activities had traditional masculine elements, showing speed, prowess, athletic ability, physical strength and courage. Sometimes they tested each other to see how hard and how far they could throw things and took turns trying to break something. Pretending to fight, chasing and threatening to fight, and actually fighting were common activities.
(Tyrec and Anisha have been eating blue ice-pops and watching television; when they finish their treats, they go outside.) There’s a little boy, maybe six or seven, who immediately starts threatening Tyrec [saying], “I’m going to hit you! I’m going to beat you up!” Tyrec races around him, daring him to fight. Tyrec: “You first, man!” The boy prances around him, baiting Tyrec until he gets up the courage to hit Tyrec on the arm. Tyrec reacts, chasing him around in circles. The little boy laughs, enjoying the game. Tyrec looks a little less thrilled, but pretty enthusiastic about defending himself.
An ice cream truck selling treats comes down the street, interrupting the action briefly. When the truck leaves,