Dr. Nicola Pallitt presented on children's play and how it relates to societal peace or conflict. Through various examples of children mimicking adults and parodying gender roles in play, she showed how play can reflect broader social and historical developments. Her analysis of children playing The Sims 2 highlighted how they appropriated the game's gender norms into their own play and relationships. While some play episodes seemed to reinforce heteronormativity, she concluded children's play still leaves room for exploring different possibilities outside social constraints.

1. Dr Nicola Pallitt
Presentation for the
SA Association of Women Graduates
Peace in our times?
24 May 2014
games * children *
play

3. Play in ‘less peaceful’
times…

5. Generals, John Heywood, 1985

6. Brothers in Arms, John Heywood, 1985

7. ‘Playing house’ for boys?

11. ?

12. Caribbean
kids playing
gangsters
with toy
guns in
bocas del
toro
Panama,
Kalle
Ståhlberg,
2013

13. Candy Cigarette, Sally Mann, 1989

14. Anna and Virginia, Sally Mann, 1991

15. Mimicry / imitation
For children, the aim is to imitate adults. This
explains the success of the toy weapons and
miniatures which copy the tools, engines,
arms, and machines used by adults. The little
girl plays her mother’s role as cook, laundress,
and ironer. The boy makes believe he is a
soldier, musketeer, policeman, pirate, cowboy,
Martian, etc.
(Caillois, [1961] 2001, p. 21)

16. ‘Hidden transcript’ of
play
…presses against and tests the limits of what
may be safely ventured in terms of a reply to a
public transcript of deference and conformity.
(Scott, 1990, p. 157-158).

17. Importance of mimicry &
parody in children’s play
The Opies: role of parody and mimicry in
children’s play changes in response to socio-
historical developments
Children “reflect their immediate environments
and often parody adult behaviour” (Harrop-Allin
2010, p. 161) while also working out cross-gender
interactions and sexual roles (2010, p. 109).

19. Ludic gendering

21. Violence & masculinity

22. The Sims 2 and
sexuality• The Sims 2 play episodes
• Girls played lesbian family
• ‘Make out’
• heterosexual romance
• Boys’ played ‘dress up’
• Police sexuality
• ‘These clothes are
so gay’
• Boys don’t wear
skinny jeans
• Making fun of the bum

23. Where the girls are…

26. TheVampireWedding
Mark: Wait – you hold L2, now you hold R2 and like
make yourselves look like you’re holding hands. Just do
it.
[Archie hits Tara’s sackgirl instead, the children laugh.]
Just hold hands! I want to see what they look like. No,
just do it – move your hands down. Stop it Archie!
[Archie makes his sack-groom run around in the
background, he does not want to hold hands with his
sack-bride. Joey hums the wedding march. Archie gives
in and comes closer and they try to make their hands
touch. Tara hits Archie’s sackboy and they all laugh.]
Don’t! I want to see what it looks like.
Archie: I don’t.
Mark: Now go close, now do it.
Joey: You may kiss the bride!
Mark: Go a little further away. There we go. (But Archie
runs away.) No, go in front of her, then she’s not able to
hit you.
Kiss or hit the bride? Tara, Archie, Mark and Joey play
Little Big Planet (Holiday club, 8 April 2011)

28. Are these play episodes
‘peaceful’?What can children’s
gameplay tell us?

29. Conclusion
• ‘Ludic gendering’ of particular games was
appropriated into children’s play and peer
relationships, while mediating their understandings
of gender and sexuality
• heteronormativity and gender norms in children’s
peer cultures.
• familiar playground practices and borderwork
(Thorne, 1993), which characterize children’s non-
digital play, are still very salient and cannot be
ignored
• importance of hypermasculinity and
heteronormativity for this group of children

30. Game Over?
… what exists is far from filling all
possible spaces… What can be
played?
–Michael Foucault (1997, p. 139-140)

31. More info…
• Email: nicola.pallitt@uct.ac.za
• Twitter: @nicolapallitt
• Thesis available at http://oatd.org/