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During the disturbances of November 2005 in France, girls were mentioned only insofar as they commented on the actions of the young men. We seek to explain, through an analysis of young people’s everyday life in working class districts, how it is that girls only rarely express their discontent more directly? From the author’s observation and analysis within a Paris neighbourhood, it appears that gender powerfully affects spatial relations both in the neighbourhood and in the schools. But if the logics of gender operate to keep girls apart in the street and away from certain forms of expression, they nonetheless side with the boys in venting a common anger.