from: Casey
The story of my photo began with inspiration from my youth. As a youth, I loved to dress up and have seen similar behaviors in my own younger sisters. The young girl in the photo dresses up in a teenage inspired tank top, shorts, and her mother's high heels. She has put on make-up and gazes straight into the camera in a coy almost model-esque pose. Her stance seems quite mature for such a young girl as if she had seen the pose in an advertisement. The lines of the stairway and her legs point towards the older teenage girl in the background, who too seems very concerned with her appearance. She is dressed in a very adult, very feminine style. Her body is that of the models in the fashion magazine which she reads. It's almost as if the younger girl is her mini clone, taking her notes on what is important and what is acceptable for her from the older girl. They appear to be wearing almost the same shoes! In the back of the photo you see a bit of the siding of the house which seems plain middle to upper class white house and seems to signify the normality of the scene.
6 comments:
Kristen Perry
Response to “Dress Up”
Magazines influence people to dress a certain way. People are learning this very young. Girls are taught that they have to be sexual in order to meet this society’s standard of beauty. This photo shows how media affects people through content, context, color, form, line, and shape.
The content and context of this photo shows how the media influences people especially the younger generation. The little girl is dressed is sexy clothes like models in the magazine. Her pose is very sexual. She is wearing little shorts, a little tank top, and high heeled shoes. The young girl could have received the idea to dress sexy from the magazine that the girl in the background has in her hands. The girl in the background is sitting with her legs crossed. The girl in the background is sitting sexually by showing off her legs. She is also wearing sexy high heeled shoes and shorts. Theses girls are getting the idea that they have to show skin in order to get attention. People are learning these standards at a young age. They grow up trying to live up to theses standards. They develop insecurities at a young and worsen as they get older. They want to be beautiful like the girls in the magazines. In reality these are ordinary little girls living in an ordinary house as you can see in this photo.
The color, form, line, and shape were arranged in this photo. This photo is bright and you can clearly see the girl and the house in the background. The line of the rail draws attention because the girls hand is posed on it and the girl in the background is directly aliened with it. The form is great because the girl is posed directly in front and the girl in the background is directly posed behind her.
Girls are taught at a young age how they are supposed to look from the media like magazines. The message that these girls are receiving is that they have to be sexy to receive attention. These girls are receiving the wrong message and this picture proves it. The content, context, color, form, line, and shape show how girls are affected by what they see in the magazines.
From: Datina
This is absolutely a great photo to convey gender socialization. Casey, you have a good eye and exceptional creative instincts. I love the way your shot is taken to accentuate the child’s leg and heels. The clear image of her over-sized heels in contrast to her small feet reveals the young girl’s futile effort to fill the shoes and role of a woman. Isn’t it sad to think that so much of childhood is overpowered by these inappropriate and inaccurate societal constructs? Childhood is short. There are more appropriately sized shoes for children at this time in their lives. With the right shoes, children would be involved with more age appropriate play and activities. Children could discover their inner interests and possible gifts, upon which they could build future achievements. The result of such achievements would be genuine self esteem and an identity outside of a gender role.
Also, I noticed the lines in your photo. The child’s leg and the railing narrow to make a “V”. A visible line is continued as a roof line, which appears from the side of the child’s head and moves upward. The “V” effectively draws attention to the child’s first desired direction in life. Initially, the child desires to direct her efforts towards being a sexy attractive teenager or woman like the woman in the center of the “V”. Once the foundation of a desirable and sexy appearance is achieved, the child thinks that she can follow a direction towards a higher goal. The roofline starts at her head, which could represent her thinking, then the roofline points towards the sky. I guess it could be said that “the sky is the limit”. Society infers that beauty and hyper sexuality can increase a woman’s chances to be noticed and gain the attention of many. Acting, modeling and invariably marrying up, are considered the rewards for a woman’s sexy good looks. Casey, your use of visual lines, form and content really shout out your message. I thoroughly enjoyed your photo.
This picture actually reminds me very much of myself. I have tons and tons of pictures of me doing the same exact thing. Little girls love to look "pretty". On TV and in magazines the women that are persued as pretty and beautiful are usually wearing barely any clothing and high heels. The high heels the little girl is wearing just makes the picture. I know just putting on high heels (that dont even fit right) make someone, not even just little girls feel more attractive. Yes, people can be influence on how they feel about themselves by a pair of shoes. You can also tell by the way the little girl is standing that she is trying to be provocative, again comes back to the media and our society.
I think that this is a fine example about gender socialization among children. One can obviously tell that this younger child has definitely gotten the influence of the model-ly walk from her sister, whom sits in the background wearing similar clothing.
It's sad to see this. I remember watching a home video of myself. I had just gotten dressups for my fifth christmas from my grandfather and was wearing a purple slip, this pink cowboy straw hat, a scarf, fake pearls, and those stupid dressup shoes little girls seem to be obssessed with and I was going around saying, "I'm a cowboy-woman."
That right there shoes that I didn't know the correct gender specification for the term and also that I was just as little girl-ish as any other young child. But I didn't have an older sibling to teach me sensual poses. I was just standing there with my arms folded and swinging my little hips back and forth. I am not all that different from anyone else, I see.
This is probably one of the best pictures. It not only shoes the socialization of gender in the young girl but the older one has well. It does seem very much like the yonger one maybe be mimicing the older one. The way the shot is taken just shows how much of a model the little girl is being. she has that perfect stance and everything. The angle is just the best at capturing the little girl trying to model too mature clothes for her age and how concentrated the older one is on the fashion magazine.This also shows that not only media and partent play part on the socialization of gender on children but how siblings and older people in the childs life help make the gender choices like playing dress up
This picture is a prime example of socialization of gender in girls. Here is a typical young girl trying to be older. Looking at this picture, I wonder how this little girl knew if she wore high heels and pose the way she did, she would look like her sisters and or mom. She is in a skimpy shirt, short shorts and high heels. The pose is what really makes the picture. The girl poses like a model would in a maganize, which is fine but she still is a little girl. She is showing alot of skin and posing to show off her legs. I think nowadays girls seemed pressured to look like the girls in the maganizes and on television just to have attention or to think they are pretty. The background of the picture is very bright and you can see all the angles of the little girl. Her posing is what you would see in the model maganizes today. This photo is cute but you have to remember that she is only a little girl and she is trying so fast to grow up, this is what bothers me with our society. We are pressuring children at such a young age that this will affect them in the long run.
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