From Alicia B.
I chose this picture because I think it shows both a cause and effect of gender socialization starting before and after birth. This is a picture of just one item I found amongst a plethora of others in an infant isle. All were separated into blue and pink. But, surpassing the color separation I found sayings, like those in the picture, connected to the different colors. Not only can you define the gender of the child by the color but by the adjectives associated with them. By putting a child in the clothing, it's putting a sign on them. This sign tells others the definition of the child wearing it. Whether it's subconsciously or not the person will have a preconceived notion of who that child is. So they automatically treat that child as its being defined. Those people then come in contact with the child and reinforce what the clothing is saying or symbolizing. The children are exposed to that day after day. The result is children being classically conditioned to gender. The picture makes the statement that boys and girls are distinctly separated and there is a protocol of how to define each. This clearly is saying that people already expect a person to act a certain way before looking at their individuality. Children must learn how to act and what's acceptable before they can learn about themselves and have the knowledge challenge how people treat them.
5 comments:
Heather, that is such a true statement because when you do go in the baby isle in a store, it is seperated by the color of blue for boys pink for girls and if you're not sure about the sex of the baby, they have a yellow coordinated section for the unkown gender.
I see things all the time similar to what is in the picture you’ve posted. The people who make these bibs/toys/blankets and the sayings on them know what they are doing. They know that people will automatically purchase the girls the pink and the boys blue. Most of the time I see on the bibs something like Daddy’s little boy on the blue and Mommy’s little angel on the pink. In cases like this there is no way they could no gender socialize a child by purchasing the blue for a girl, simply because it says “ Daddy’s Little Boy”. There are rarely any colors that can be neutral for both genders, but most likely if you see a violet maybe orange bib it will say something that will make that decision for you, whether to buy it for a girl or a boy. You proved a good point, and it’s something that I notice too when I am in store like that as well. Love It. <3
Thanks! It's amazing how separated everything is. I never noticed that much until this assignment. Now i notice every little detail. Even if there is Yellow or Red stuff somehow they make it so the buyers knows what gender it is intended for. Just by looking around trying to find a picture for this assignment i can now see why it would be so hard to not look at gender. everything is structure around it.. we would have to change the whole structure of society and everything in it.
this is such a true statement.... before and after birth we are socialized by gender. We treat people as we see them. If a child is born a boy, we usually purchase something blue that has things like daddys little boy written on it. But if it is a girl, we usually purchase something pink with thing like sugar and spice written on it. What i would like to know is, who comes up with these things? Who decides what color and what slogans are written on these things that we purchase for a boy and a girl. This is a good point that you bring up and it says alot about how gender is constructed.
I love this picture. I especially love the sayings on the bibs. The one for a little boy says handsome and charming whereas the girls says pretty and sweet. To me this is insinuating boys are not sweet and girls are not charming. Which is an extremely limiting statement. By assigning gender to these terms we are building a prejudice against anyone who does not conform. There is nothing wrong with a sweet boy and a charming girl; so we should stop suggesting there is.
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