I believe that the severance that some societies have placed between the male and female sexes, ultimately divides the sexes into an unhealthy, misguided way into which stereotypes evolve. Such as “all boys are tough” and “all girls are sweet”. When one is expected to be a certain way based on gender, it’s very discriminating against the self, and in turn prohibits the way in which one truly is.
My photo is my interpretation on the Gender Schema Theory; which argues that children’s perceptions of how to behave are shaped from their social influences: Family, peers, religion, school and media. The negative side of this is when the expectations from all those social outlets convey a “one size fits all” like expectation, which in turn, suppresses one’s true identity.
My photo conveys a little girl and boy that seem to be performing the socially “normal” things that are expected of them. The little girl sits politely with a faint smile and hands folded gently in her lap, which conveys a sense of tolerance, obedience and kindness; whereas the little boy has a stoic, tough expression that conveys how society can demand an unattainable “tough guise” that boys need to carry with them. The space between the children evokes the division between the sexes, where it’s conceived that it’s “dangerous” to cross over to the other gender’s side. The bi color that I chose for the photo again conveys the “one size fits all” idea, where one fits into a “one or the other” category, whereas in real life, the range of “colors” and “categories” is infinite. I wanted the bars from the staircase in the background to convey a sense of being “locked “ into a role or behavior; where there’s not much freedom to express one’s self. Lastly, the Marine Semper Fi T- shirt that the little boy wears brings up the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. Which one can argue was created to not only suppress one’s sexuality, but to reinforce the “normal” heterosexual society that one “should” live in.
When one is so guided by the rules and expectations that a society has set out for them, it can be difficult to step outside the box, and figure out what it truly is that represents one’s unique self. Understanding any wing of human behavior, like the Gender Schema Theory, will only unravel the mind and give one unlimited ideas of how one chooses to be.
I love the use of color, or the lack of it rather, to futher emphasize the 'one size fits all' aspect of our society. This almost brings out America's subtle want for things to return to the old days back before we had color pictures and gender roles were clear, distinct, followed, and not questioned so openly and often if at all. This picture was set up very clearly as I was able to come up with almost everything you were trying to convey before I read the paragraph. The seperation, as well as having the boy stand while the girl sits, is a good projector on how gender is a system of power relations, and in our society, a patriarchy.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell immediately that these young children are completely influenced by gender scripts and roles learned from society. The little boy is standing in a "manly" way looking tough with a gun in his hand, so that everyone knows he is a "real boy". The little girl has dolls all around her, which reinforces the roles of young girls being sweet and caring. You can tell the boy is in no way thinking about playing with the girl toys simply because they are for girls. The girl looks like she's a little more confused and doesn't know what to do with the toys because she doesn't want to be teased for playing with the "boy" toys. This is very typical of young children, everything that children play with is either a "girl toy" or "boy toy" and there is no in between.
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