From: Karla
The subtopic I chose for my project is how elements of childhood are gendered. During childhood, things are very clearly gendered from pink clothing and dress up dolls for girls to blue clothing and superhero action figures for boys. We grow to know these gender norms and accept them no questions asked. We develop these things from a very young age and I’ll be exploring this with a photograph.
My image includes a wooden poseable figure used for drawing and on either side of it there are clothing items. One side has clothing meant for girls indicated by the pink hue and the other side is boys clothing shown with the blue hue. In the middle we have the wooden figure with a question mark on its head and a very light heart on its chest representing a child being stuck between two completely separate worlds created by society. From a young age, children “quickly develop strong gender schemas” (Rudman) which means they quickly fall into their respective gender group and act that way. So, for boys they’d become rougher and girls would want to be pretty and dress up. In my photo, the boy's side has a jean jacket with videogame characters on it, black sweatpants, gray tank top, blue hat and tennis shoes showing the roughness and toughness of masculinity. On the girls’ side we have a white coat with the name Barbie on it, light blue shorts, pink tank top, blue sandals and a white hat showing the soft and pretty look of femininity following the gender schema learned at a young age.
Not only that, I didn’t use a person or real clothing because I wanted to show the childhood side of it; the toys we all know and love. I even incorporated the one thing most of us got with our artist kits that weren’t gendered, a wooden figure! I wanted something to act as neutral as possible while on either side we see things that are very clearly gendered. As explained by Rudman, when it comes down to miniature human figures, both genders play with them. However, girls call them dolls and boys call them action figures and will be offended if you don’t call them that. The name implies the theme of play, that being both active and tough, aggression being “a strong theme of boys play,” (Rudman) while for girls it would be the opposite. The wooden figure takes out any possibility of it being gendered since it has no features. It would only become gendered if the figure were to put on the clothing presented.
The photo is taken from a top-down view to show all the components. Everything is close together to imply the pressure of social norms on the figure in the middle. Both sides almost mirror each other to show that gender isn't two separate groups and is actually more similar than what we think. Finally, the title has its own meaning. I titled the image “Conjecture” meaning “an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information,” because hypothetically once the figure puts on a set of clothing, be it the masculine or feminine style, it will be seen as either masculine it feminine even though it was genderless before putting on clothes.
Gender and gender norms are learned from childhood and they should be questioned and challenged. They present us with groups and ideas that not everyone fits into and it’s okay to not fit into these groups. Society has brought this cloud of negativity for those that don’t fit in and it shouldn’t be that way. Challenge norms and break the mold.
Work Cited
Rudman, Laurie A., et al. "The Two Cultures of Childhood." The Social Psychology of
2015, 59-63
2 comments:
From: Emily
This photo used many critiques to display their point of everything in today’s society has an imposed gender. The first critique that really stood out to me was the use of colors. On the left side of the photo, it has a pink hue and on the right side it has a blue hue to it. This is to depict that society believes there are only two gendered when it is more of a scale. Let’s say that the photographer wanted to depict what is correct there would be more colors than pink or blue but, this picture otherwise depicts perfectly that there is ignorance when it comes to gender. Another thing I noticed was the use of symbolism. On the blue side of the photo there is bat and athletic looking clothes, while on the pink side there is only nice clothing. I believe that the photographer was trying to make a point of that boys are seem as more athletic and more active than girls. In society is it expected from girls to stay at home, clean, take care of children, etc. While boys are expected to be active and not stay home. Everything in todays society has an expected gendered to it, right down to types of toys you let your children play with. Another element I saw was the use of angles. The photographer took this image at a down angle, and I believe it is meant to depict society looking down on children, as if the children and their perceived gender is always being examined. Overall, this photo stood out to me, and I really enjoyed it.
From: Natalie
This photo immediately stood out and spoke to me in several way. The use of angle, with the figure placed directly in the middle, portrays that when we are born, you must pick one side or the other, and that there is an in between, but society tells you that is not on option. The doll is plain, no color, no clothing, no genitalia present, just a figure. On one side was "girl" clothes (a dress), and the other side was "boy" clothes (a video game tee and a baseball bat). This told me that we are all the same at the end of the day, and based on our sex assigned at birth, we must follow the rules and codes accordingly. The use of color in this photo stood our to me as well. The cliche pink on one side, and blue on the other, represents the two cultures of childhood, and while neither side was specifically labeled female or male, feminine or masculine, the clothes and colors used told the viewer exactly what they needed to know. The colors represent how nearly everything is gendered, as either feminine or masculine. Pink and blue are just colors, but society tells us that pink is a girly, soft, gentle color, and blue is masculine, assertive, and in general the better color. I really loved this photo. I think it displays the pressure to pick one side or the other, you're either feminine or masculine, and we are told you cannot be both, under any circumstance, or you are placed as an outcast.
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