Pink vs. Blue Society

From: Arden

In the U.S. culture, most of children’s clothing are very distinctive between genders. Feminine aspects such as pink, floral prints, and skirts are assigned to the “girls” section while masculine aspects such as blue, monster truck shirts, and gym shorts are assigned to the “boys” section. Stores and malls all over the U.S. sell clothes that are gendered, ranging from infants to adults. Since this is the case in the U.S. culture, why are girls assigned to wear pink and skirts and boys wearing blue and baseball caps? Children in the U.S. society are raised to not only to view clothing as fashionable, but a way to identify a child’s gender. As Laurie A. Rudman states from “Two cultures of childhood,” “Segregation both allows and encourages boys and girls to develop separate social worlds of ‘culture’ characterized by different activities, interaction styles, and social worlds.” (2015 p. 59).

I provide the photo of children’s clothes as an example to portray the two cultures of the socially constructed boys and girls. Clothes are the everyday attire we wear and what we see others wear; we also see children in public wear clothes assigned to their gender. In this photo, there two images of clothes labeled “girls” and “boys.” I placed both photos together to show the variety of differences between both genders. While taking both photos, I angled the image to look above the clothing and sign to show the whole scenery of the clothing section. This technique is a way to recognize how society organized this ideal of gendered clothes, and the way labels and layouts depict genders in every store. Another reason I wanted to use clothes in the store specifically is how the lining element captures the never-ending rows of clothes, not only to see the immense amount of clothing, but the amount of fashion and styles that are gendered. Only floral prints and princesses are seen under the girls' section while there are geometric patterns and sports clothing under the boys. There are clearer color differences of each gender’s clothing; for instance, girl clothing is pink, bright purples, yellows, delicate colors to express femininity, compared to boy clothing as blue, dark colors, greens, black, tough colors to express masculinity. These color codes are assigning their gender identity where girls are seen as soft and innocent while boys are seen as tough and strong, which ideally makes the boys look stronger than girls. The final element I captured was a big sign that labeled boys and girls as a symbol to consider. The sign is a crucial symbol because a sign like that placed over clothes gives an idea of what defines a boy and girl. It shows how society constructs the attributes and interests into separate categories and assigns them to the specific gender, which limits the child’s interest whether they know it or not.

Children learn gender roles at an early age, but they specifically learn constructed gender roles through clothes, toys, and treatment from society. Rudman introduced the term “Gender Schema” theory which means children adopt the ideal of distinctions between a male and female from appearances, behaviors, and roles. Rudman claims that “Gender Schema associates' maleness and femaleness with myriad different attributes, behaviors, objects, defining ‘masculine’ as rougher, tougher, and more active, and feminine as nicer, softer, and more passive.” (2015, p.60). Rudman also made crucial points from her article that “This general theme also emerges in the earliest associations with children make with each sex, such as which toys are for boys, and which are for girls.” (2015, p.60). Children will follow the appearance of their gender due to the ways parents dress them, how other kids dress, and especially how the public advertise gender codes. They will find this ideal normal and continue to dress how society has constructed gender and some will continue to follow those rules as they get older. The fact that some children will find that they do not have to follow gender codes, they will rebel against the norm and dress either opposite, non-exaggerating, or neither. Children who do not dress according to the gender codes will either be policed or bullied by society for not following gender norms. Children should have the free will to express their desires and interests in any clothes they choose. If a boy wants to wear a skirt, he should. If a girl wants to wear gym shorts, she should. If a child wants to follow gender norms, they should. Parents should let them figure out their own identity and respect their choices.

 

Citation:

Rudman, Laurie A., et al. "The Two Cultures of Childhood." The Social Psychology of
Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. The Guilford Press,
2015, 59-63.