An Accidental Lesson in Being a Woman

 

From: Alexandra

         In my photo, titled An Accidental Lesson in Being a Woman, I explore the societal pressure put on girls to play with specific types of toys and consume specific types of media, and the effects those toys and media have on girls and women in the longer term. In this essay I will assess some specific representations of femininity in media and some of the negative impacts they have on girls and women.

         The first thing I want to draw attention to in my photo is the use of the different heights of the shelves on the bookcase to show the level of priority between toys. There is a PlayStation controller and a Poké Ball on the bottom shelf, and three Barbie dolls on higher shelves. Toys and activities become gendered at a very early age in children in the United States. “American children spend much of their time playing with gender-neutral toys (e.g., crayons) as well as gender-specific toys (e.g., trucks vs. dolls), but children rarely play with toys associated with the other sex” (Rudman 60). This implies that, although children can play with any toy they want, they learn to play with the toys that are associated with their gender. This is also shown in the photo by the outfit that the young woman is wearing; tight flowery pants and a Marvel Superhero shirt that is covered up as she measures her waist. The difference between the pants and the shirt as well as the difference between the toys on the higher shelves compared to the lower shelves shows the contrast between gendered toys and media.

         The images we are shown as children have a cumulative effect. Dr. Justin Lewis touches on this in Mickey Mouse Monopoly, stating that “The way the media influences the way we think is… much more a question of creating a certain environment of images that we grow up in and that we become used to, and after a while those images will begin to shape what we know and what we understand about the world.” So, showing young girls the same representation such as those seen with Disney Princesses; a “highly sexualized female body with the big breasts, the tiny waists, the fluttering eyelashes, the coy expressions” (Dines), lays the foundation for what girls will aim for in adolescence and early adulthood. The Jasmine Barbie and Disney snow globe on one of the shelves in my photo represent the unrealistic beauty standard outlined in Disney Princess films, and the young woman in the photo’s gaze into the mirror at the measurement of her waist represents a desire to match that standard.

         This beauty standard is not obtainable. Even Cindy Margolis, the worlds most downloaded woman according to the Guiness Book of World Records, tells the young girls that email her that “Nobody looks like that. My pictures are airbrushed. You should see me without makeup. Everything is lighting and makeup and hair.” This negatively impacts young girls’ mental health, causing them to feel insecure about their looks or even be shamed if they do not match beauty norms. Hannah, 13, shares her experience with this in an interview in Lauren Greenfield’s Girl Culture, stating “Sometimes our friends can be really, really mean. In our group, people get criticized if you do not look a certain way. If you have a flaw, then you will be criticized whether you like it or not.” A box of tissues behind the young woman in my photo is used to symbolize hiding the shame that comes with feeling like you are not beautiful enough.

 

 

Works Cited

Greenfield, Lauren. Girl Culture, interviews with Cindy Margolis and Hannah.

http://v1.zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/girlcult/index.html#. ZoneZero, 2001

Picker, Miguel., and Chyng-Feng Sun. Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood &

Coorporate Power, performance by Justin Lewis and Gail Dines. Kanopy Streaming,

2014.

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. 

 

Gender Roles

From: Julia

Men and women are distinguished by society from the moment they are born through many factors which we identify as “gender roles”. The photograph attached uses the elements of symbolism, contrast and color in order to represent these gender roles pictorially. Laurie Rudman’s article, “The Two Cultures of Childhood”, discusses gender roles as being learned through social environments and things such as activities being categorized by gender. In the photo, the viewer can see a woman’s hand playing with a dragon toy and a man’s hand playing with a unicorn toy. Gender roles are so widely known, the average viewer can immediately recognize the absurdity of a man holding a toy that is seen as “feminine”, as well as a woman’s hand holding a “masculine” toy such as a dragon. Rudman discusses that things are categorized as “masculine” by their aggressiveness, toughness and boldness. The dragon symbolizes violence and chaos compared to the white unicorn which symbolizes innocence and kindness in this photograph. Having the man be the one to hold this “feminine” object causes a slight contrast between the two. Color is used as a symbolic element in the photograph through the color of the unicorn and the blue hue over the whole picture. The toy unicorn is white, relating to the idea of white being seen as soft and innocent and categorized as something for girls. Blue is often associated with sadness and sorrow, so having a blue tint over the photograph provides a depressed mood. The idea of these roles being taught, learned, and never forgotten provides the same depressed and sad mood. In addition, the two hands in the photo are clearly not children’s hands, but two adults. The hands belong to adults because it represents the long-lasting effect that gender roles have on us. Even though we are able to grow and learn as people, these roles are so normalized that they stay in your consciousness as you grow old. We are introduced from an extremely young age and once socialized to these roles, it’s extremely tough to think any differently.

“Strength” among innocence

From: Beth

Subtopic: The ways in which gender scripts are encouraged in children

From a young age we are taught what is “girly” and what is “manly”, these gender scripts can be taught through school, television, language, friendships, culture and especially toys. Toys are one of the most gendered aspects of our childhood. From the very moment we are given a toy we can begin to internalize what might be “appropriate” for our gender. In “The ‘Two Cultures’ of Childhood” written by Laurie Rudman it states, “girls’ pretend play often included assuming family roles, such as one playing the mother and another (or a doll) playing the baby” (Rudman 61). Boys will be given toys like guns, swords, and action figures. The text claims “aggression is a strong theme of boys' play” (Rudman 61).

The photo I took shows a singular “boys” toy, a muscular, red, angry Hulk, among a shelf of “girls” baby doll toys. Baby dolls are one of the main forms of play for young girls and can encourage things like nurturing, innocence and emotions, qualities deemed “feminine” by society. Saying it is “feminine” to be the care-taker can limit what young girls deem as possible for their futures. The Hulk embodies traits that are seen as masculine like dominance, strength, and aggression. Rudman states, “gender schemas associate maleness and femaleness with myriad different attributes, behaviors, and objects, defining ‘masculine’ as rougher, tougher, and more active and feminine as nicer, softer, and more passive” (Rudman 60). This character could potentially symbolize expectations for boys to suppress softness and emotions. Hulk is also seen as a “Hero” who relies on his power and dominance to solve issues, teaching boys aggression is a necessary trait to problem solve. In the Documentary “Tough Guise 2” it states, “William Pollack
introduced the idea of a "boy code," in which boys are taught from a very early age to act tough
and not show their feelings” (Katz).

This image uses visual contrast by showing the similarities and differences between a traditional girls toy and boys toy. The contrast of the muted babydoll pinks and blues against the bright angry red creates clear division. Color can also be a creative technique and certain colors can represent different things, the color red from The Hulk can represent power, danger, and anger. It is possible color can impact our emotions when playing with these toys too and cause the boys to feel anger. The image uses gaze by having the male toy at the center of the image and therefore attracting our attention first. The contrast of the faces is important, it is obvious the hulk is angry and making a mean face, the dolls have big bright eyes, soft features, and smiling happy faces, conveying warmth and innocence aligning with a more passive feminine role. The idea that we need to have boys toys, and girls toys seems outdated. Encouraging dominance, toughness, and power within boys, and emphasising emotions and nurturing among girls is creating a harmful divide. We need to blur the lines and tell boys it's okay to show emotions and tell girls they can be strong too. We can start this process from the second we put a toy in their hand.

Works Cited
Katz, Jackson. Tough Guise 2 . Media Education Foundation, 2013.
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.The
"Two Cultures" of Childhood.pdf

Faces of Gender Socialization: The Impact of Unrealistic Beauty Expectations

 

From: Mackenzie

 

Media and popular culture are often the first teachers in a girl’s life. By simply engaging with cultural products of society (pictures, toys, movies, television shows, etc.), she is learning “how to see, live, and be in this world” (pg. 210). The accuracy of these lessons, however, and exactly what they are teaching girls about their place in the world is what I wish to highlight with this photo. I also sought to pay particular attention to the harmful impacts of these often unrealistic expectations regarding beauty and image, mainly through the use of symbolism.

The first symbol utilized in my photograph that I will discuss is the image of the supermodel tacked onto the mirror. Dressed in nothing but decorative undergarments and long gloves, this woman is how many would describe the ideal female form: tall, thin, and decidedly feminine. This image is not unique; physical and digital media alike are flooded with similar representations of women. Given the commonality of these images, girls are socialized to believe that this is the only acceptable way to be a woman. The placement of the image on the mirror suggests that when the subject views herself, she is doing so in the shadow of the woman depicted in the photograph: she wants to look like the supermodel, to live up to the unrealistic expectations promoted in the image, and the fact that she does not is a source of great stress. According to Saraswati et. al, “representation is constitutive of reality” and “skewed media representations undoubtedly contribute to a distorted perception” of that reality (pg. 209). Girls are inundated with similar images from birth, spurring the development of a negative relationship with their own bodies based on what is promoted in the media. Through exposure to these highly stylized and unrealistic images, girls are taught to value what they see on the mirror rather than in it.

The image of the supermodel also symbolizes the ways in which women are often viewed through the male gaze, or the idea that women in the media are depicted through a patriarchal lens (pg. 209). This suggests that most pictures of women are made by men, for men, and to the detriment of women. When women see pictures like that of the supermodel, they are seeing them through the eyes of men: what they want, what they like, how they believe a woman should look. Girls are socialized through these male-focused depictions of women; they grow up wanting to look like the supermodel, wanting to look like the kind of women men seem to want the most. This creates an environment in which, often subconsciously, girls view themselves solely as objects of male desire. By aspiring to the image of the supermodel, girls are aspiring to conform to men's views of women and reducing themselves to a simple reflection of male desire.

Another symbol I wish to discuss is the white measuring tape. In the photo, the tape is threaded through the loops on the subject’s jeans, and she is pulling it tightly around her waist as one would a belt. This represents the constricting nature of the expectations placed upon girls and women by themselves, society, and the media. Girls and women often go to great lengths to conform to the images of women they see, sometimes to the point of causing themselves pain and discomfort. Much as a tight belt makes it difficult to breathe, girls and women often suffocate under these oppressive ideas and harmfully unrealistic expectations.

The final symbol I wish to discuss is the mirror itself, and the photo’s focus on the reflection rather than the subject herself. Individuals and society are caught in an endless cycle, each influencing the other. Through the use of the mirror and the focus on the reflection, I wanted to depict the ways society’s own harmful expectations are reflected back at girls and women from every corner of the media. Additionally, I wanted to illustrate that an individual’s true appearance, what she sees in the mirror, often bears little importance; rather, what she thinks about what she sees, what she thinks of herself based on the influence of the media, is what carries true weight.

 

Work Cited

L. Ayu Saraswati et. al, Introduction to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Oxford University Press, 2021.

Gamers Guide To Manhood

From: Brooke

Gender roles are very common today and have been throughout the past. Whether it’s through media, toys, sports, and more gender roles are constantly pushed on society and sometimes it’s so common we don’t even see it ourselves. However, the most gullible and vulnerable people exposed to gender roles are children and adolescents. Children’s imaginations and perception of the world can be very active as well as very easily influenced, hence why we need to be more careful when exposing our children to certain shows, toys, video games, and environments. In my photo I decided to focus on the subtopics of the “Tough Guise”, gender socialization, and masculinity in media. My photo captures a young boy playing a violent video game with different elements such as nerf gun, a football, and a messy room in the background. Especially important in this photo is the video game being displayed on the screen as he shoots a civilian and the words “critical headshot” pops up in the background almost encouraging the behavior of violence and aggression. This photo is taken from an angle that is just over the shoulder of the boy, making viewers feel the boy’s immersion in the game. The photo I took also hides the boys face showing how widespread this issue is rather than it just affecting one specific person. In the foreground of my photo is the boy as well as the video game “Cyberpunk 2077.” This game, especially the moment of the boy shooting the civilian shows how boys are socialized into an aggressive and almost militarized masculinity through media. In the background of the photo a nerf gun, football, and messy clothes hamper is visible which are all gendered expectation that boys are expected to adopt. I included the nerf gun in the photo because it symbolizes how violence and aggression are normalized in toys for young boys. In the story “The ‘Two Cultures’ of Childhood it states, “As toddlers, boys (in comparison to girls) show a stronger attraction to
rough-and-tumble play (i.e., boisterous and more physically active play, such as wrestling)
(Rudman 61).” I felt the football also added a marker of traditional masculinity that reinforces
toughness, competition, and dominance as well as active play. Football is also only offered to
males, there is flag football that women can compete in, but it still isn’t common as football is
socialized as a male dominated sport. There are also some less noticeable themes I included in
my photo such as the color and lighting. Colors such as blue, grey and black can be seen which
are typically seen as masculine colors and reinforces seriousness, stoicism, and toughness. The
room is also not lit and very dim with the light source coming from the video game, further
emphasizing the dominance the video game has in his world. The “Tough Guise” is also a
concept that we need to focus on as society when it comes to masculinity, and I think I captured
this very well in my photo by showing the violent video game and rewarding comments made
when you successfully kill someone. The term “Tough Guise” refers to front that men put on to
be accepted by other men which includes hiding their feelings unless it’s anger as well as
participating or showing interest in violence and toughness. The documentary “Tough Guise 2”
states, “It’s a dirty little secret that the video game industry and the Hollywood film industry get
paid by the firearms industry to feature popular gun brands in their games and movies, and that
the American military uses Call of Duty and other video games in their recruitment and training
(Katz). The documentary also emphasizes, “And the reason this matters so much is that while
we’ve been debating whether guns or movies and video games are more to blame for violence,
we’ve missed how both of these industries have combined to glorify not only violence, but a
particular brand of violent masculinity (Katz).” Overall, my image doesn’t just represent a boy
playing video games, but rather a societal issue in which media, toys, and cultural expectations
shape young boys understanding of masculinity. By exposing these boys to violent video games
and normalizing aggressive masculinity we are setting up boys for failure by leaving no room for
boys to express their emotions. As a society we need to be more careful with the messages we
give and the media we show to represent gender norms to live in a healthier society with more
diverse understandings of masculinity.

Works Cited
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
Katz, Jackson. Tough Guise 2. Media Education Foundation, 2013
 

Toys made for boys

 

From: Nathan

The Transformers are a franchise imported from Diaclone toys in Japan to be sold along with a TV show from Hasbro and comics by Marvel still remains popular among young to adult men since 1984. Most of these transformers would transform into sports cars, jets, large trucks and even dinosaurs, which were staple marketing to young male children back then and still today among other different sellers. The characters were completely dominated of male casting, having no female Transformers until a one-off episode, which had depicted them all to be romantic interests of a few of the male autoboots. Then the movie in 1986 would allow a new female autoboot character named Arcee, who since then was the quintessential female Autobot and Transformer to be showcased as the female of the group. She was the only character to also not receive a toy back then, and didn’t receive one until the 2000’s due to the idea of no one wanting the female toy.

In the picture, front and near center are the male autoboots, having Optimus Prime in the center, the most iconic and recognizable Transformer and fan favorite. He brandishes a large ion cannon and axe with a red and blue color scheme, he is a large semi-truck with a broad chest and shoulders and is the leader and leading character in the franchise. Along with him are other autoboots with large to medium stature turning into a sports car, t-rex, military vehicle and a van. They too boast large guns and swords and they take up a lot of space in the photo along with Optimus. They also stand in the ‘limelight’ having the point of light focused on them in the foreground as most of these characters are popular and are in constant action.  Alternatively, in the background is Arcee, the sole female in the photo and generally the go to when Hasbro wants to have a female character. Looking at Acree through the gap between the male autoboots, we see she doesn’t take up a lot of space, even being behind them. Her arms are by her side, she is thin with stereotypical feminine physique to really hammer down that she is supposed to be the girl Autobot. Acree is also pink, a color commonly associated with girls and femineity, while the others have these bold colors of reds, greens, and blues. She too has a blaster, although hard to see, is significantly smaller than the male Transformer’s weaponry. We see here she is the representative of The Smurfette Principle, where a sole female representative among a group of all males in media like television or movies, severely underrepresenting women and portraying them as the expectation instead of being the norm. Until the most two recent shows of transformers, starting in 2018, Arcee was the female representation of female Transformers media. Some shows did better than others for her character, but there was only one that really as a character made her feel apart of the main cast as opposed to a side character. This show, Transformers Prime, she is blue, but still extremely feminine in design, she’s the smallest of the autoboots and is the guardian of a male human teen, often acting as a mother role to him. There is another female Transformer; however, she is a Decepticon and Arcee’s rival. Whenever there are a few female Transformer characters in the media, they are still overwhelmed by the massive male cast of character which are essentially a 1:100 ratio. Generally, Transformers is a franchise made for boys, the toys prove it, the marketing of the characters prove it, the films do, even when a female character is in it, the male characters sell better, and are nearly always front and center, eclipsing the female characters. They’re depicted not as desirable as the other characters especially big names like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee or Megatron. This does really show what is generally marketed in majority of male popularized media and “the message is clear. Boys are the norm, girls the variation; boys are central, girls peripheral; boys are individuals, girls types. Boys define the group, its story and its code of values. Girls exist only in relation to boys” (Pollitt). Most other medias in that era were like that, and women do find enjoyment in Transformers and adjacent media. The women characters aren’t also depicted to be as strong as the male characters as they mostly all share the same architecture of design, being thin and having hyperfeminine traits. Which also undermines the capability of women too, either being too weak by themselves and needing an accompanying male Transformer to either save them or to be a romantic interest. The franchise is really engineered around a male dominated theme too, that being war, and vehicles, so incorporating female Transformers for these stories feels almost feels like it was shoehorned in to have a girl just to have one.  The photo represents the representation of women in the media and apart of community, women aren’t marketed towards, there isn’t that many of them, the toys were made for boys.

 

Works Cited

Pollitt, Katha. “Hers; the Smurfette Principle.” The New York Times, 7 Apr. 1991, www.nytimes.com/1991/04/07/magazine/hers-the-smurfette-principle.html?pagewanted=print.

 

 

 

Too Girly

 From: Selena

What do you see in this picture?

A little boy brushing someone’s hair with a pink hairbrush, right?

That’s how most people would view the picture, however societal expectations on gender roles would think otherwise. Boys are always taught to fit into the traditional masculine norms, starting from a very young age. From playing with toys that are meant to be for boys including dinosaurs, monster trucks, and nerf guns, to being taught to be “tough” and suppress their emotions.

The little boy in the picture is my cousin, and growing up around a lot of girls, naturally he has picked up some of our hobbies. He likes to play with barbies and hair but is always told that it’s wrong by his male family members.

This causes confusion seeing as children don’t fully understand the perception of masculinity.

All he understands is that it is “wrong” and that boys aren't supposed to play with “girly” things.

This all circles back to the documentary we watched in class, “Tough Guise 2” by Jackson Katz.

The documentary goes into detail about cultural expectations surrounding masculinity as well as the stereotypes pushed on boys from a young age. In addition, the film highlights how traditional masculine norms involve emotional suppression, aggression, and the need to prove one's toughness. My picture sends out the message that we as a society, should reevaluate masculinity and gain a better understanding of what it means to be a man.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Katz, J., Earp, J., & Rabinovitz, D. (2013). Tough guise 2: Violence, manhood & American culture. Media Education Foundation.

"Are we Contrived?”

From: Nyla

The title of this piece is “Are we Contrived?” and it represents the unrealistic beauty standards in young adolescent girls and women. I wanted to demonstrate how ridiculous those standards are and how they are formed through symbolism, gaze, and background/foreground.  Taking inspiration from The Codes of Gender by Sut Jhally, the man in my picture is holding a very unnatural and unrealistic pose, much like the women from the magazine examples given by the documentary. In the documentary, women were holding these poses to show their femininity and delicacy, but most poses were odd, and if you looked too long, it would make you uncomfortable because they were uncomfortable. (Jhally, Sut. 14:57) Therefore, for my picture to show the ridiculous beauty standard for women, I had the man in the photo hold all his body weight up against the wall while also keeping a straight face. For the gaze, I had a woman take a leisurely picture of the man while holding a cigarette. I wanted it to represent what the reverse of the “male gaze” would look like and how the woman is just expecting the man to be able to hold the pose for as long as she needs him to.

         After looking through Lauren Greenfield's Girl Culture Photo Essay, I wanted to incorporate the idea of foreground and background into my picture to represent the reverse power struggle between a man and a woman. In this case, the back of the woman is in the foreground to represent the dominating power, while the man is in the background and his face is even slightly covered by the woman to show the submissive power. I wanted the difference in power and roles to be apparent between the two models. Looking into “The ‘Two Cultures’ of Childhood,” it explains how boys and girls from a young age are taught how to be boys and how to be girls. And how part of this learning process is that boys are more aggressive while girls just aren't. As stated in the text “Sex differences in aggression tend to appear about 3 years of age. At 3-4 years of age girls become less likely to engage in physical aggression whereas boys are more likely to do so.” (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood, pg. 62). I wanted to showcase the dominating appearance of a woman over a man in this picture because aggression can be seen in many forms other than purely physical. In this photo, it is the woman forcing the man to hold the unrealistic standard just because she wants him to, and it’s what she thinks he should do. Seeing this with adult models is also important when you realize that if this is making you uncomfortable, then the beauty standards we see for young girls should be too.

Influencers Influence

From: Kelis

From a young age, children are conditioned to believe that their gender role needs to align with their lifestyle choices. For my subtopic, I chose to explore the differences between the socialization of girls and boys in the U.S. culture. Media plays a significant role in influencing a child's way of thinking, presenting various ways in which gender roles should be enforced. Gender division is expressed through the diversity portrayed when targeting the male and female audience by associating masculinity with violence, aggression, and assertiveness. Societal standards relay a different message for femininity painting them as soft, sensitive, and emotional. This is supported in the reading “The Two Cultures of Childhood” in the following quote “Gender schemas associate maleness and femaleness with myriad different attributes, behaviors, and objects, defining “masculine” as rougher, tougher, and more active and feminine as nicer softer, and more passive” (Rudman 59). Similarly, gender schema theory states “According to gender schema theory (Bem, 1981), children learn gender schemas from their social environments, but they also willingly adopt and exaggerate distinctions between the sexes” (Rudman 60). This theory supports the idea that gender schemas are often taught in social environments where children are often surrounded by. Children are conditioned to believe that their gender role should strictly align with certain factors created by societal norms to feel accepted, shaping their way of thinking in terms of how an individual of the male or female gender should behave, think, and act. Not only are differences identified in the socialization between gender characteristics but they are differentiated in hobbies, toys, and media consumption. Gender division is highly influenced by the media, certain platforms and influencers shape a child’s viewpoint, affecting a child's perception of their identity and appearance created by societal beauty standards.

My photograph captures the disadvantages social media instills in a young girl's mind, in terms of wanting to look like certain celebrities or influencers, despite the circumstances such as undergoing surgical procedures that create enhancements to the face and body. Children's minds can often be structured by the media to believe certain characteristics make up the ideal face and body. Displayed in the photograph is my sister Digna, age 11, who gazes at a photo of a model on her phone with an expression of disappointment, having the desire to have similar features as the model displayed in the photo who sets unrealistic beauty norms for a girl her age to follow. This behavior is commonly seen in girls entering into a teenage stage. In my photograph creative techniques are conveyed through visual noise created in the background, which includes an image of a model, surrounded by a variety of makeup components spread out. This background highlights the effect media consumption has on young girls creating the desire to wear makeup at a young age to achieve a certain look. The second photo technique used is senses/face, the facial expressions displayed in the mirror grasping the emotion captured in the smaller mirror expressing sadness, symbolizing the effects societal standards have formed affecting one's personal perception of identity psychologically.

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

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.

The “Two Cultures” of Childhood.

 

From: Faith

The subtopic I chose for my photo essay was The “Two Cultures” of Childhood. The picture I took conveys this topic through showing a typical Lego set marketed for boys, along with a typical Lego set marketed for girls. In my photo I used the creative technique of foreground and background to symbolize the gender bias and stereotyping of what is more vastly marketed/ produced, which are stereotypically sets for boys. Though in recent years Lego has produced more sets marketed towards girls the vast majority of their sets are marketed for boys to build and play with. I also used the technique of taking up space to symbolize this bias and inequality between boy culture and girl culture. My photograph displays the two differing cultures of childhood for girls and boys through the Lego sets that I chose to use. The sets that are typically marketed towards boys are racecars, trucks, etc. Meanwhile the sets that are typically marketed towards girls are flowers, shops, etc.  This displays the concept that the article discusses that “boys are rougher and girls are sweeter, boys’ toys are hard and sharp, whereas girls’ toys are soft and smooth.” (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood, p. 60). This concept still creeps into society through marketing, in this case specifically the marketing of Lego. As a kid you do not recognize the marketing tactics but as adults we can see them clearly. This is why I used a white background in my photograph to symbolize the innocence of childhood. The innocence of childhood quickly turns into the reality of adulthood when you see the differences between the two Lego sets displayed in the photo. In the foreground you see the racecar alongside the monster trucks, while in the background you see the flower set. The use of foreground and background was to symbolize how Lego in recent years has tried to remove gender stereotyping from their marketing and toys to help harness a more inclusive brand. Though they have taken steps you can still clearly see through the photograph the differences between the sets, and they differ not just in their appearance but also in their functionality. Going back to the concept of boys playing rougher and girls playing gentler, the typical boy sets can be played with and raced but the typical girl set is just for display with no functionality.

 

Works Cited

The Two Cultures of Childhood. file:///C:/Users/faith/Downloads/The%20_Two%20Cultures_%20of%20Childhood.pdf. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.

 

Gruesome Girlhood

 

From: Emma

Growing up as a girl you are faced with endless standards of beauty, so much so that it often feels as if you can only see what’s “wrong” when you look in the mirror. These standards of beauty are ingrained in girls' heads from childhood with something as seemingly innocent as a Barbie doll and never cease to plague our minds through social media, magazines, and television even as adults. The subtopic that I chose to focus on for my photo is the consequences of unrealistic beauty standards on adolescent girls. This photo speaks to that subtopic as it embodies the feeling that unrealistic beauty standards give to young girls.

In class we read, The Two Cultures of Childhood which discusses gender schemas that are formed during childhood based on the social environment in which children are raised. In the text it says, “The miniaturized human figures girls play with typically include baby dolls or feminine icons such as Barbie. Barbie and her legion of imitators represent feminine ideals…” (Rudman, 61) When one of the first feminine ideals young girls with moldable minds are exposed to on a regular basis is a human-like doll with impossible bodily proportions, long shiny hair, and perfect makeup, whether they realize it or not a standard is being formed in their head. This unrealistic beauty standard is then thrown in their faces repeatedly for the rest of their adolescence, whether it be another type of feminized toy, a Disney princess with an impossibly small waist, or a magazine they pick up at a doctor’s office. When society is constantly pushing this narrative of the “ideal body” and exposing young girls to such an unattainable standard 24/7 it begins to affect the way they see themselves.

I chose to use my bathroom mirror as the focal point because the predominantly white space contrasts sharply with the red lipstick on the mirror, symbolizing the innocence disrupted by imposed beauty ideals. The messy background of a cluttered counter filled with makeup reflects not only the ways girls attempt to meet unattainable standards but also the mental clutter (negative thoughts and insecurities) that arise from constant exposure to the "ideal body," represented in my photo by bikini models displayed on the laptop screen. My model covers her eyes for multiple reasons. First, by taking away her sense of sight it represents the impaired self-perception that often accompanies body dysmorphia, a condition exacerbated by beauty standards. Second, it suggests a desire to hide from not only the images on the laptop and the cruel words scrawled across the mirror but also the overwhelming pressure to conform to an impossible ideal

In Lauren Greenfield’s photo essay, “Girl Culture” that we studied in class a thirteen year old girl, Lisa, said, “There is so much peer pressure. I mean, not with drugs or cigarettes or anything, but with the fact that everybody has to look the same.” This is the effect of a society that is relentless in its critiques of the female body, young girls feel as though if they don’t look the way women in magazines, or their favorite television show look then they are somehow unworthy. In the interview conducted for the photo essay Lisa goes on to say, “...you have to live with it. All the time. I mean, you think about it when you fix your hair, when you look in the mirror. It’s always what other people think.” Lisa says here herself that she thinks about the way she’s “supposed” to look, according to society, every time that she looks in the mirror, my photo is just an outward reflection of those plaguing internal thoughts.

Works Cited

- Greenfield, Lauren. Girl Culture Introduction by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, Melcher Media, Inc., 2002.

- 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.

Two Cultures of Childhood

 From: Mahum

An object that many people brush off how deeply rooted codes of gender are or how much of an impact it has on children are toys. Colors such pink and purple are associated with femininity while green and blue are seen as masculine colors. These colors play a big theme on how toys are designed to target either young girls or young boys. As seen in the photos I have taken, toys for young boys do not have any color of pink on them while the toys for young girls are overwhelmingly pink. I utilized the creative technique of camera angle by having the camera angled upwards towards the toys, it’s meant to be seen through the perspective of a young child who is looking up towards these toys.

Children aren’t the ones who give toys the interpretation of being either feminine or masculine. Dolls aren’t seen as exclusively girly because young girls decided that they wanted it that way. Children have been influenced since they were young by which toys are meant for their gender. As mentioned in “The Two Culture of Childhood”, “Reactions to novel toys confirm that children do not merely learn by rote which toys are for boys, and which are for girls, but extract general qualities that distinguish masculine from feminine” (Rudman, 2015). Masculinity has a certain look to it that young boys would associate it with, such as darker colors and a rugged look. Femininity is associated with a soft look with bright colors.

Children are rarely seen playing with toys that are catered to the other gender. A young girl playing with cars and monster trucks is seen as strange and odd since there’s no femininity in such toys. This is also mentioned in “The Two Culture of Childhood”, “but children rarely play with toys associated with the other sex, which happens for less than 5% of children’s playtime (Fagot et al, 2000). Most likely, children have learned to avoid being seen playing with toys associated with the other gender” (Rudman, 2015). It’s very rare to see an intersection of toys with young children. A young boy playing with dolls would be seen as gay and vice versa in the case of a young girl playing with cars.

Toy cars have always been masculinized even in regard to actual careers that involve race cars. As seen in the film ‘Codes of Gender’, Danica Patrick is a profession racer, but she must partake in taking suggestive photos to ensure that her femininity is not taken away from her image as a woman that just happens a car driver. Being involved in racing has been gender coded to be masculine to the point that a woman cannot simply be involved in sports otherwise she will not be seen as a real woman. This shows that toys play a role in gender codes since cars are generally catered to young boys who later turn into men that are car enthusiasts.

 

 

 

Citations

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.

produced by the Media Education Foundation; written & directed by Sut Jhally. The Codes of Gender : Identity + Performance in Pop Culture. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 2009

 

 

Defining Masculinity

 

From: Phillip 

Masculinity has taken many different shapes and forms, others may share my belief such as how; often words carry the same meaning, but I think what defines said word can be open to interpretation. Not to preach or say words should loose meaning. Sure, we all have a broad idea, concept, or belief of what should be the definition of our “word” in question. Hang with me on this, I do have a point to all this. Being a tough guy is something I never thought I’d be contemplating but at certain points in my life I’d overhear others say that you must withhold certain feelings or traits, be cold, be assertive, and for the most part I ignored it. 

Through meeting people at AACC, partaking in different clubs, it’s helped me meet a variety of individuals. I’ve been fortunate enough to befriend and meet all kinds of people. Take the two people in this photo for example.

Looking at this photo gives me a mixture of feelings, though I find it perfectly meshing with my definition of masculinity. I must be aware it may be contradictory to some people’s per-view. Of course, all you can do is take my word but while one may fit the more stereotypical “masculine role” the friendship I’ve shared with them has punctured my previous interpretation/belief of what/who can define masculinity. 

It's not limited to a specific BMI or the type of clothing you wear, or what emotions you allow or don’t allow yourself to express. While I won’t define my interpretation of masculinity, I encourage you to test your beliefs by not limiting masculinity to a specific gender or sex. 

Codes of Gender in Children

 

From: Erin

The subtopic I chose to discuss is the ways in which gender scripts are encouraged in children, specifically in toys and even items of clothing. In the beginning of Module 5, we read a part of an excerpt titled “The Two Cultures of Childhood” written by Laurie Rudman, she highlights key parts of childhood in which society distinctly separates “boys” and “girls” toys. In the “Toy and Activity Preferences” section of the article Rudman talks about a study in which “Researchers transformed a “My Little Pony” by shaving the mane (soft girlish feature), painting it black (a tough color), and adding spiky teeth (an aggressive demeanor)” (Rudman, 60).This part of the reading allowed me to understand that there is such an expectation for young boys and girls to like toys and activities specifically scripted to their genders. Even if they are terribly similar in attributes Children still understand the codes scripted to them. Another statement by Rudman was that miniaturized human figures allow all children to engage in fantasy role play. With, children very much do know the difference between a doll and an action figure, and these children would not play with the opposite sexes toys as their physical appearances are scripted to be “designed” for a certain type of child to engage with.

In the left half of this picture, we see the egg breaking and collecting toys that is popular in the toy market. It is very noticeable to show which egg is scripted to be for a boy and which is scripted to be for a girl. We can see how the egg on the left side is rough around the edges and the dinosaur is showing his scary teeth to show aggression and appeal to young boys. While as you can see with the egg scripted to be for a young girl, it is shiny, smooth, pink, and even the animals you can see on the label are perceived as extremely cute and cuddly. On the right side of the picture, we can see again the similarity between the boots as both being rainboots and can be worn by children. The script of genders is very visible here as we see the spikes around the handles of the boots and the dinosaurs which are an interest to young boys rather than young girls. And the boots on the right side are shown having hearts as the handles and the pattern of hearts running down the boots with pink and purple colors shows a very feminine script. 

I used creative techniques in the photograph to further show the scripts of genders in children. As you can see the “feminine toys” are seen a little more blurry than the “masculine toys” to show how men and masculinity are at the forefront of this society and how femininity is pushed back to side and not seen as visible to others, the creative technique was used by the camera angle and allowing the focus to be seen on the young boys toy. I also used the creative technique of taking up space. It is seen in the left half of the picture that the egg on the left, scripted for boys, is taking up a lot of space in the picture.

Works Cited:

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.

The Ken Paradox

 

From: Bek

Growing up as a girl, I understood the significance of Ken as his own entity separate from Barbie. Ken could wear only his own clothes and shoes, never the extravagant and beautiful Barbie clothes. He fit awkwardly into Barbie’s car and seemed too big for the Dreamhouse. Upon being bestowed the role of Ken one could count on the familiar ring of “I wanted to be a girl doll”. No one ever wanted to be Ken, and those who did relinquished him to the background of the story. Ken became synonymous with Barbie’s boyfriend, or Barbie’s brother, or some other unnamed character that would only be picked up with the offhand when necessary. As I grew further into my teenage years and abandoned my Barbie dolls, I seemed to have forgotten the strange litany of feelings that accompanied Ken. He was secondary, Barbie was the star. Yet, my set of dolls would feel incomplete without his presence, as if there was a critical part of the story missing. In my adulthood, through reflections of my own playtime as a child and in caring for young girls as a nanny, I have seemed to stumble upon the conundrum which Ken exists – what I call, The Ken Paradox.

The Ken Paradox can be defined and understood as the space in which Ken sits as a crucial aspect of Barbie play while simultaneously being “other” and hence unwanted. I observed this phenomenon firsthand as I nannied for parents with a set of twins (a boy and girl, age five) and an elder sister (age eight). The image I selected best represents the idea of The Ken Paradox, which serves as a poignant example of the “Two Cultures of Childhood” model which sets boys and girls as living in two separate cultural spheres in adolescence (Rudman 59). More specifically, the idea of The Ken Paradox provides some insight into the ways in which girls are socialized to reject and move away from “boy culture” while at once recognizing the superiority of it within common society. When given the choice, neither the younger nor older sister chose the Ken doll as their primary toy. But perhaps more interestingly, neither did the boy. As he sought to assimilate briefly into the girl-centered world of playing with Barbie dolls, begging his sister to play, he was met with immediate resistance. When the resistance finally weaned, he was told he may only be the Ken doll, regardless of his preference because “boys have to play with boy toys”. Rudman cites this as the result of gender schema, which develops early on and creates associations between what is considered normal or typical for each gender. Through society’s perpetuation of gender roles, these ideas become synonymous with what is “good” or “bad” for a child to enjoy or seek participation in (Rudman 59-60). In the case of the young girls and boy playing with Barbies, they all have long understood that certain toys are for boys and others are for girls. As the boy ventured outside of his perceived gender expectations to be included in the play, he was met with the perpetuations of his sister’s gender schema. This is demonstrated through both his and his sister’s gaze, a technique I employed to convey this message. As he looks solemnly at the Ken doll which he did not want, his sister glances at him with confusion and a sort of anger at his denial to adhere to the roles in which his gender has placed on him. His sister’s play remains in the background of the image, centering on the idea that although she might hold more power within the dynamic of doll play (she is looking down on him), his play is still the central message of the image. The perpetuation of gender roles and schemas in early childhood creates a separation between boys and girls that is always felt. These beliefs distort personal feelings of self and identity, which are captured in the blurred nature of the doll within the boy’s hands. Although he wanted to take the role of being a girl within their play, he was denied and forced into the expectations of his gender identity, not allowing him to come into ideas of his own self through discovery but rather presumption.

The feelings and ideas that surround Ken demonstrate that girls and boys are surrounded by cultural norms of gender roles. In this sense, Ken exists as a mirror into the ways women are meant to see themselves in contrast to men. Men are strong, they are different, and they are necessary for a happy life in the Dreamhouse. Girls should not aspire to “play” the roles of men, and boys should not “play” the roles of women. This is a drastic enforcement of the “Two Cultures of Childhood” as discussed by Rudman, which permeates youthful development.

 

Works Cited:

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

Memory Boxes

From: Naomi

My photo is of two boxes side-by-side. The box on the left is a memory box, filled to the brim and overflowing with birthday cards, letters from friends, souvenirs, and gold ribbons. Next to it is an identical box, yet it holds very different contents. The box on the right contains neatly organized eyeliners, eyeshadows, lip-glosses, blushes, and other forms of makeup. The goal of this photo is to illustrate the transition from childhood to teenage years that young girls make, in which they quickly fall victim to expectations of rigid femininity. For many young women, memories of their teenage years are defined by their physical appearance: what haircut they had, their makeup routine, which products they used, their proficiency in their makeup skills. These memories differ from those of early childhood, where girls are more free to make memories without worrying about their eyeliner or lip color. This change occurs because from a very young age, most of the representation little girls see in TV and movies is made up of feminine teenage girls who only exist as extensions of their male peers who take a more important role in the story (Pollitt, 1991). This is the “Smurfette Principle” coined by Katha Pollitt, and it helps to explain that young girls grow into societal pressures of aesthetic beauty and rigid feminization largely due to the media they consume from a very young age.

One creative technique I used in taking this photo was color. The box on the left, which represents memories of young childhood, is much more vibrant than the one on the right. What especially stands out is the gold ribbon. Gold has the connotation of achievement and helps to convey the message that little girls are often encouraged to achieve and explore, yet when they grow older, they’re expected to conform. The box on the right that represents these later years is much more dull. The only color that really stands out is the bright pink tube of lip-gloss. What I wanted to illustrate was that when teenage girls are allowed to stand out, it is often only through hyper-femininity.

The other creative technique I used was line. The contents of the box are unorganized and are stowed away somewhat haphazardly. In contrast, the box of makeup is neatly organized; the brushes and eyeliners form parallel lines, and none of the items are stacked on top of each other or shoved in at odd angles. This is representative of the idea that the “ideal” woman is tidy, organized, and clean. The clean lines convey uniformity not just in how the makeup is organized, but also in how teenage girls use the makeup to conform to the aesthetic trends and styles of the time.

Sources:

Pollitt, Katha. “Hers; The Smurfette Principle.” The New York Times, 7 Apr. 1991.

 

To The Rescue

 From: Carly

How often do you see men working on cars? Most people would say they have seen it often in their lives. Now, how often do you see women working cars? If I were to genuinely think about it through my own personal experience, I would say that it would be an exceedingly rare sight for me to see. Not that women are unable to, but because it is not necessarily considered a norm in our society. Furthermore, society has made it more acceptable for men to take on more “masculine” and “manly” roles, while also striving to display a “tough guise” so that they are more like how our society has created the image of what men are supposed to be like. The background behind this picture depicts two men that come to “the rescue” by attempting to repair a car that has broken down. Society has influenced us that it is very gentleman-like for men to come to the rescue and take the more manly, dominant guise. They have been taught that they should know how to work on cars and are expected to know when asked. I personally could not tell you how many times I looked to a man for help because I simply expected them to know what they are doing because of the many times I was informed that women should always ask a man for help. 

In the documentary titled “Tough Guise 2” by Jackson Katz, we are shown the actions men tend to take including the demonstration of violence, careless attitudes, and masculine tendencies. The media is a huge part of why our society has these preconceived thoughts about the way in which men should carry themselves and it has ended up leading to horrible acts of violence and lack of emotions from men. Although this picture only shows two men working on a car, it is hiding the way that they really feel of being expected to be able to do certain things solely based on their gender. If they did not happen to know how to fix the problem with the car, how would people look at them? Would people look at them like they are less than a man? 

Overall, we need to stop expecting men and women to fulfill certain duties based on their gender. It is important for everyone to discover who they are on their own without being told how they should be like.