This is "Cori." Cori is trying to make the adjustment from elementary to middle school. Throughout the summer she had a hard time sleeping, or even concentrating. Her thoughts constantly went to the unknown fear of entering middle school: what would she wear; would she make new friends or hold on to her "little girl" friends from elementary school; would she be able to find her classes; and could she keep up her grades? She has so much apprehension and confusion in her life. Cori runs back to her world, when things seemed less frightening. She wants to hold tight to the security of childhood, but yet wants very much to be a teenager. Life is so perplexing now. It's like she is stuck between two worlds. She feels so pressured to grow up, and she just wants to yell STOP. At times, if she could, she would return to her mother's womb! So, she sits in her dimly lit room curled up in the corner of her bed hugging her stuffed dog. If she could just stay there, not have to face the craziness around her!Growing up and being a teenager always seemed to be a dream come true, but once there, a young girl feels as though she is being forced or pushed into it. On the outside they are enjoying the new freedom of makeup, boys, and social activities. They love looking and acting grownup, but inside they are shaking. Outside pressures to conform overwhelm them. If they could just STOP all of the changes until their mind and emotions could catch up with their bodies. With lots of understanding and encouragement they will find their way to adulthood.
4 comments:
The first thing I noticed about this picture is that the girl is holding a stuffed animal very tightly, as though she is holding on to her childhood. The apprehension on her face is astounding, while her eyes connecting with the camera look like a plea. She looks frightened to be judged. Even though the girl is the center of this picture, she is enveloped by what she is sitting against. Wooden bars in the background could represent a sort of prison, like she is stuck between two worlds. On one hand she wants to still be young, with the presence of the toy and the background which also looks like a baby crib. The lighting is dark and depressing, making her shirt and jeans look darker, which make her stand out against the light background. Perhaps this is to say that it is impossible for young girls to hide themselves away, especially with the pressure of society as well as her peers. Her positioning contributes to the overall picture greatly in that she looks scared. The dimness of the picture, coupled with her frightened look, make this girl out to be in a difficult part of her life. I think this picture is saying that young women are afraid of having to change, and want to be what they feel they are.
This picture shows what a lot of young girls are going through being a teenager. They feel alone and very vulnerable. The background is very dark which sets the mood of the picture perfectly. This girl looks lost and very somber like she has a dark life. She is also clinging on to her stuffed animal very tightly. It’s almost as if that’s the only thing she has for herself and doesn’t want anyone to take that away. It seems that she may see and be influenced by the media or what she sees around her, perhaps at school, and feels like she doesn’t fit it. This is shown by the sad and almost scared look she has across her face. Because she doesn’t fit in, she resorts to her dark, lonely room where she is and can be herself. It’s sad to see young girls who have so much potential hide in their rooms by themselves. They are letting the outside get to them so they don’t know how beautiful they really are.
This picture is one of my favorite one. In fact, it does not show a kid or a teenager doing feminine stuff or trying to look like models. But it shows us a girl – not sticking to this ideal beauty - who seems to be enclosed in bad feelings. She is not smiling at the camera at all. She rather seems to be afraid of it, afraid of somebody taking a picture of her image.
The idea of jail is reinforced by the frame of the bed. Moreover, the girl is curled up in the corner - unable to move back more - as if she was locking herself from the rest of the world. Her pose also gives us the idea that she does not want to grow.
The colors of the pictures are interesting too. First, because they are quite dark and reinforce the idea of loneliness and sadness. Then, because the orange color is dominant. It makes the walls, the frame of the bed and the skin of the girl look like each other. In other words, she is totally absorbed by the background, as if she was trying to be transparent. The only things of real different color are her clothes. They are very simple: a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Here again, it reinforces the idea she is not –and does not want to be- as all the other girls of her age; proud of their body and wearing a lot of colors.
Because of the way the picture is taken, her eyes are d ark too. So we can’t really see them. But we can noticed taht she underlined them with black crayon. This detail is important because, even if she gives the impression she is not conforming to the “norm”, she is using make-up.
And over the bed, it seems that there is a kind of veil, girls put over their beds to have “a princess bed”.
So this picture gives a good idea of how difficult it is to avoid the pressure of society. Even this kind of “outsider” girls are touched by the weight of gender.
This is a really big issue that all young kids go to. Transitioning into middle school can be very stressful for young kids. It is nerve racking to them because they are going to a bigger school, and are worried about grades, getting lost, and most of all if they will fit in. The stuffed animal that she is holding onto symbolizes her holding onto her childhood, and the dim lighting represents her depressed state.
Post a Comment