I was in my best friends wedding a few weeks ago. We all gathered at the brides parents house to get ready for the big day. Her daughter Claire was her flower girl. After Claire watched her mom have her make-up and hair done it was soon her turn to get all dolled up. She knew exactly how she wanted to look. She had a clipping from a magazine of a model with the same hairstyle that you see in this picture. After she was all dressed and ready to go I asked her to come out side so I could take a picture of her. She couldn't decide at first where she wanted to stand. We walked around the backyard for a minute until she decided she wanted to stand by the flower bed. I asked if she was ready and she immediately posed for me. When I asked her why she posed that way she said,I wanted to look like the model in the magazine and I wanted to be as pretty as my mommy. She asked me if she could see the picture that I took, so I showed it to her. She didnt like how it turned out and then asked me to take another one. This picture was her finished product. I immediately began to realize the way she posed for the picture showed a socialization of gender in children. Young girls today are so affected by what they see in magazines and on the television. Claire portrays perfectly in this picture how young girls are socially affected by their surroundings. If you notice, the way she is posing is how you might see a model pose for a glamour shot. Even the background that she chose for the picture demonstrates her very feminine side. Her hairstyle gives her a very grown up look. It made me think about what young girls today see as true beauty. Claire thinks that her mom is the most beautiful woman in the world. So why do you think she also needed a picture from a magazine to help her decide on a glamorous look? The answer to that question is because young girls today have so many different types of role models telling them what is beautiful. Whether their role model is a teen seventeen magazine or simply their mother, it is hard for girls to just believe they are naturally beautiful and no "pose" is necessary.
3 comments:
This photograph is a perfect example of how young girls are greatly effected by the media and even adults around them. The young girl, how shes posing and her hairstyle, all reflect what she's seen in magazines or seen her mom doing. I think its definitly bad for a girl of such a young age to be reading teen magazines or trying to look like their older. She already seems to be focusing on looking good because thats what the impressions from magazines have told her that she should do. Its kind of scary, but this shows that no matter how young your child is the media can find a way to get to them and influence their behavior.
Once again in looking at this picture I see a younger child trying to look older and posing for it. All the makeup hair and dress. Too much for these young children to be involved in. Why not let the children stay young as long as we possibly can.
I see no problem in a little girl having her hair done to look nice for a formal event. It is similar to moms or dads gelling there sons hair, but I do have a problem with them putting make up on her to make her look "more beautiful." Little girls are already beautiful enough they don't need makeup to make them look older. Also, I think it is natural for girls to look up and want to be just like their moms, but it says a lot that she also said she wanted to look like the girl in the magazine picture. Little girls are getting seeing false ideals of beauty too young.
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