from Gabby
My picture, "The Baby's Room," is of two paint cans, one with blue paint and the other containing pink paint. I chose to use these two paint cans as the focus of my photo because color is a huge contributor to the socialization of gender, especially in young children. When a baby is born, one of the first things the parent's do is pick out the color of the baby's nursery. If it's a boy, the color is usually blue; a girl, pink. The same thing goes for the overall color scheme of a baby's wardrobe, toys, bedding, etc. A simple thing like color has huge influence in gender socialization. If a young girl is seen wearing a lot of masculine related colors, like blue, she is assumed to be a tomboy. And if a young boy is seen wearing a lot of feminine colors, like pink, he's assumed to be girly. Both of these assumptions can have a big influence over how children are treated by their peers. These assumptions also have huge influence over how the children may form their own identities.When taking my picture, I zoomed in very closely on the two paint cans, ultimately making the paint cans the only objects in the picture. I didn't want any distractions in the background; I wanted the photo to be focused solely on the paint cans. I also decided to make the entire picture black and white, except for the dry paint smeared on the outside of the cans. I decided to do this because I wanted the color of the paint to be a very dominant aspect of the photo, symbolizing the significance of color in the socialization of gender. Overall, I wanted my photo to be simple but very dramatic and thought provoking. I think I achieved this through my photograph of the two paint cans.
4 comments:
I found this photograph to be both creative and thought provoking. Before a baby is born, or when coming across a baby, the first and most important question is always the gender. Parents of newborn girls often decorate the baby girl’s room in pink or purple, colors that are primarily for girls and teach them to be “girly”. For boys, blue is always the most used color to represent their gender. The colors of the paint are largely emphasized in this photograph because of the use of black and white. The fact that there are only the two paint cans leaves the viewer with the interpretation that when painting a baby’s nursery; the only options are either blue or pink. The other things usually placed in a newborns room often follow the same stereotype as the color of the walls, such as dolls to represent feminism, and sports or animals to show masculinity. The paint color of a child’s wall is just one way the concept of gender is socialized in young children.
I enjoyed looking at all the photos and reading the interpretations. I am commenting on “The Baby’s Room” by Gabby. This was the one with the two paint cans. I found myself drawn to this photo; perhaps because it was not immediately evident there was a message or story to be told. Even though we obviously all constructed our photos to symbolize and demonstrate a form of gender socialization, this photo seemed the least constructed. It truly represented how the colors blue and pink are linked and locked with boys and girls, respectively. I agree with Gabby that this is a simple, yet dramatic and though provoking image. It made a powerful statement, a contrast to some of the other more subtle interpretations that I viewed. All the photos were thoughtfully created and put together, however, I found this photo to speak volumes regarding the simple act of choosing a color to paint walls; Moreover, that even before the baby presents itself in physical form, we are shaping his or her world through
I really liked this photograph. It really explains how society likes to identify babies before they are even born as boy or girl. WIth todays technology people can find out the gender very early on in pregnancy, so they can get a head start on the nursery. Many people pick out the paint color of the room that would best suit either a boy or girl, depending on what they are having. Pink for girls and either blue or green for the boys.
This is a great photo; focusing on whether a baby’s room will be blue or pink because of its gender. But why have they not chosen any other colors? I think this picture does a great job showing the blue and pink paint and that they are center of attention. It is amazing how a color can have such an influence on the socialization of gender. Society automatically suggests blue for boys and pink for girls. This is another great example of how people continue to manipulate youth and forcing them into something they have no control over.
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