From: Natasha
The picture I took was part of a two paged article in a very popular magazine. It was about two young female children who are different. This magazine is gender-typing the children. They are picking them apart for the way they look and act.
One of the females is named the "Princess" as being a "normal" young female in our culture. The other, is named the "tomboy" with "abnormal" traits and roles. First, I blurred out the two children" faces. I did this to make the children appear with no identity, for their identity is being taken over by the way they dress and act. Also, I did this to show that this is not just happening to these two specific individuals and that it happens to a variety of different children as well. Next, I made the two females black and white. I did this so that they appeared to be the same considering that one is just as female as the other. I
made the title of the article appear at the bottom of the picture such as picture captions do. I did this because picture captions describe a picture and the title "The Princess & The Tomboy" is being used to describe the two young females. I also kept the original colors of the words. I did this because this is another example of the magazine gender-typing. The two adjectives "princess" and "tomboy" are both used to describe females. The word "princess" is printed in pink which is a normative color used for females but the word "tomboy" is in blue which is a normative color for males. Finally, I made the "The Princess" part of the caption be a little higher than the "The Tomboy" part. Though the magazine calls both of the females "adorable" the magazine is still obliviously describing the child that is named the "tomboy" as being negative and abnormal.
4 comments:
When I glanced at this photo the first thing that came to my mind is boy and girl. From my initial reaction, I assumed the child to the left was a girl and the child to the right was a boy. This is a classic example of gender-typing. They are both girls, but because of their accessories and wardrobe I automatically assumed there was one girl and one boy. A skirt and stuffed animals in society represents female characteristics. Another observation of Suri’s femininity is her pose in the photo. That is not a casual pose; it is a pose that is most associated with females. Therefore, you see on the side of her photograph a photo of a woman wearing high heels. Also, in the print it refers to Suri as a “sensitive sweetie.” What makes Suri sensitive and sweet? Is it the stuffed animals she is holding? Is it the skirt she is wearing? Is it her pose and facial expression? Since Suri is represented as feminine in the photo people automatically associate being sensitive and sweet as characteristics of a female. In the other photo Shiloh is portrayed as being boyish. Weapons, his hat, what he is wearing is associated with masculinity. Notice there is no specific pose; it is just kind of a natural stance. Since he is being portrayed as masculine in the photo next to Shiloh is a pair of soccer cleats. Sports are also associated with masculinity. Instead of referring to Shiloh as sweet and sensitive it refers to him as a “little terror.” Society mechanically associates boys with weapons, violence, and just causing trouble. This is a photograph that portrays gender-typing very clearly.
This picture also represents how media makes a big difference in how women and men act. If the media didn't print these sort of stories, then women wouldn't think that there was something wrong with they way they dressed or acted. If a little girl were to see an article that was talking about being a tomboy versus a princess, then she would think something was wrong with her.
This shows the stereotypical differences between men and women. Girls are known to play with dolls and be very girly girls. Boys are seen to be more violent with one another. These are major differences seen between the two and this is where most of the stereotypes are created.
I find this interesting because this is a common tabloid that is found in your local market. While parents are waiting for the line to move, they pick up these magazenes and realize the shinny celebrity parents dress-up their children and pamper them. Parents may immitate this and therefore, geneder roles are deveolped.
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