My photograph is of a ten year old boy named Jesse playing with Lego’s. His father is an architect and bought him Lego’s to play with when he was younger. He plays with them in his spare time. The Lego’s are blue, red, green, and gray which are all considered masculine colors and his parents bought these intentionally to mold him into the male role. Parents encourage gender- type play. He has been socialized to Lego’s as being for boys and not girls since his dad builds things all the time for his job. Jesse is building tall towers, houses, cars, trucks and helicopters which are masculine occupations. Notice how the angle of the picture shows how intent he is when he is working by focusing on what he is doing. Men become very focused on the task they are working on. Jesse is in sixth grade and research shows that by this time boys are “aspiring more traditional masculine occupations” (p. 196). He is large in the picture to signify how boys are trained that men are strong and masculine. They are in control of their life and situation. “Boys are granted their autonomy and control at an earlier age than girls are of the same age group” ( p.196). Boys have to adapt to social norms because there are social sanctions for people who do not follow the rules. Boys who do not conform to the norms are made fun of and belittled by their peers. The pink picture with flowers on it hanging in the background is a symbol of the female influence of the mother image that is always in the back of boy’s minds. Mother’s nurture their sons when they are young and boys appear to “unlearn affectionate responses” as they grow older (p. 195). Jesse is building into masculinity in order to be a successful male adult.
2 comments:
First off, this is a perfect example of how gender socialization begins in earlier childhood. Jesse seem's to be strongly influenced in building structures and objects, which in fact may come from his parents. (In specific, masculinity probably comes from his father.)
Although Jesse looks deep in thought while building his legos, he also reveals a sense of lonliness. Most ten-year-old boys these days spend their spare time playing basketball or engaging in outside activities with friends or siblings. Jesse however, is inside isolating himself from the outside world. Although he may be happy with what he is doing, this may implicate that Jesse feels a sense of unacceptance from others, in specific his peers.
Perhaps Jesse declines invites from friends when asked to play sports because he feels he is not good enough. Building legos is what Jesse feels comfortable doing because he knows he is good at it.
Although this career path may be strongly influenced by his parents, it may also encouage him to be the outcast. Even though Jesse may enjoy what he is doing, the dark clothes may symbolize his emotion of unbelongingness.
The surroundings in this picture show that Jesse is comfortable in his own house. More specifically, his surroundings in the room may symbolize the comfort of an unborn in its mothers womb. It feels accepted, loved, and most importantly comforted by its surroundings.
This picture is brilliant and really opens the doors to a variety of different symbols and aspects of socialization!!
This is a good example has to why boys score higher in mathematics because as young boys they are presented with challenging toys to play with. The legos are making him think of how to build something and put things together. Girls are mainly presented with toys to teach them how to nuture someone or tend to someones needs.
Post a Comment