This is a photograph of my girlfriend’s little brother, Elijah, lying in bed. The most noticeable aspect that I included is the overwhelmingly blue atmosphere. Blue is the color designated for male infants and is socially understood as a representation of boys and men. The blue in this picture represents the amount of pressure that boys face to conform to typical gender roles. I asked Elijah to pretend to be asleep but look as if he may be having a nightmare. The grimace on his face shows that most kids are unhappy with having to conform to societal ideas of proper gender behaviors. Also, he is sleeping with a sword. The sword represents strength, protection, and even violence. Elijah has the sword held close to him like a teddy bear, but his hand is still on the hilt ready to defend himself. This shows that the feeling of strength is most important to him, and he is prepared to prove his male dominance if challenged. The sword can also represent his desire to protect himself from the overwhelming “blue” of masculinity. Although he is learning how to act as a tough guy or a real man, the fact that he is holding it so closely symbolizes the underlying, unspoken desire for males to feel emotionally close to someone or something. The sword replaces a teddy bear in the sleeping child’s arms which shows a move away from the neediness and innocence of a boy to the independence and steeliness of a man. I chose to include a bunch of his Pokemon cards in the picture as well. Pokemon is a card game, video game, and television show about kids trying to capture and train wild creatures. The kids, called trainers, capture each Pokemon in a separate ball and train them for battle. When it is time for battle, they let the Pokemon out of captivity and make them fight other Pokemon to be able to say that they are the greatest trainer. There are many different types of Pokemon with each having individual traits and identities, but they can all be captured by the same kind of ball. This represents the encapsulation of boys into a defining idea of masculinity although they are all different. They are stripped of their individuality by attempting to climb this social hierarchy to become the alpha male or “real man”. The Pokemon cards are used for battling which teaches boys that, by enslaving and manipulating others through violence and physical domination, they can show everyone how tough and strong they are. Even the slogan for Pokemon, “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” is a direct order to prove manliness by conquering weaker foes. The pressure to conform to the idea of masculinity is detrimental to the growth of boys and contributes to the degradation of the male species in our society. I’m different, and I am sad for everybody else.
3 comments:
This is a very good depiction of the genderization of boys. Not only do I completely agree with everything that was said I also think that the significance of Elijah laying down can symbolize that these boys that are being gendered are oblivious to all of this, that we are responsible for gendering them. It is up to us to stop creating gender roles that are so rigid they can’t be crossed.
Another symbol that I think is also very important is that the fact that Elijah was given a sword to play with instead of say a Barbie doll is significant because even when this boy is sleeping he is still being gendered completely unawares to him. The fact that he is holding it close to him may symbolize the expectations that are in place for him, to be aggressive and in charge, and that he is trying to live up to those expectations not only when he is awake but when he is sleeping also.
The action figures and the sword reperesent that power and agression is something that interests him. He cares about this becuase he is holding his sword like a little girl would her doll that she cares about. The army pants are significant because his interest in action, fighting, power and agression could lead him to be in the military where power and agression is needed.
This picture is a good representation of how different gender's are given different toy's to play with. Everything about this picture screams male. From the blue walls to him holding the sword. The sword is definately a symbol of male aggression and violence. Probably not something you would want to teach your children and yet parents buy these toys without even realizing what their children are learning from it. The little boy sleeping can also represent how they don't realize they are learnig aggression.
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