In this picture the three children are siblings, I used Photoshop to have the picture with the little boy pop out more than the picture of the little girls. In the picture with the two girls I was trying to show that it doesn't matter how girlie you are or how a woman might want to be in what is seen as a man's profession, it is not observed as something out of the norm. The question lies in what is wrong with the picture on the right. The little boy is clearly playing with little girls toys regardless that he was clearly placed with "manly" things around him. There is a military issued bullet proof vest, with the magazines attached to it, there is a baseball bat, a pair of soccer cleats and a football game on the TV screen. The question marks are to signify that there is a question. The question that many people have asked is why this little boy dressed up in an athletic jersey is, and around what is considered to be "manly" and is playing with dolls? How is society already looking at this boy in the future? Society will already look at the girls and see that they are clearly as different as night and day, mainly because one is in a princess outfit that is pink and is striking a pose as she gives the camera a big smile. The older girl is not posing much towards the camera but as somebody is watching her and she is not feeling comfortable to be taken a picture of but comfortable enough to wear this heavy helmet and trying to fill in someone's boots and military blouse.
1 comment:
I enjoyed this photo a lot because it showed boys and girls stepping out of their gender norms. The young girl stands in a very masculine pose with both feet firm to the ground and the other girl presumed to be a "girly girl" stands with her feet off balance as we see many models do in today's society. We also see that the girl in the military costume is not seen negatively and was probably given positive reinforcement for her outfit of choice. On the other hand, the boy is seen as negative and a "sissy" because he is playing with a feminine toy despite the fact that he is surrounded by masculine toys (let's not forget he only looks to be about 3). Even though he is so young he is expected to favor a baseball bat over the soft unicorn stuffed animal? At such a young age we socialize boys to not be wimps and play with hard, and sometime violent things instead of something innocent like a stuffed animal. It shows further this box that we so often put boys into and expect them to uphold, while girls tend to have a little more lead way when it comes to the things we allow them to play with and do. This photo demonstrates also how in our society we value masculine things such as power, strength, and toughness and devalue things that are feminine such as emotion, being "soft", and kind to all.
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