Focus‏

from: Andrew

The content of this picture says a lot about the way children grow up and how they learn the codes of gender socialization. To put things into context, this is an image of children playing at recess. Recess is a time when children act completely congruent with how they really are, as opposed to being in class. In class children tend to act with a type of mask on, acting more proper and polite because that is expected. But at recess they let go and act how they want.

In the foreground we see two girls playing together which is not surprising. It is common for girls to play in groups of two more often than boys. I believe this is because women tend to care more about having personal and emotional relationships, which is easier to do in small groups as opposed to playing with ten other kids at once. This also speaks to the fact that women, in all aspects of life, care more about the interpersonal relations they have with friends, family, and co-workers, whereas men care more about their job title, financial status, or how high they rank in their circle of friends.

In the background we see a larger group of boys playing a team sport together. This is also not surprising because it is common for boys to play in large groups more often than girls. Men tend to care less about becoming close with their male friends. They don’t have the drive, like women do, to develop strong personal and emotional relationships with other men. Boys at recess are more comfortable playing in large groups where there is more space between them all and almost zero chance for any type of intimate conversation that girls have when they play in smaller groups.

Seeing these two girls playing alone together, maybe picking grass or something similar, is contrasted with the group of boys playing a team sport. Sports have always been a big influence on boys because they promote physical fitness, dominance, competition, aggressiveness, and playing together in a large group. The color of the children’s clothes is also an influencing factor in how they develop their gender roles. The girl on the left has pink pants and purple shoes on, and the girl on the right has a light blue or baby blue sweater and pants on with an aqua shirt. These colors are normally associated with femininity. The boys all have on colors associated with masculinity such as dark green, dark blue, and black.

I chose this picture because I liked the way the boys were blurred in the background and the girls were in full focus in the foreground. It is similar to how boys and girls play. When the two girls are together, nothing else seems to matter. All the matters is that they are playing together and developing a more personal relationship. The boys playing together are not getting personal with each other, rather keeping space between them and just seeing the whole group, not each boy individually.