For my image, I decided to make a collage depicting the many ways that children have their gender roles imprinted onto them before they are even born.
Throughout the image, varying hues of pink and blue are provided by retailers in reaction to the “discovery” that a child is either a boy or a girl, for there are no deviations when it comes to the gender binary. Even the background, with its dominant blue on the top and the subordinate pink on the bottom, immediately snaps to mind thoughts of the baby gender stereotypes.
The centre photograph displays a cake made especially for a “gender reveal” party. Specifically coloured icing within announces the sex of the baby-to-be. The top of the cake is iced with a large question mark and the words, “Pink or Blue, May your wish come true…” which feeds into and promotes the idea that most parents do truly have a preference when it comes to the gender of their baby.
Surrounding the centre photograph are images representing the many ways retailers, and society in general, impress cultural ideals and expectations as the social norm. The top left shows wrapping paper; a soft pink for girls reading, “sweet baby” and a bright blue for boys that reads, “little man” and “oh boy!” In the bottom left and right corners, the cards for baby boys state stereotypical items of “boy culture,” such as “blocks,” “sailboats,” and “trains,” words that describe toys used in active play and critical thinking. For the girls equivalent, such words as, “ribbons,” “tutus,” and “tiaras” describe adornments for visual accentuation. A boy is to be curious and play, but also strong and manly; a girl is to be “gorgeous,” look nice, and stay a girl as long as possible. The card on the left-hand side already demonstrates the stereotype that women should care mostly about looks, and that expectation is to be passed on to the newest generation.
These scripts are set out for children before they even know who they are themselves.
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