The two cultures of childhood

From: Stefan

This photo explains the hardship of kids wanting to be different and enjoying the things they like to do. In this photo you have a little girl holding a controller and playing a video game that most little girls would never play. When her mom comes in and starts to yell at her because it is not what little girls grow up playing with. It is not normal for a girl to play violent video games all day, instead she should be playing with dolls, or doing her hair, or exploring make-up. The photo says a lot of things about little kids not acting toward society’s norms, that is if you do not grow up doing what little boys are suppose to do and what little girl are suppose to do then you should get punished and should never follow what interests you and brings you joy. 

The picture has some elements of symbolism hidden in it. First off take the grayed look all around the girl, she is depressed that her mother is always yelling at her to not be playing those bloody and violent games. Even though it makes her daughter happy she does not want to see her little girl growing up like a boy should. She is afraid of the psychological effect that the game will have on her, not going around shooting bad guys effect, but the asexuality difference that her mother thinks will occur if her daughter keeps playing these video games. Along with the gray feeling around the girl, you can tell that the picture is slightly slanted. The little girl’s world is starting to turn upside down because she can not seem to understands why her mom is so mad at her playing these video games. She can not comprehend her mother’s frustration toward her playing these games, she does not know which way to turn because what she likes is not right to her mother who she thought loved her.