From: Jocelyn
In our society boys and girls are both brought up in completely different social worlds. From birth one big difference that distinguishes a boy from a girl is color, boys wear blue and girls wear pink. No one knows exactly where that color distinction came from, but that is how our society was brought up. In my picture I used color to distinguish between the two cultures. I took a picture of a boy standing in the middle of a girl aisle at a toy store. Seeing this picture people could distinctly see the boy is in the wrong aisle because it is filled with strictly girl toys, dresses, and everything is pink. I focused the picture on the boy because he wears a bright blue hoodie to symbolize the boy culture, and in our society people would automatically tell he does not belong there, and that boys should not be surrounded by those types of toys because it is “unmanly”. Children begin learning their gender schema from their environment, and parents will go a long way to make sure their children adopt behaviors appropriate to their sex. For example girls should play with dolls, and Barbie’s, and boys should play with action figures and cars because that is what is socially appropriate in our society. Boys and girls are seen as two different cultures, and are taught to act, dress, and play differently and this picture symbolizes that drastic difference between the two cultures
7 comments:
The idea of boy culture versus girl culture is very narrow minded in our society. Boys will play with toy guns, and impersonate super heroes that emphasize the tough guise mentality. Young girls are influenced to play with dolls and be princesses. When I first saw this photo I was immediately drawn to the colors. I loved the contrast between the pink and the blue to represent how opposite girl and boy cultures really are. Also how the boy is standing in a long aisle as the lines on the floor and shelves can represent how narrow minded girl culture can be. Girls need to be the damsel in distress and the nurturer that all support that one idea of women need help to survive. By the young boy standing in the beginning of the aisle, that can represent how breaking that culture norm is to walk down it.
This is a very successful depiction of gendered toys and play. I love the perspective of the camera, with the lines of the shelves pulling one’s eyes through the photo. It almost looks as if the boy is being pulled down a tunnel, or black hole. Also, showing the boy from the back makes him anonymous, so he stands as a general representation for all boys, instead of making it a personal story, which I think works well. The color, of course, is a big part of why the photo is so effective. The contrast between the pink and blue is striking and very effective. You mention that society would automatically assume he is in the wrong place, and that causes me to think about my implicit bias regarding gendered toys. If you asked me, I would say that boys and girls should play with whatever toys they want, but thinking back on my first reaction to this photo, I did think it was odd to see a boy standing in the “girl’s aisle”. You definitely pushed me to think about how children are segregated, and how society as a whole accepts those gender norms. It is amazing how just a color can completely define the way in which children grow up, and the people they grow up to be.
Seeing this picture makes you realize how much something as simple as an aisle in a store can influence children. And the idea of people feeling that the boy does not belong among all the pink and barbies and dresses is something that is seen on a daily basis. At work, I often see parents encourgaing their daughters to pick out a doll or My Little Pony from our toy rack and encourging their sons to pick out the very loud guns or action figures, and this is all despite what the child wants. Parents constantly influence their children when it comes to deciding which toy to chose. A little girl once left our store crying because she wanted the boy doll (action figure) but her mother made her get the baby doll. Parents do not realize how much they influence their children when it comes to the toys they play with. And stores as well offer a huge impact on the idea of what toys children should play with just by gender segregating their toy aisles.
I choose this picture because it stood out from the rest. At first glance the most memorable thing about the photograph is the blue hoodie surrounded by a sea of pink. After going through the semester and learning about the division of colors between gender and choices of toys this image definitely brings the idea to a head. In the image the boy is clearly standing in an aisle where all the toys are either pink or purple. Not one idea of girl’s toys being pink or purple is scientific. The idea that girls like pink and boys where blue is clearly an idea that someone created. The blog commentary explains how parents go to great lengths to make sure that society knows their gender. The question for me is why kids are ridiculed if they do not choose to play with toys that aren’t looked at as appropriate for their gender. For me the boy with his back to us says great things. I can interpret that as maybe he’s standing up for himself and turning his back to what society says should or should not be.
The stylistic elements you used here really emphasize the idea that to some people, gender schemas can be very overwhelming. The use of perspective really gives a sense that this boy feels overpowered by what's right and what's wrong - what's for boys, and what's for girls. Children get so confused, too, when presented with an activity or thing that isn't specifically gendered towards them - "Isn't this for girls?" is asked with genuine interest and concern because children know that if they behave out of line, they'll potentially be seen as outsiders. This is a great visual representation of all that stress and stigma.
There is not only great visual contrast in this photograph but an alarming underlying message. Someone unaware of the clear distinction between boy and girl culture would be caught off guard by the differences this photograph highlights. The choice of outfit for the subject, the color of the shelves, the hypnotic capitalistic fluorescent lighting, and the feeling of discomfort we get from seeing a young boy in a girls aisle knowing the next second he'll puff out a, “Eww,” reveals how separate these two cultures are and how comfortable we feel with keeping it that way.
I would love to see the boys facial expression as he stands in the aisle, would he feel uncomfortable or would his face show a sign of relief as if he's been waiting for this. This article points out some very good points on gender schemes and socialization. Blue is mostly associated with boys and pink with girls. This moments the picture is captured is not really significant I think it's the events that happen after that will show this double standard soicety have on boys vs. girls. If his friends see him assuming they are also make would they make fun? If a girl his age see him how would she react? If this boy's father saw him standing in the girls toys aside would he be upset?
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