From: Katelyn
From a young age, we are told by parents, teachers, and friends what to wear, play with, and basically who we should be. But for some, staying in the social norm doesn’t feel right; they feel like they were born inside of the wrong body, so they break free from the chains of societies expectations. In the textbook, Rudman and Glick explain that men/women adhere to the norms of society to avoid social punishment, but some, like the girl shown in my picture, will do anything to be free. Sarah (the girl in the picture) has a look of anguish on her face, portraying the sadness and rejection that those who challenge the social norms experience. She is in a bathroom surrounded by makeup, hair products, and girly things to portray the gender expectations that constantly tell her that it isn’t okay to be different and stray from the expectations of society. I made her look small and insignificant in the picture to symbolize how she is overwhelmed and surrounded by societies pressures to be feminine and look a certain way. I kept her in the darkest part of the picture to show how she is left in the dark and kept the light by the girly items to show how beauty standards are highlighted and put on a pedestal in our society. I wanted this picture as a whole to symbolize the social punishment that LGBT girls/boys receive when they break from the social norm, and how these expectations can both hurt and hinder them.
4 comments:
This picture is very powerful to me. The expression on her face is pained. You can tell she is portraying the pain and suffering people go through who do not fit into the gender norms. The lighting in the picture is focused in the background, while the person in the photo is in the shadows. I think that demonstrates an important message. That people who don’t fit in to the idea of ‘normal’ that society has created, then they are considered an outsider. The photographer also included ‘feminine’ objects, such as makeup and hair products, in the background. These items are expected to be used by females, but since this girl isn’t using these items, then she is considered different. The girl in the photo is also wearing all dark clothing, which suggests she is depressed or closed off. She is also slouching where she is sitting which suggests she feels defeated. Her facial expression looks like she is begging for help, in my opinion. She also looks uncomfortable, surrounded by things that are supposed to ‘define’ femininity. She isn’t centered in the frame of the picture. I think that that shows that the photographer was trying to show that people who don’t fit in the social norms, like people in the LGBT community, are considered outsiders and aren’t ever the center of attention. I think it is unfair that people who don’t fit into the unrealistic gender norms in our country are pushed to the outside of society.
"From a young age, we are told by parents, teachers, and friends what to wear, play with, and basically who we should be." Referring to page 60 in our textbook, which suggest that in addition to sex segregation, is the gendering of toys and activities. From toddlers girls and boys show difference in toy per-fence. “Most children spend a lot of time playing with gender neutral toys. Most children would not play with toys associated with the other sex because they are afraid of being judged.” Children try to avoid being seen playing with the certain toys and doing certain activities. Speaking of interaction styles boys tend toward greater assertiveness. “Boys compete in rule governed games rather than hostile brawls.” It’s not necessarily what is taught it's about what trend has been followed for a period of time that people tend to follow. I believe that children follow what they see, not always things that they are taught. I believe that certain behaviors have been followed for decades that people think the behaviors become acceptable to society. Social norm is taught in movies, social networking, at school, and at home. In order to break the social norm I think parents should let their children pick what toys they want to play with, who they want to play with, and what to wear. Overall, who they want to be.
Great comparison of the girl's appearance and the girly things that surround her. From this person's face, we can easily tell that she is a female. But with very short,straight hair and the clothing, most people might have to halt for a minute to rethink did I guess wrong? Why? Because in our society, there are universal standards to identify girls and boys-girls tend to keep long hair and wear bright-colored dresses or skirts while boys are most of the time in sports clothes with dark colors. But, in this picture, obviously, it's a girl's body dressed in boy's way. From her facial expression, she's not happy about who she is and how she acts. Without the light will be better. Usually light is considered as hope, but in her situation, she looks desperate and hopeless.
I find this photo to depict the plight of young LGBTQ people very well. We see this person that, though is in the foreground of the photo, is almost cowering due to the "girly" objects behind her. It symbolizes societies pressure to be girly very well.
I especially like the use of the Minnie Mouse ears, since we talked about the impact that Disney has on young girls especially.
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