From: Meredith
I asked my nephew Caleb (2 year old boy with the Blue Hooded sweatshirt on); if he would play with the toys I laid out (my daughters all pink “girlie” toys). Caleb looked at his older brother’s face, which had a disgusted look on it, then looked at me and said No! The boys discussed the fact that all the toys that I laid out were “girl toys”. I let the conversation die down and asked Caleb if I could take a picture of him. He said yes, so I placed him on the floor next to the “girl toys”. I asked him again if he wanted to play with any of the toys, he shook his head yes and pointed to the car of course. In the research discussed in class on gender roles in our culture, a toy car is considered a “boy toy”. The pink Barbie car made it confusing for Caleb, who is taught to play with “boy toys” like cars, but not to play with “girl toys” which are usually pink. I captured his confused body language toward the “pink Barbie” car, he wanted to play with it so badly, but didn’t know if it was socially acceptable due to its color.
I took the photo standing overtop of Caleb and the toys, to give it an outside looking in point of view. This gave me a chance to capture and share my vision directly through my eyes. Caleb chose to leave his blue hood up, almost as if he wanted to hide the fact that he was playing with a “pink girl toy”. Batman was the only toy he brought to my house, and the only toy he kept his hands on all day. As small as the Batman figurine is compared to the rest of the toys, it stands out the most to the gender role trained eye. Because our society is so trained to associate the color blue with boys and the color pink with girls, Caleb automatically stands out just by the color of his clothing, and the fact that the only toy he’s touching is a Batman figurine with blue wings. The picture immediately shows the distinction and separation of the objects that are blue from the objects that are pink. So is blue brighter than pink?
1 comment:
I think you did a great job in portraying your idea! From my point of view, I see this photo as a good representation of gender schemas as well. The segregation of colors (blue and pink) that mark a child’s masculinity and femininity at birth is what contributes to Caleb’s choice of toy interest. Furthermore, the different form of role-playing he most likely sees through adults also reinforces gender roles the boy is expected to follow. Therefore, I see the angle of the picture as society’s weight bearing expectations placed over him. As a result, the hood symbolizes how he’s trying to hide from making a possible mistake in breaking the norm because of the consequences/teasing that will follow. Overall, the blue vs. pink highlights distinct separate cultures that lead people to organize and perceive behavior in the world. Another element I interpreted in the picture is the hardwood floor Caleb is sitting on. To me, it represents that comfort does not matter. Rather, putting on a disguise to act manly and pretending your at ease is much more important than ruining your gender reputation.
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