From: Christian
In today’s society, childhoods are molded based off of gender schemas. Children are born into a certain culture based on their sex. It begins with birth, girls are surrounded with pink clothes and toys, while boys are surrounded with blue. As children age, they are taught subconsciously to choose toys or clothing that targets their specific gender. Females are raised to play with Barbies and baby dolls, while males are raised to play with cars and action figures. Gender schemas don’t allow children to choose toys or clothing based off of what they like, it is based off of what society perceives as normal.
The picture I took represents the “two cultures” of childhood. On the left side of the picture, the little boy is playing alone in his room with the door shut. The closed door allows for him to feel comfortable playing with the toy of his choice. He is playing with a Barbie doll or a “girl toy” and the expression on his face is pure joy. The bottom of his dresser drawer is open to show that is where he hides his Barbie doll when others are around. Although he thoroughly enjoy playing with this doll, society tells him that this is not normal and it is something that he should be embarrassed about. On the right side of the picture, the same little boy is in his room again, but this time he is playing with action figures or a “boy toy”. The door is wide open for everyone to see and the drawer that contains the Barbie is shut. His expression shows that he is unhappy with the toys that society pushes on him. Both sides of the picture show that the little boy is wearing an army uniform, which is something that many little boys are inspired to be when they grow up. Although this little boy wants to be in the army one day, which is more directed toward his gender, he also enjoys playing with Barbie dolls. Gender should not decide anything for a child, their personality should be the one choosing. As a society, we should allow the child to feel open and accepted for every decision they make for themselves.
1 comment:
I love this picture. It perpetuating this concept that traditional feminine activities are shameful and not normal. When kids are punished socially for doing "feminine" things it makes young boys build up resentment and it makes young girls indirect victims.
I like the fact that the boy is wearing a soldier uniform because young boys are usually pushed at very tender ages to aspire to be soldiers. There is this very glamorized idea of being a soldier, that it is all about being a hero and patriotism but they leave out the fact that there is a role of real violence. Society normalized violence for young boys to the point where when they are adults violence, aggression, and competitiveness is normal and acceptable.
In the second image where he is not enjoying himself as much the image of him is bigger and there is an emphasis on his discomfort and sadness.
There is an immense amount of animosity towards children who step out of their gender roles and it is cruel to turn an innocent child’s pure enjoyment into shame.
I feel like this reward and punishment system creates a binary of what is “right” and “wrong”. It makes gender seem black and white, or pink and blue. In actuality gender is way more fluid then pink and blue. I think it’s important to try to eliminate this hostility towards having effeminate qualities.
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