Learning while Playing

 From Tina:

In this photo you can observe my two-year-old nephew in just another day of play time. The colors of his toys are mostly red and black but there is not a single toy that has even a touch of pink on it because that is not what society sets as “normal” for boys. He is only two, but his mind is like a sponge and is already learning in what kind of activities he needs to be interested on based on his toys. All his toys are sharp and rough because that is what society expects from boys as stated in the reading The “Two Cultures” of Childhood, “Consisted with the general theme that boys are rougher and girls sweeter, boys’ toys (and masculine objects more generally) are hard and sharp, whereas girls’ toys (and other feminine objects) are soft and smooth” (Rudman and Glick 60). Following with this statement you can observe the appearance of the real tools all the real tools have dark colors and are sharp basically representing masculinity. He is trying to change a wheel of his toy quad but if you observe carefully he is using his dad wrench to change the wheel because although he has an exact same toy wrench he decides to use the real one, because that’s what his dad uses when he is fixing his car or things at home. He is already associating his toys with male jobs such as mechanic because how many female mechanics exist. Even Marshall his favorite plush pup is representing a firefighter, a job that requires a lot of strength and valor just the qualities that a man is supposed to have also both of his cars are representing again a firefighter and a police officer, both professions consist in protecting and rescuing people. This types of toys and form of playing is teaching children that they always must be the tough ones and always protect everyone else. As Rudman and Glick illustrate that “These different forms of role-playing reinforce traditionally gendered adult roles and the enactment of stereotypically masculine traits among boys (physical toughness, leadership, assertiveness . . .)” (61). While children are playing they are learning how they are supposed to behave based on their gender. I took the photo from that angle because is a way of representing that society is always watching his choices and decide whether those choices are appropriate or inappropriate for a boy, I did not clean the deck to take the photo on purpose because it represents that boys are tough and is perfectly fine for them to get dirty, but is a total different story when it comes to girls because they are too delicate to get dirty. The sticker of his toy quad is a symbol of superiority because it says king instead of prince encouraging boys to aspire to be more powerful. The photo was taken early in the morning because as soon as he wakes up the first thing he does is start playing, thus is symbolizes that for kids play time is so precious because that is how they learn.  

Works Cited

Rudman, Laurie A., and Peter Glick. The Social Psychology of Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations, The Guilford Press, 2015, pp. 59–63.