From: Caitlin
In the photo, the beloved toy rabbit sits under a sheet in
the light. Soft pink fur and long floppy ears, this toy was the idea choice for
a woman’s young daughter to play with. The rabbit’s ears laid back behind its
head like the daughter’s long hair, easily letting her practice brushing it.
The pink fur the perfect color for the daughter to match with her dress-up
outfits. Soft and cuddly, the rabbit was the daughters favorite toy to cuddle
up to at night.
These design features purposefully marketed to the girl by a
company that would continue to mold her idea of what it meant to be a girl. In The “Two Cultures” of Childhood, Laurie
Rudman and Peter Glick discuss how gender based toys developed children’s
social rules. They state that boys and girls “extract general qualities that
distinguish masculine and feminine” (page 2). The photo draws on this idea by
focusing on what a typical girl toy looks like. The toy reflects many characteristics
young girls share, long hair and soft features. Due to the toy’s rounded and
soft characteristics young girls can easily associate it with a baby or smaller
child, leading to the idea that the rabbit should be played with gently and
carefully.
The focus of the photo, however, was to connect these young,
impressionable girls to the unrealistic standers that they will eventually be
held to. The rabbit in the photo is representative to a girl’s childhood,
innocent and unaffected by any standards. The overall photo is illustrating the
pressure to follow standards to be feminine. One example of this is the long
ears on the rabbit, girls are often told to keep their long hair or want to
grow it out to look more like their favorite TV character. Another example
being the rabbit’s covered face. This is to portray the feeling these girls
have when comparing their natural looks to popular movie and pop stars, wanting
to look more like their idols and ashamed of their own looks. Finally, the
light shining down leaves the rabbit’s body on open display. Young girls,
especially those starting to become young women, may often feel like a
spotlight is pointed at them. Focusing on each little mark and flaw, these
girls are made to feel as if there is no hiding from themselves.
2 comments:
McKenzie M.
I do agree with the point that you made about the pink fluffy rabbit being a symbol of innocence, as did I have almost the same exact toy when I was a child and the toy was definitely directed toward being a girl's toy. I do recall combing the pink fluffy toy’s fur and cuddling with it at night as well. However i’m not sure if I am understanding correctly that ‘The overall photo is illustrating the pressure to follow standards to be feminine”. The way I see it is that the rabbit is representing a young and innocent girl, the “girl” is being covered by a blue blanket which could represent a boy or a male figure, and that the “boy” is now covering the girl and blocking her from seeing the outside world and possibilities. These possibilities being her most true and her most desirable aspirations in life. There is also a lot of shadow useage and darkness surrounding the innocent rabbit, could this have a greater meaning? I am also not sure if I am agreeing or understanding your statement “Another example being the rabbit’s covered face. This is to portray the feeling these girls have when comparing their natural looks to popular movie and pop stars, wanting to look more like their idols and ashamed of their own looks.”. So the bunny is representing the young and innocent girl but how does the bunny looking away from the camera portray this exactly? Is the bunny being faced the other way supposed to hide its looks? And how exactly does this tie in with girls looking up to models?
From, Shaykiera
While I do agree with the most of the points that you had selected to discuss in your assignment, the only point in which I found difficult to fathom was, “The rabbit in the photo is representative to a girl’s childhood, innocent and unaffected by any standards.” In “The Two Cultures of Childhood” Laurie Rudman and Peter Glick debate this point of there being no apprehensive repercussions that deform a child’s perspective from enduring the sex and gender related boundaries that society has embedded into our culture.
Otherwise, your photo was executed marvelously and your overall composition was handled well.
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