This image is of my little brother kneeling behind some pillows with a Nerf gun. A Nerf gun is a boy's toy. It is encouraged for children to play with the toys of their designated gender. Like most boy's toys it encourages rough active play. The gun shoots darts and allows for aggressive projectile firing play. It enables kids to role play as a soldier. This sort of role play prepares children for a future occupation. Playing an active role and being heroic are common themes for boy’s toys. This toy prepares him for the role of the protector.
In the foreground, you will notice there is a pillow fort. He rises above this and rests his gun on top of it. He is not curled up hiding behind it, but instead he leans over top it. This is a powerful stance. Both the pillows in front of him and his shirt are white. The color white represents innocence. This sort of childish play is a pure and innocent activity.
The composition of the photo makes him feel powerful. The framing and angling lead to this. He takes up a lot of the frame. This make him appear large and powerful. The shot is angled so that you are looking down the barrel of the orange gun. The orange is a stark contrast to the white pillow it is perched on. The camera angle and color emphasizes the gun in the picture. This also leads to movement in the picture. When you look at the photo, you first look at my brother, then your eye is led across to the right following the gun to the focal point on the right side of the picture. In the background, you will notice the lines of the bed. These lines parallel the movement of the picture. This going along the grain relates to the theme of the picture. He is playing with boy’s toys, which is going with the grain of gender norms. Going along with gender norms is encouraged by society, and for this reason he was depicted powerfully in this picture.
6 comments:
From Tina:
The bright orange color of the nerf gun makes it look more powerful because, as soon as I saw the photo, it drew my attention completely to it. Not only a nerf gun, but any kind of gun is considered a boy’s toy not a girl’s toy because is seen as too dangerous for little girls. Kids are learning based on the toys that they play with; thus, a gun teaches boys that they need to be tough and always be ready to protect others specially girls. He is taking most of the frame of the photo as a way of symbolizing that while he is holding the gun he is the one in power. It’s really interesting the way he is holding the gun because it represents that he is not afraid of anything and it seems that he is taking pride in what he is doing. This essay relates to the reading The “Two Cultures” of Childhood because it explores how gender-based toys influence children into deciding future careers as in this case the gun encourages him to choose a profession based on his gender because boys are supposed to be strong and girls are supposed to be fragile. Even though children might not realize it and they see it just as a simple game while they are playing they are learning what is appropriate for boys and girls. Everything in his room is dark blue because that’s the color that society has set for boys thus he is filling the role that society has set for him.
From Tyler:
This photograph definitely represents the idealism that one way gender norms are pushed on us from a young age is by the toys that are bought and presented to us to play with. I believe that a play gun is one of the least gender neutral toys that there is as it often represents violence and power, something that is associated with men typically. The gun is the first thing that catches your eye in this picture with its bright orange color. Orange is a powerful color and often stands out among others. The way that he is posing with the gun is also intriguing because it is a stance that is seen by army figurines or that of a police offer. Again, individuals in the military or some type of similar occupation are commonly males who possess some type of ambition to be powerful and have a "tough guy" role. Another thing that i noticed about the photograph was that the majority of the background was a dark blue color and i believe it made the orange gun pop out even more and turn the majority of the focus to the gun. This photograph and photograph description makes a good point that was brought up in "X A Fabulous Child's Story" as the reading states that little boys and girls couldn't tell the difference between "X" because he played with toys associated with both genders and didn't discriminate against any color. Even before looking at the child's face in the picture you determine that it is a young boy because of the toy he chose to play with and the colors of his blankets he or his parents chose to be put in his room.
Boys are taught very different from girls in how to act or hold themselves, they are taught to be tough and to act cowardly is discouraged. In society's eyes the male's sole purpose is to be a protector, always be tough and for the love of god do not show any sign of emotion. Young boys learn their role in society through toys that allow for violence, action and toughness. You go down a toy aisle for boys you will not see one bit of pink and rarely ever see a soft plush toy. Even the name for boy's "dolls" are called action figures. Key term "Action" which means they are always athletic and tough. Their toys are almost always featured with hard plastic and display a powerful character. This gender script from males prevents boys from being young and may cause them to grow up faster than necessary. By taking away the privilege of being emotional from young boys we are taking away their chance to be kids and work through their problems. In this picture the young boy's hair which is a little wild symbolizes his youth and his playful side showing even though he is acting tough and powerful behind those traits he is still a young child figuring out where he stands in society. The gun on top of the pillow exhibits the contrast between his soft innocence as a child and the hard-tough pressure society puts on his shoulder. Whether a child is a boy or a girl, there should be no expectations of gender and repercussions were violating any gender expectation. For a parent to put such pressure on a young boy to be tough while only being 3-18 years old in my opinion is ridiculous. Let's focus on what is more important for our children their safety and growth and throw away gender scripts all together!
From: Sahra
This picture really hits home when it comes to young boys and their hobbies while growing up. I grew up with mainly boys and the majority of their toys were guns or violent video games. In the picture, you see the unmade bed and that is very likely to see in a boy’s bedroom. Boys’ rooms are not as well put together as you would see a girl’s room. The young boy has messy hair and that portrays and easy going, laid back, carefree look. If it were a girl in the picture, the room would be a bit cleaner and her hair would be a little more neat and in place. The boy is taking up about 45 percent of the picture and that draws attention to the fact that he is and feels more powerful because he is holding the toy gun. Many games boys play are violent, gory or it is more on the athletic side. I see the pillow being symbolized as comfort and stability because he is resting a weapon on the pillow and he looks like he knows what he is doing with the gun so it looks like his comfort zone. The angle of the picture make the gun look larger than what it may be. To me, it just symbolizes the ongoing gun violence we are experiencing and majority of that gun violence is caused by men. If boys were not as conditioned to play with action figures and with toy guns, I believe that the gun violence will decrease as the years go by because the boys will have other things to do and other games to play.
From: Sahra
This picture really hits home when it comes to young boys and their hobbies while growing up. I grew up with mainly boys and the majority of their toys were guns or violent video games. In the picture, you see the unmade bed and that is very likely to see in a boy’s bedroom. Boys’ rooms are not as well put together as you would see a girl’s room. The young boy has messy hair and that portrays and easy going, laid back, carefree look. If it were a girl in the picture, the room would be a bit cleaner and her hair would be a little more neat and in place. The boy is taking up about 45 percent of the picture and that draws attention to the fact that he is and feels more powerful because he is holding the toy gun. Many games boys play are violent, gory or it is more on the athletic side. I see the pillow being symbolized as comfort and stability because he is resting a weapon on the pillow and he looks like he knows what he is doing with the gun so it looks like his comfort zone. The angle of the picture make the gun look larger than what it may be. To me, it just symbolizes the ongoing gun violence we are experiencing and majority of that gun violence is caused by men. If boys were not as conditioned to play with action figures and with toy guns, I believe that the gun violence will decrease as the years go by because the boys will have other things to do and other games to play.
When I look at this photo I see aggression based on his posture, he seems like he’s ready for war. Guns in general are considered a boy’s toy not a girl’s toy because it’s considered dangerous for young girls. Kids are learning based on the toys that they play with; thus, a gun teaches boys that they need to be tough adapt and learn in different ways as they are growing up, one of the ways they learn is through the toys they play with. Guns teach little boys that they are in control and from the looks of the picture, he seems like he was ready to protect or defend something. In the image he overpowers a huge portion of the frame of the photo which symbolizes that while he is holding the gun he is the one in control and power. If you pay attention to the way he is holding the gun because it shows that he is not afraid of anything and it seems that he is proud of what he’s doing. Overall, this essay relates to the reading The “Two Cultures” of Childhood because its exploring how gender-based toys influence children decision on future careers and through the photo its teaching him that he is supposed to pursue careers involving violence like being in the military, as opposed to female toys teaching women to beach submissive and fragile. Children don’t recognize the box that society sets for the to be put in at an early age and through this picture it shows how kids are influenced to be a certain way.
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