From: Tyler
Gender norms are
a set of rules that a majority of society follows. We are taught these rules
from a young age from doing things such as being given a certain type of toy to
play with, wearing a certain type of clothing and even the Halloween costumes
we pick out as children based on the interests that have been pushed on us.
This picture
shows two children’s Halloween costumes and the “gender norms” each costume
implements. On the right you see a boy
dressed up in a superhero costume with the advertisement for “muscle chest”
with the boy posing like a bodybuilder would. The superhero is also green, a
color considered to be masculine. I positioned the costume packaging for the
superhero or “male” costume higher than the costume packaging showing the
little girl dressed as a fairy to represent how gender norms teach us that men
are typically stronger, more powerful and above women in the social hierarchy.
The costume packaging showing the little girl dressed as a fairy reinforces the
gender norm that females are supposed to present themselves as feminine. The
costume the little girl is wearing is pink and light blue, a color combination
that is typically associated with females. Her pose is also a big factor in my
point, while the boy wearing the “male” costume’s pose is that of a masculine
body builder flexing his muscles the girls pose has a very inviting and
innocent look to it.
As stated in
Rudman & Glick’s “Two Cultures of Childhood”, gender schemas become part of
a child’s identity, influencing children’s preferences, attitudes, and
behaviors as they strive to act in socially appropriate “masculine” or
“feminine” ways (Rudman & Glick 59-60). The picture shown perfectly demonstrates
Rudman & Glick’s point. Young boys would be prone to picking a costume that
reflects that of masculinity and power while a young girl would be prone to
picking a costume that reflects that of femininity, wanting to look pretty and
innocent.
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.
1 comment:
From: Chad
I can definitely relate to this photo because it was similar to my first option for this assignment. The photo is spot on for the topic he chose, which is gender norms. Gender norms as we all know is a set of rules that society tends to follow. I like the way Tyler demonstrates his topic with the two Halloween costumes. He positioned the hulk costume a little higher than the sesame street costume. At first I was confused, but then I realized why he positioned the hulk costume higher than the sesame street costume. He explained that society has taught us that men are typically stronger and more powerful in the social hierarchy. I just thought this was a more settle and obvious way of showing that. I didn’t think about it until I read this, but Halloween stores are a perfect example of gender norms. I would highly recommend going to one if you were interested in seeing society distinguish between masculine and feminine. Overall, it reveals another example of what society has considered more masculine and feminine. The example I used was different, but I think we were both trying to convey the same idea of how society pushes certain interests on adults and children. His idea was with clothing and mine was with cars.
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