From: Alexis
As we learned about in Chapter 5,
gendering of toys, activities, and even color (pink vs blue) is presented to
children almost as soon as they are born. Boys toys are geared more toward
action and girls’ toys are geared more toward domestic roles (Rudman). This
kind of gendering of toys subconsciously leads children in the direction of
what they will choose as their adulthood careers. Of course, there are outliers
in every statistic but there is an overwhelming percentage of men performing
labor intensive work and women performing domestic related duties in the
workforce. We give our little boys action figures, electric cars, tools, etc.
to play with and we give our little girls dolls, ponies, play kitchens, etc. to
play with. The physical images the toys give our children also have a large
influence in what they strive to look like. When boys see action figures with
large muscles and girls see dolls with slim hourglass figures, it becomes a
beauty standard they look up to. Giving little boys these kinds of toys teaches
them dominance, confidence, and problem-solving skills (Rudman). Giving little
girls these kinds of toys teaches them to be nurturing, patient, and care
taking skills (Rudman). Even the way we socialize our boys with other boys and
our girls with other girls is vastly different. When boys play they are
encouraged to go outside and be rough. When girls play they are encouraged to
play dolls or dress up. Boys are taught to be aggressive, go getters, and
independent from a very young age. Girls are taught to be selfless, kind, submissive,
and always “beautiful.”
I chose this photo of my little
sister, Sophia, age 6. She is pictured in her room playing with her collection
of dolls in front of an oversized Barbie play house. Sophia playing with and taking
care of her dolls and play house demonstrates the domestic skills she is
learning at a very young age. These skills in the workforce relate to
housekeeping, nursing, and caretaking (all predominately women filled roles). I
blurred out the background so that the focus of the photo would be on the toys
pictured. I also was careful to place Sophia close to center but not completely
centered. This shows that women are an important role in our society, we could
not survive without the roles they play, yet society does not make them priority
and often pushes them to the side making them less significant than men.
Lastly, Sophia is covered in dolls and almost blends in with them. I did this
on purpose to show that society overwhelmingly throws these things in the
direction of our girls and it’s hard for them to escape.
2 comments:
From: Jaycie
This picture instantly reminded me of my two nieces who own numerous baby dolls and barbie dolls. I was also instantly drawn to the giant castle which is a model of the ice castle Elsa builds in the movie, “Frozen”. I think it is very important that we draw attention to what kinds of toys we give to our children and how gendered these toys are. Playing with baby dolls encourages nurturing and caretaking skills. You would think that we would want both our boys and girls to be nurturing and to prepare them for potentially being a mother or father. However, baby dolls are almost exclusively given to girls. The toys we give to children help to reinforce those gender scripts that people, feminists especially, have been trying to dissolve. Young girls are given baby dolls and barbie dolls to teach them how to take care of children and make themselves pretty. Whereas, boys are given action figures, cars, tool play sets. The toys we give boys encourage them to be tough, athletic, intelligent but also aggression. This photo shows how girls are bombarded with dolls and other “feminine” toys at a young age and Alexis goes to relate this to the overwhelming percentage of women who perform domestic related duties in the workforce. (ex: nanny, maid, nurse) I think the fact that her niece has a Frozen castle also shows how Disney does influence children, especially young girls. I do not think I have ever seen a young girl not own something Disney or love Disney movies. Disney does not always provide the best scripts for young girls and I think it is important to note how big Disney is in distributing these dolls and providing the scripts for femininity for young girls.
From: Amanda
Alexis, you photo of your younger sister and the points you made about it were good. Your point about dolls vs action figures in particular is important because, aside from the size of some dolls, they are essentially the same toy. It is only because of the way children are trained that these mostly plastic figurines are played with differently by boys and girls. Growing up, the best way to get a rise out of my brother was to call his superhero action figures a doll. Even children know that they are the same thing, though most won’t admit to it.
Another thing in your photo your photo that spoke to me is Sophia’s Frozen play set. The fact that it fills up at least half of your photo speaks to its importance. When I look at it, I can't help but wonder that if Sophia stood up, would the play set still be taller than her? It’s magnitude in your photo brings to mind the extent of control that the Disney company has over childhood. It dominates over your sister's form in the same way that Disney looms over other companies that cater to children. Adding to my point is the doll in the left corner of the play set. Yes she is a Mattel Barbie, but in this case her “dream house” is Elsa’s Ice Palace.
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