From: Anelsa
As we Already know
Masculinity and Femininity are gender terms that identifies a man from a woman.
In society being masculine for a man is to be strong, tough and unemotional
while being feminine for a woman is to be soft, emotional and submissive.
However if a male were to have the traits of a female and vice versa
automatically society would judge them, in the picture above is a female
athlete aspired to become a female bodybuilder. In the eyes of society her
bodily appearance & aspirations would be viewed as too masculine/ manly and
that she should aspire to become something less masculine and change her
physical appearance to be more feminine in other words less muscular and more
softer .
From a very tender age a
female is thought what she should look like physically, how she should express
herself emotionally and what roles she should take on as a woman. According to
“The two cultures of childhood”, “segregation both encourages girls and boys to
develop separate social worlds or “cultures” characterized by different
activities, interaction styles and social rules”. Society has created a very heavy
construct of roles for men and women to break through and live freely to
express who they truly are as an individual. As a result they have to hide and
live in a black white light and space to keep their true personalities and
selves suppressed, even though the woman in the picture is displaying
magnificent body aesthetics through her muscle tone, structure, strength and
health she would still be negatively criticized as being too masculine. I
specifically chose this picture of an athletic female because I wanted to
switch the gender norms of masculinity to depict its attributes using the female
body. “Gender schemas associates maleness and femaleness with myriad different
attributes, behaviors, and objects, defining masculine as tougher and more
active and feminine as softer and more passive” (Martin and Ruble, 2004) As
society continues to teach what norms are suitable for a male and a female they
also consciously and subconsciously box each individual into a negative
construct of masculinity and femininity robbing each individual the right to
express their true personalities without having to be criticized or judged.
4 comments:
From: Halaina
I believe this is a great way to demonstrate the differences between femininity and masculinity today. Women and men are constantly being told how to act and how to look. For women, society tells them to have a slim figure while being fragile. Men are told to be strong and muscular to show their masculinity. If anyone decides to step out of these social norms, they are given negative sanctions from society. In my opinion, this is constraining to those who want to be different and step out of these norms. The rules that society makes limit a person’s personality as well as restrict a person’s hopes, dreams, and goals they have. The black and white color of this photo, I think demonstrates these restrictions on femininity and masculinity perfectly. Your photo also plays on the idea of what it means to be a woman and what is means to be a man. There are specific roles a man and a woman should follow. Society also tells people that they should never cross into the other genders roles or they aren’t a man or a woman. Most people will often state that she looks masculine because of having a muscular body. Society shapes our view of femininity and masculinity. Being a woman and muscular should not determine if you are feminine or not. Having this woman in an open area, not hiding from others shows how confident she is regardless of knowing the world around her may judge her for being different. The strong position she is in I think shows how proud and powerful she is. It seems to me that she is not afraid to step out of the lines and show off who she truly is, a strong woman.
From:Kacey
I agree with the point's in this photo. Just because this person wants to be a body builder does not mean she is less or more of a female. Yes her body looks very muscular like a man's but, she is still a female, wears makeup most likely and is in bikinis like most women. This photo does show how powerful and proud of her body she is. Yes it may be considered out of a social norm for a female to have such a masculine body and men could be intimidated by her due to the comparisons between women and men but, shes still a female.
From:Jaycie
This photo immediately drew my attention because of the woman’s physique. She is not what you would expect the typical female to look like as she is very muscular. Although you do see many female fitness models they are typically still very slim just with very toned muscles. The pose she is doing is one of which is typically associated with bodybuilders, specifically men and I think this photo and pose challenge femininity and masculinity in our culture today. This girl is not fragile or petite and appears to have larger muscles then the average man. I think woman are taught to be much shyer about themselves and are discouraged from displaying self-confidence. Whereas, men can boast about their bodies and personal accomplishments women are told to cover up or no one cares/they talk too much. So I really liked the fact that this woman was not only showing off her body in that she did not have a shirt on but also that she was posing in a way that makes her muscles appear larger and more defined. I believe the photo was put in black and white to show how women who don’t conform or wish to conform to society’s standards are often suppressed just as color is suppressed in this photo. I think a lot of people don’t realize how arbitrary our gender terms are. This woman shows how she is strong and muscular but, yet she still has a feminine frame and is wearing a skirt. Just because you choose to not participate in one gender norm does not take away your femininity/masculinity and does not hinder you from participating in other gender norms.
From: Nathaniel
This photo gripped my attention because of the physique of the woman. It's because it is not what you expect other females to look. In the photo, she is very muscular. You may see woman on social media, like yoga teachers, or fitness model look very toned but not very muscular. This photo is challenging femininity and masculinity in our culture. In our culture we are told that woman so be small and take up less space than a man. That only men can be body builders or to have big muscles and are told to take up more space. This photo challenges that culture. In the photo the woman takes up much more space than what the cultural norms would say. More so she is posing like a body builder would, like a male body builder. Show us that woman can be body builders. Woman are taught to be shy about themselves, Whereas, men are told that its ok to be displaying self-confidence. However, in this photo, the woman is showing that she is not shy to show of her muscles. The color in the picture is suppressed to show that woman are also suppressed. Woman shouldn’t be suppressed for expressing themselves no matter what it is. If a woman wants to show her muscles, then she should be allowed to without be suppressed by culture norms that surround them.
Post a Comment