This photograph depicts my younger sister, Cora James, sitting on the bed with different clothing types surrounding her. I will be using this photo to demonstrate that gender scripts are encouraged in children, one of the Learning Objectives for the course Gender and Sexuality Studies.
On one side of the bed we have dresses, heels, and jewelry. On the other side we have a Fire Service uniform, boots, a football jersey and a baseball hat. I used the element of symmetry and contrast to show an imaginary line between the two types of clothing. This photo was taken at a higher elevation to imitate the idea that children will look up to society, or older role models. She is looking for social cues and the scripts that she is to follow as a girl. The color of the items is also something to note, as the left side has dark cool tones, while the right side has warm and bright tones.
Without even saying anything, it is evident that the left side is masculine, and the right side is feminine. This is instilled in us at a very young age, as we look up to the peers of our gender and establish social scripts. We teach children that you must be a part of one group or the other with no gray area in between. This picture shows my sister involved in a small part of both sides as she is holding in one hand a fire fighter’s Service Dress Uniform hat, and in the other a pink high heel. What is not evident in this photo is that all articles of clothing on the bed come from the same closet and belong to her older sister.
Fashion and clothing is a major aspect in American culture, and many people use it to express themselves. Practically all events that we attend have an implied dress code. It would be unspeakable if a man were to try to wear a dress or makeup to a social event. Actions of others force men to conform to one image of masculinity. If members of a gender attempt to test the boundaries set by society, they get shamed back the tight unforgiving boundaries of that box. Little girls will see the norm for women to be a dress with heels, bright colors, form fitting material and anything that draws attention to female assets. Little boys look up to their superior male figure and will presumably see someone dressed in a business suit, some sort of uniform, or loose dark clothing.
In the excerpt “X a Fabulous Child’s Story” everyone who encountered the child wanted to know whether it was a boy or a girl. The whole story was about categorizing X in one box or the other. Everyone in the story believed that child X had an identity problem and the parents were insane. Because child X was not conforming to gender scripts or roles, X was not limited one set of rules, toys, clothes, or behaviors. As a result, X was free to do anything that would generally be classified as only for boys/girls. My photograph expresses a similar theme by exposing my sister to both scripts and by allowing her to be apart of both.
In conclusion, children are encouraged to dress and act a certain way based off scripts and cues from peers and adults. By minimizing the gap between genders and encouraging similarities between boys and girls we can teach children to be themselves and not feel pressured or forced into one category or group.
Works Cited
Gould, Louis. X, a Fabulous Childs Story. Daughters Publishing Story, 1978.
Saraswati, Ayu, et al. Introduction to Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Approaches. Oxford University Press, 2018.
2 comments:
From: Florida
The photo is well used to represent gender scripts in children. There are a variety of elements used to convey meaning. By looking at the background, you can see that the color is mostly gray. The color gray is created by mixing white and black. The color white is mostly used to represent purity and innocence, while the black is used to represent strength, and power. The color gray is usually used to represents formality, being conservative, and lack of emotion. In the photo, the color gray is used to show how the little girl has not chosen a side yet. She is not dressing in a feminine or masculine way. The center of the picture is a space that separates the masculine and the feminine side. The little girl is sitting because, at her age, she is not the one taking the decision on how to dress. The parents are the ones in charge of educating her. If we look at the right side of the photo, we can see the clothing is usually associated with women. Women clothes have a wide variety of colors, different styles and more accessories. One of the accessories that calls my attention is the pearls. In some countries, pearls are used to represent purity, innocence and in some cases even tears. If we think about tears, girls usually cry because they are not able to measure up to the beauty standards. The left side represents more masculine clothes where the color range is relatively smaller. It was an interesting photo to look at. It is sad to see how society shapes little kids in a way where they have to follow the standards to avoid getting negative reinforcement. Nowadays is hard being a kid there is not a lot of space for imagination.
From: Jennifer
The approach to this photo effectively displays the ways children are raised to follow certain gender schemas. The child is dressed in black, a neutral toned color that can represent a blank slate for the child as she has yet to learn a certain schema. She is also shown to be much smaller in the photo than other elements. This represents the amount of conditioning she’s gone through to learn to act or be a certain type of way. Since she is still extremely young, there is room for her to learn much more. The child is also seen clutching items from both the masculine and feminine side and she seems to have a sort of confused or indecisive look on her face as if trying to decide which side she belongs to or which side society will accept as the “correct” side she belongs on. Although there are distinct differences between the assumed masculine and assumed feminine side (dark vs. light colors), there is some variation. On the masculine side, there are mostly dark colors but some pops of color and some white clothing. On the feminine side, the colors are mostly bright or white, but there are some black and dark colors. These integrations can represent an attempt at variation and diversion of strict gender roles. These variations, although subtle, can represent an ability and some hope in break gender norms.
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