Parents often give toys to their kids based on their child’s
gender. For example, action figures are given to boys and dolls are given to
girls. The “Two Cultures” of Childhood suggests that children learn gender
schemas from their social environments. Also, that “gender schemas associate
maleness and femaleness with different attributes, behaviors, and objects,
defining “masculine” as rougher, tougher, and more active as feminine as nicer,
softer, and more passive” (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood). As a result,
“children have learned to avoid being seen playing with toys associated with
the other gender” (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood). I think that boys don’t
want to be caught playing with a doll so called a feminine toy because their
masculinity gets challenged and they get looked down upon. That’s why action
figures such as the one I took a photo of usually represent a dominant and
tough male figure to show these boys what masculinity looks like. “Gender
segregation in toys allows boys to develop different social norms and
interaction styles, and boys play styles reinforce those differences” (The “Two
Cultures” of Childhood). As a result, “boys become more likely to engage in
physical aggression” (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood). “In general boys tend
toward greater assertiveness, overt competition, and physically rough play in
their interactions with same sex peers” (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood). This
picture if more than just an action figure it is a symbol of masculinity. This
action figure represents masculinity because it represents the traits of
masculinity by showing strength and toughness. As a society we believe it is so
important for boy children to have a dominant male figure in their lives. That’s
why the action figure takes up a lot of space in the picture because it is the
main focus of the photo and society thinks that children need to have a
dominate male figure present. I think that parents reward their children with
these action figures as positive reinforcement.
Doing this captures the masculine behaviors that are being displayed by
the boy and they will keep displaying these behaviors of masculinity because
they are being rewarded. And finally, I believe that society looks up on male
gendered toys. For example, it is okay for female children to play with male
gendered toys but not the other way around. If a boy is playing with a doll he
is looked down upon and society negatively challenge the boy’s masculinity by
shaming him to show that being feminine is wrong.
Work Cited Page
Rudman,
Laurie A, et al. “The Two Cultures of Childhood”. “The Social Psychology of Gender : How Power and Intimacy Shape
Gender Relations. The Guilford Press, 2015,59-63.
2 comments:
From Carlie
In your blog, you state, “I think that parents reward their children with these action figures as positive reinforcement” I have to disagree. I believe that most parents don’t know any better and just get their child what is most popular for their biological sex. I also think that a lot of parents are uneducated on gender stereotypes which results into the cycle of our societies binary gender stereotypes. I notice that this action figure is resembling a football player with unrealistic muscles. This gives off the unrealistic body types for men, a lot of people don’t think of men having insecurities with their bodies, but a lot of men do and a lot of men pretend like they don’t. Most people think of girls when having body insecurities because girls are more open to talk about them than boys are, which is why boys are more oppressed with their feelings than one may think because society has trained boys to bottle up their emotions. Displaying an NFL football player is an important part of your picture because football is a sport mostly for men, even though many females love to watch football, females are not what you think of when talking about the sport. The action figures face is blacked out, which to me resembles how men can be blind to male privilege, and even when they aren’t most men don’t advocate for women’s voices. I notice the action figures body isn’t fully in the picture, his hands are cut off, which is a symbol of expression. Society defaults men to think that being masculine is being strong, aggressive, and well built, by cutting off the action figures hands shows the limitations toys have on young boys. Boys should be allowed to show all emotions just like girls and not be judge for it.
When I saw this photo, I liked how you took a picture of toy and relate it the article called, “The Two Cultures of Childhood.” When I saw this toy, I immediately thought of colors and symbols. In this photo, the arms and legs looks very large as well as the same size. It is impossible for a human being to look like this in real life. I can also see black and dark blue colors on this toy. The upper body of this toy is mostly dark blue and the legs of this toy is mostly black. When I saw the dark blue and black on this toy, I immediately thought that this is masculine. Also, in your photo, I see that the toy is wearing protective armor. This toy looks like he is ready to go to war. The symbol I thought for this toy is toughness. In your essay, I liked how you stated, “This action figure represents masculinity because it represents the traits of masculinity by showing strength and toughness. As a society we believe it is so important for boy children to have a dominant male figure in their lives.” I agree with this statement. I would to add on what you just stated. The reason why society believes it is so important for boy children to a dominant male figure in their lives because dominant male figures like to teach their children to not show weakness or emotion. Boys are supposed to be strong and tough.
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