Girls Fighting Against Gender Norms

From: Valerie

Children are raised in a society where there is a clear boy and girl ‘box’ difference, boys grow up in a world revolved around competition and strength where as girls grow up in a world revolved around cooperation and being sweet. Although these are the gender norms children are raised in, it does not mean they follow these rules, in my photo the little girl is going against the gender norms and how society believes the way girls should act. In both “Two Cultures of Childhood” and “The Smurfette principle” the authors show society’s beliefs on gender norms and how they affect children. In the “Two Cultures of Childhood” article it states “Competition permeates many of boy’s- more so than girls’- play activities. Boys are more likely than girls to construct and engage in overtly competitive games (Often between teams of boys),” this shows that boys partake in more action and tough games whereas girls play activities. Another quote from “Cultures of Childhood” is “In contrast to boys’ interaction style, girls tend to avoid competition or aggression. Girls more frequently engage in cooperation exchanges with each other. Negotiate sharing arrangements and take turns without interrupting.” This quote shows that girls are raised to act a different way from boys, as well as to act different through playing activities. Through “The Smurfette principle” the author shows how sexism is learned from a young age by stating “The sexism in preschool culture deforms both boys and girls. Little girls learn to split their consciousness, filtering their dreams and ambitions through boy characters while admiring the clothes of the princess.” The dreams and ambitions of young girls are deferred from boys’ ideas and subjects them to have different goals with their futures. These gender norms are not portrayed in my picture because the little girl is acting in a boy’s world of competition shown through her act on boxing and not wanting to follow the gender norms dreams of being a princess.

Shown In my picture are multiple creative techniques, which are symbolism, line, foreground, background, gaze and camera angle. The punching mitts (on the right) symbolizes society and the little girls punching gloves (on the left) symbolizes the fight for neutralizing the gender stereotypical aspects that many young girls and boys face. The little girl is fighting against the norm of girls being sweet and dainty as opposed to boys being aggressive and strong, she is showing that girls and boys are equal by participating in what society defines as a man’s sport. The color of the littles girls’ gloves are pink which is the color that society associates to girls, so she is showing the color representation of being feminine and girly in the eyes of society. The punching mitts being larger than the boxing gloves symbolizes how society’s power influences gender stereotypes.

The line between the green and black flooring in the background is tilted at an angle; The right side is angled down, and the left side is angled higher up. The horizontal line represents a scale and that the right-side weighs more with more power and the left side shows a lighter weight with a less powerful object. The right side with more power is the punching mitts representing society verses the girls punching gloves representing the fight against gender norms on left side with less power.

 The focus is the little girl boxing with a more masculine outfit on; The shirt says “I am” placed inside of dog tags which represents strength, with her hair tied up and a determined face. The first thing the audience looks at is the scene in the front of the boxing gloves and punching mitts.

 The background is not the focus of the picture, but it does show the setting taking place in a gym, which is a more masculine environment because it is a place to gain strength and society portrays men as stronger.

 The little girls gaze is towards the punching mitts because she is showing her determination to fight. She is not looking at the camera because she is focused on the society and fighting against the norms. Although looking others in the eyes shows power, she is not looking at the camera/audience because she is showing power towards society rather than the audience.

 The camera is angled down on the fight because it is deemed as negative that a girl is partaking in a man’s sport. The camera being angled down shows how society and the people in it view girls going against gender norms is not accepted and belittles the idea. The picture being taken from a higher angle and looking down shows a scale of power and society is portrayed as more powerful in this picture.

Pollitt, Katha. “Hers; The Smurfette Principle.” The New York Times, 7 Apr. 1991.

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.