Limits of Gender Norms

From: Dustin

In my photo I chose to capture an image of a toy box with toys for boys and girls to illustrate the way activities for young children are limiting and targeted in order to enforce the learning of specific skills and ideas based on gender. As one can clearly see in the image, the toys for boys are all very action oriented, with remote control vehicles and nerf guns being the most prevalent for play fighting or competitive activities like racing, teaching boys to be competitive and aggressive through pretend combat situations. On the inverse, toys for girls are all very similar without much variety, in the picture here dolls are what I chose to utilize primarily as that’s what I feel comes to most people’s minds when thinking of girly activity or toys for girls.

The way I’ve angled the camera is intentional, as from this angle more weight is given to the boy toys as they take up most of the space and sit more forward to the camera in the image. As can be seen, the toys for boys create a mountain compared to the girl toys that are literally overshadowed by this powerful presence of aggression and enforcement of the idea that girls should stick to their own toys and activities and play amongst themselves, as the boys and their intended play is often treated as being too much for or unfit for the girls. The organization of the toys is also meant to be symbolic of ideas associated with boys and girls, with the girl toys all being organized more thoughtfully and neatly with cooler colors to indicate the more social and quiet play girls are encouraged to take part in.

The boy toys are thrown in haphazardly and not organized whatsoever, with very bright and aggressive coloring to indicate boys being associated with power and more rough and uncaring traits. If a little girl were to put her toys away in such a manner or play with the toys intended for boys, she would likely be reprimanded as this behavior is considered unladylike and boyish, something a young girl has been taught to feel ashamed of as she’s supposed to conform to the societal mold of what it means to be a girl.  If a boy is more reserved and would rather engage in quiet play, especially if done with girls, he would likely be seen by his peers and some adults as a sissy or weak, likely being reprimanded in a similar manner for acting girly or any other number of terms that are intended to be emasculating and make him conform to the standard of what boys are supposed to be like. This is illustrated very clearly by The “Two Cultures” of Childhood which states “Gender schemas become part of self-identity, influencing children's preferences, attitudes, and behavior as they strive to act is socially appropriate ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ ways (Martin & Ruble, 2004).” (Two Cultures, 1 & 2)

There is a clear difference between the two groups, with a very visible division segregating the two types of toys as children are often encouraged to or are sometimes forced to make playgroups among those of their own gender with toys intended for them. While the boy toys don’t have a ton of variety shown in the picture with the focal point being the brightly colored nerf guns and a remote control vehicle in the back, there are definitely more than the single type of toy shown for girls, being exclusively dolls.