From Alicia:
The subtopic that I chose is “Two cultures of childhood”. The author represents how genders act differently from each other at a young age. We learn how to act in different environments by how we have raised and the things that are around us. In the article, girls are softer and more nurturing because that’s how our mothers raised us as girls to be “feminine”. While on the other hand, boys are more aggressive and “tough” due to their fathers in the household. The author of the article states that “gender schemas associate maleness and femaleness with myriad different attributes, behaviors, objects defining masculine as rougher and tougher and feminine as nicer and softer and more passive.” (Martin & Ruble 2004). In our society, some stereotypes include gender schemas that show how girls are weak and fragile showing it through toys of divided genders.
I chose 4 creative techniques to show in my photograph which are symbolism, gaze, color, and camera angle. The first one that emphasizes the picture is color, the color shows the purity of the definition of the picture and shows contrast into the girl culture of the color pink. I washed out the other colors to emphasize the color pink to show how the stereotypical color for girls is pink. The baby doll colors are girl colors because we don’t usually see girl dolls as boy colors such as red or blue. The femininity of the color of her pink pants, shoes, and shirt to show the gender. Next, the other creative technique that I used was the camera angle of how the baby is looking down at the baby to represent nurturing as to take her of her child as mothers do for their children. The camera angle shows the power of the photo and to see she looking down as a mother figure as a loving person. Then, the next creative technique I used was gaze to show the readers what the picture is about and to see what the center is. When people see this photo they would automatically see the girl holding a babydoll but the gaze shows how the girl is dressed, how she holds the babydoll, and her reaction towards it. Lastly, the creative technique I used was symbolism. The photo of girl culture emphasizes the meaning of what it’s supposed to be by using a different technique of color, center, and background to define gender. We create our symbols of work to show what the meaning is. The symbol is showing the values of what you think of this photograph and coming up with your meaning to what’s described of gender. In the article “Two cultures of childhood”, the author states that “Girls tend to stick to pretend play that involves domestic or school-related roles” (McLoyd, 1983). In my photograph, the girl is showing the soft and nurturing side towards the babydoll as it the mother of the child to protect her and cherish her with love. By the gender schema theory (Ben, 1981) children learn gender schemes that are being represented by the social environments and they become of the self-identity contributing to children’s preferences.
Works cited:
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.
3 comments:
Thanks for the informative report.
From: Bonnie
The little girl playing with a baby shows that girls are meant to be nurturing, soft, caring. Taking the photo from above signifies society looking down on females that are in fact nurturing, soft, and caring. Society sees the role of a stay at home mother as a less significant job. When in reality raising a child is one of the most significant and tough jobs there is, whether it be male or female teaching the child to be a person that is a respectful, confident, compassionate member of society. By showing the background of the tile floor, this could represent that they are inside playing quietly, while boys are thought to be outside playing their rough and tumble games.
From Alexis T
As a child, it was very obvious which activities were “girl” or “boy” activities. I learned extremely fast to play with the girl toys if I had any hope of fitting in. As an adult, I had not realized how much the gendered activities of my childhood had affected me. It has been ingrained in me that females as supposed to take on a maternal role, while men were supposed to be tough and strong. I truly believe that both genders are capable of much more, but it is still a difficult idea to abandon. I love the use of color in your photo as it was the first thing I noticed. When I first saw this picture, I immediately associated it with girls because the color pink in society has strong connotations to femininity. The color takes up most of the photo, and by highlighting only the pink, it emphasizes girl culture and genders the toy as female. The camera angle shot from above captures the soft gaze she gives to the baby doll as she looks down. I think that it is interesting that she has developed a gentle nature at such a young age. The picture further suggests that girl toys emphasize the nurturing, maternal role.
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