A Split Decision

 

From: Justin

 As children, we are conditioned into groups in society in various ways, whether it be the way we are dressed, the way we act, or even the toys we grow up playing with. The toys that we grow up playing with we are placed into gender roles, which dictate our behaviors throughout our lives. In the reading “The ‘Two Cultures’ of Childhood”, it is described that children are segregated by the means of their activities that affect their interaction styles and the social rules they follow. With this segregation, children develop gender schemas that are subconscious associations that we make that attribute to what actions and behaviors are “male” or “female” actions. These schemas become a sort of identity for these children which can influence their preferences, behaviors, and attitudes. The segregation of gender aids in the types of toys that children show preferences for, but also influences the way that the children themselves play. The boys traditionally play with more masculine toys, such as trucks or action figures, that are hard and sharp which reflects the idea that boys are more “rough and tumble”. Where girls are traditionally seen as “softer” when compared to boys and play with feminine toys that are smooth and soft, such as a stuffed animal or Barbie. In my photo I have my sister who is 5 years old, a very impressionable age, choosing between toys that would traditionally be seen as masculine (construction truck) and toys that are traditionally seen as feminine (dollhouse and ponies). This represents the idea of the gendering of toys and trying to break the barrier of “Gendered Toys”. In the photo my sister is the main subject of the photo, wearing traditionally female-colored clothes and looking down at the toys she is debating on choosing. Her focus on the traditionally feminine toys is a reflection of society and how we do indeed gender our toys towards whatever gender our children are, rather than her looking at the traditionally masculine toy. The use of color is shown in the colors of her clothes and toys she is with, which (un)coincidentally is pink, a traditionally feminine color! The symbolism behind my photo is that some children are given a choice in what toys they play with, but due to external variables such as media, they are drawn to the toys that are repeatedly gendered in our society.