From: Alexa
From a young age, girls are expected to conform to their traditional gender roles and these rules are still expected in adolescence and adulthood among most young women. The idea of traditional gender roles between girls and boys are prominent through the different behaviors, activities, rules, etc. that are introduced to us at a young age. In our reading, The “Two Cultures” of Childhood, we are informed that “children learn gender schemas from their social environments… and that gender schemas become part of self-identity” (Rudman, 59). Since these gender schemas can impact an individual’s own self, we grow up thinking that girls are only interested in makeup, they only know how to be emotional, and they can’t do anything outside of the house, while boys are interested in sports, are aggressive, and can do everything that takes strength. This could be adopted at a young age when little girls observe their mother or sister dress up in pretty clothes and wear makeup, whereas little boys might observe their father or brother watch sports and act tough. Having the mindset of being trapped into the traditional gender norms that our society sets forth can be hard for adolescent girls.
American culture plays into the idea of women having to be vulnerable and nurturing, while also showing how beautiful they are. Around adolescent age is when girls are testing out different hobbies, activities, and who they want to spend their time with. Many girls are sometimes stuck in the middle of wanting to choose, or, they want to step outside of the traditional gender norms, testing out more “masculine” ideas. Something that our article informed us on was the difference between masculine and feminine in our society that defines “masculine as rougher, tougher, and more active and feminine as nicer, softer, and more passive” (Rudman, 60). This is something that my photo highlights.
My photo specifically focuses on the differences between the socialization of girls and boys in U.S. culture. My photo’s purpose is to show how deeply teenage girls have to think when choosing between different hobbies of the “two genders,” while not conforming to the traditional norms. I wanted to showcase the two different, stereotypical sides that are in place in our society for boys and girls. I have the teenager in my photo positioned from behind and in the foreground, having her hands on the table, and looking down to choose what she wants to do. Having her in the foreground shows that she is the main character of the photo. Looking at the background, one side of the table has makeup, perfume, jewelry, high heels, and a rolling pin, common objects that symbolize femininity, the other side has video games, weights, tools, and a baseball bat, common objects that symbolize masculinity. From a first glance anyone from our culture would be able to tell that the side with makeup is for girls and that the side with video games is for boys, based on gender roles and norms. If you look closer at the photo, the female side is darker than the male side, with both sides having an emphasis on them. I decided to do this to show that there is always the option of going outside of the gender norms; if a girl wants to play with more “boyish” objects, she can, while still having the option of choosing the other side. I chose to enhance the color on the objects to show the typical pink and sparkly color for females, while having colors such as red and blue for males, showcasing the conformity within the objects on the table. The darker colors in the corner highlight a feeling such as breaking through a trapped door of gender norms for the teenage girl. Lastly, I wanted the camera angle to be even with her in the photo to help the viewers get an understanding of what decision she is going through, not having it pointing down at her to make her feel misunderstood or looked down on.
I hope that this photo helps us all understand that we can do whatever makes us happy, no matter if that’s breaking through our gender norms or sticking with what we feel is comfortable.
Work 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.
4 comments:
All our lives we are steadily conditioned into following the gender norms of our society. Females are taught they need to dress, act, and appear feminine as well as needing to be interested in feminine activities. Men are taught they need to appear masculine, be rough and enjoy masculine activities. Just as Alexa’s picture depicts with the dark, shadowed corners, this conformity seems to take over our lives. We have to make the decision daily whether or not we want to follow along with these norms and have the threat of not fitting in or being ridiculed if we do not. Alexa depicts this daily decision by centering herself in the photo and having feminine items on one side of the photo and masculine items on the other. It almost seems that she may be leaning towards the masculine items ever so slightly, but that she isn’t quite sure which choice she wants to go with. The dark shadows really help depict how daunting our decisions on following these norms really are. It seems like we’re trapped and boxed into only following the set ways of society that there is this fear ingrained into us that we could be ridiculed if we are a female and happen to enjoy things that are deemed masculine and vice versa. The camera angle also really plays a strong role in the depiction of her photo. The picture is taken from behind her and you can not see her face. This gives us the idea that she is being watched in her decision making, most likely from society, to be sure to makes the “correct” decision.
From: Lily
Hi Alexa. I think you did an amazing job with conveying the message you were trying to capture in the picture you had taken. Simply by moving the lighting differently, you were able to create this sense of drama, as if it was life or death trying to choose whether the girl was going to pick the video games/boys stuff or the makeup/girl things. You explained that in American culture, that these ideas that people can adopted about having a bad sense of openness can come from generations and that people are taught to be that way. The way you placed your model gave us a clean slate of what she might look like. She could have more feminine facial features or male facial features which can alter what someone might think that person might like. Also, having her dressed in a regular black tshirt makes it so that we can't assume that she might dress more like a girl or more like a guy. This made me think that we are so ready to judge and make assumptions in this life. Amazing job!
From: Sam Eisenhart
Hi Alexa, breaking these gender norms and doing what makes us happy without having to worry about if it will be seen as taking away our masculinity or femininity is a great goal for people all over the world. You photo demonstrates how certain objects are stereotypes towards girls and others as boys. When I first glanced at the image, I immediately noticed which side was the boys’ side and which side is the girl side. Which is because of the stigmas drilled into our head from such a young age, even as adults. Which falls into, The “Two Cultures” of Childhood, meaning the gender schemas amongst girls and boys. For example, women aren’t seen doing much construction as a career because it is seen as a masculine job, and women should not be doing that sort of work due to the danger. If you were to put a hammer in front of a 4-year-old girl and a hair brush you would see the little girl pick up the hairbrush to play with. If you asked her why she would tell you because the hammer is a boy’s toy. The “these things are for boys”, and “these things are for girls” is what drives the separation creating two cultures. Another thing about your photo that really gives a deeper meaning is the lighting. There’s always a meaning behind it, and in this case the lighting is colliding with your tittle “Stuck in the Middle”. When you hear the word stuck you think something is daunting you, it is hard, a hard decision and the lighting is highlighting the two choices and has a gloomy effect. In the image the girl is standing in between the two stigmas, the boy toys and the girl toys almost as if she is trying to choose which ones she wants to play with. She does not want to condone or follow these stigmas anymore, but at the same time she is “stuck” with going out of the social norms which would cause an issue amongst others. Overall, you did an amazing job and you can really see that the girl is trying to break the stigma drilled into her head but, she is “Stuck in the Middle”.
From: Emily
This photo shows us the power dynamic between what is in the foreground and in the background. Having the girl in the foreground tells us that she is the main focus and has power/control over what is in the background. The differences in the girl's side and the boy's side shows how hobbies and activities are also influenced by gender stereotypes.
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