From: David
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 opened the door to cataclysmic changes in gender scripts. It mandated equal treatment of the sexes in any school or educational program receiving direct or indirect federal funding. One of the most conspicuous results of Title IX has been the exponential growth and competitiveness of women’s sports at the local, national, and international level. One prime example is the astounding success of women’s soccer. Stars such as Mia Hamm, Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, Julie Ertz, and Megan Rapinoe are household names. They are increasingly imitated by adoring hordes of female soccer players who are exposed to their idols through the mass media and marketing of toys. One of the most idolized stars is Alex Morgan nicknamed “Baby Horse” by her teammates for her speed, running style, and youth.
When a young girl searches for an additional toy in the aisles of big box stores, she might come across a doll of Alex Morgan on the lower shelves of the Barbie section but well away the other Barbies. These “regular” Barbies stand rigidly up-right and are dressed in outfits representing traditional female gender schema vocations or encouraging “grown-up” clothes and beauty make-up. Alex’s pose is strikingly different, and the designers of the packaging surrounding Alex used creative elements that markedly differentiate her from the other Barbies.
Alexis is kicking a soccer ball. She’s not idly standing on the sidelines. She’s an “action figure” like a boy’s G.I. Joe doll. Being an action figure among the plethora of frozen Barbies makes Alex singularly unique and resonates with budding soccer wannabe. Alex is positioned in the forefront of a packed soccer stadium. Her positioning relative to the crowd gives her dominance and power. In addition, she is playing before a huge audience unlike the other Barbies whose packaging houses a doll with no surrounding audience. Alex is a star to the crowd. The stadium has strong horizontal and vertical lines representing the competing pressures on Alex to be her “own person” while living in a culture that is only begrudgingly ceding males’ status of power. At the same time, the stadium has a strange enclosed roof. Is this symbolic element used to communicate the struggle that Alex has in living out her desire to be her “own person” or is it the artist’s need to fill the space above the stadium?
Alex, the soccer star, wears the number 13. True to life, the doll also wears the same number. 13 is historically considered an unlucky symbol. Yet, often the best player on a team covets being assigned number this number. Therefore, Alex is symbolically recognized as the best player on the team. Her colors of her uniform are the traditional American red, white, and blue, symbolically a nation icon. It is also symbolically significant that the strips on her shirt direct the viewer’s gaze to her face and her brain rather than accentuating her body. The use of this creative element sets Alex apart from other female dolls whose primary asset is their physical attractiveness.
Alex is looking directly at us. The use of this creative element lends power to her presence. The viewer is at the same eye level as Alex giving equality to the relationship between Alex and us.
We can only imagine a young girl in the doll aisle imploring her parents to let her take Alex home. Upon introducing Alex to her other dolls, our excited child is crest-fallen to discover that Alex, the action figure, has no one to join her in a soccer game. She must symbolically play alone.
Reference
Rudman, Laurie A., et al. “The Two Cultures of Childhood,” The Psychology of Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. The Gilford Press, 2015, 59-63
1 comment:
From: Sydney
Hi David, action figures of women and girls are always an interesting case study. You did a really thorough job of explaining why Alex Morgan’s doll is influential, and I like that you examined the creative elements within the background image of the box! You did a great job explaining the symbolism of your photo so I will try to see if I can pick out a few other creative elements that you utilized. The first thing I noticed was how colorful the action figure and the box are in comparison to the white wall and beige table. I think it was a good idea to select a nondescript background because it keeps the viewer’s attention on the action figure and the box. Obviously the action figure is the most important thing, so having a dull background makes it stand out even more. I noticed you took the photo up close, leaving very little extraneous elements to distract the viewer. I mentioned this on another post with an action figure, but doing the up-close photo helps with action figures because they are very small in the grand scheme of things. In order to give the figure additional impact, getting the angle right matters. I am curious if you intended to incorporate the creative element of “line” into your photo because the table/wall and the box containing the figure are going in opposite directions. To me, this communicates that the doll of Alex Morgan is a disruption to the normal flow of things. Based on your research, it does seem like her doll is not your standard Barbie, so it would make sense to use line in this way.
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