I Wanna Be a Girl's Girl

From: Jenna

In my piece I wanted to demonstrate the interaction style between 2 females and how that shapes them within society. According to Tannen in “He said, She said: Gender, Language, and Communication”, females tend to emphasize sameness, in comparison males tend to stress differences between one another (Tannen). We can see in this photo that the 2 models are very close together and they are even matching outfits. The younger model is looking to the older one painting her nails and making a face that is meant to signify admiration. The models are also both wearing pink which traditionally represent femininity. Not only is the younger one copying the older one’s clothes, but also teaching her how to paint her nails and essentially “be a girl’. We can also observe the important of sharing for girl in terms of interaction styles based on “The ‘Two Cultures’ of Childhood” essay (Rudman 59-63). Looking at the image, the two females are sharing the nail polishes as opposed to one hoarding them to themselves. This is of importance because it represents a sense of togetherness, they are bonding over sharing with one another and doing this activity together. We can even think back to the class discussion about toys for girls/boys and how they differ. We must note that many toys for girls and boys mimic adult things such as tool kits, kitchenettes, makeup, guns, etc. In this photo we can see the young model painting her nails and copying what the other model. This is her learning that painting nails was something that women do and to be a woman she must learn how to paint her nails. Thinking of the bigger picture here, it isn’t just about nail polish, it about the value placed on the appearance of women. The same message is reinforced by the clothing choices of the 2 models. The younger model observes the older model wearing pink then using that color to represent her own femininity. There are 2 lines throughout this image, one is going horizontally whereas the other is vertical. Where the lines are meant to intersect, the younger model is standing there which lead to eye to look at her. As previously discussed, I also used pink to categorize the two models as female to represent the connotation many have to the color.

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.
Tannen, Deborah. He Said, She Said: Gender, Language and Communication. Into the
Classroom Media, 2013.