Categories of Gender

 

From: Adalynn

Children’s media primarily features boys as the main characters in shows and movies. There is usually only one girl who is stereotypically feminine, and who acts as more of a sidekick character to the boys. As a result, little girls learn that boys are the ones that go on adventures, have ambition, and are in charge. If a young girl has ambition, she only has male characters as role models, and every female character is just there to look pretty. As Katha Pollitt explains in her article “Hers; The Smurfette Principle,” “Little girls learn to split their consciousness, filtering their dreams and ambitions through boy characters while admiring the clothes of the princess” (Pollitt 1991).

            In my photo, I chose to explain the two categories gender roles in media create, and how a young girl who is still developing ideas about these roles and how she relates to them will experience inner conflict. One creative technique I use in my photo is symbol. The items around the block represent different facets of the girl’s mind: she wants to be beautiful and feminine, but she also wants to have an education and career. The pink block is surrounded by makeup and hair products. These items symbolize femininity and beauty. This part of her identity aligns with what she sees in media. However, the items representing career, education, and ambition are around a blue block. Another creative technique I used was color. The blue block represents male characters in media, and the pink block represents female characters in media. The media the girl is exposed to divides traits and potential into a boy category and a girl category. The girl is conflicted and, therefore, is standing between the two categories. The last technique I used was foreground and background. The two categories are in the background and are blurry because the girl’s ideas about gender roles are still forming. They are malleable and are constantly being added to or adjusted. They are not yet concrete, but everything that she consumes and experiences from now own will make them increasingly concrete—including media.

 

Works Cited

Pollitt, Katha. "Hers; the Smurfette Principle." Hers; The Smurfette Principle. The New York Times, 07 Apr. 1991. Web. 24 Oct. 2022. <https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/07/magazine/hers-the-smurfette-principle.html>.