The Hulk and The Princess‏

from Brandy
This is Tori and Christina, both 3 years old, playing in Tori's room. I believe this picture does a good job in illustrating becoming gendered in childhood. You may be able to tell that Christina and Tori are not brother and sister, and that they are in Tori's room. They are both only-children. You can see from Christina's expression and scrunched up position she isn't very comfortable in this room. From Tori's room you can see that he has grown up playing with Spider-man, Hulk, and Transformers. This explains his aggression in the photo, which to him is how you're supposed to play. Christina on the other hand, seems overwhelmed by all the “boy” toys as she clenches her princess doll she brought over with her. Note that the center of the picture is actually just white wall. The image is divided into two sections which represents the division of girls and boys. Tori is standing and is closer to the camera which makes him look bigger and stronger. Christina isn't taking up as much space, making her seem less powerful. The size of the children in the picture represents how men are seen as more powerful then women in our culture. Even at a young age, they boys are taught to be more aggressive and loud, while the girls are taught to sit and be more polite. The colors in this picture also represent the differences in boys and girls. All of the boys objects are red and blue and he wears a football shirt. Christina is wearing all pink with her hair in pig tails. Whether parents realize it or not, they are really teaching their sons and daughters to be gendered from the day they are born through toys and playing styles.

Complex

From: Kelly
I chose this pose to demonstrate how men are less likely to know what to get a baby than women. Women usually take care of newborns- changing diapers, feeding, and bathing. Men are more known as the workers that bring home money in the household, rather than the care-taker. The tee shirt he is wearing shows his laid back personality. The confusion and scared look in the male’s eye is demonstrating how clueless he realizes he is. The different products show how many choices there are in baby nipples and bottles. The rows of items double the confusion this male has to deal with. Not only does he have to know what to buy, he has to know what brand and what size and what type to buy. He is not looking at the camera because he is so focused on the items in front of him. Looking at the items in his hand show his thought process on which item may be the best. The reason he is holding just the top of a bottle in one hand and the whole bottle and top in the other illustrates how he is not sure if he needs the whole thing or just the top. He is overwhelmed in his expression, in the items he is holding, and in his surroundings.

Male Dominance & Aggression in Solo Creative Play‏

From Rebecca
Perhaps the first thing you notice is what Kalab is wearing and how it sticks out against the background. He is wearing all blue, a color that is associated with boys. The background is mostly green and brown, combined it is often known as camouflage, which is normally associated with the Unites States military and is predominantly male. More specifically in the background you see two shadows from the trees. The biggest shadow runs diagonally through the picture and appears as one of the most dominating elements of the photo. A shadow in psychology represents weaknesses and shortcomings and its dark shade could insinuate something evil or scary. It presents itself as a line not to be crossed. With his feet stretched apart at the edges and his upper body hovering over the shadow, creating an isosceles triangle, Kalab's position at the triangle's peak suggests dominance and power. The expression on Kalab's face portrays anger and aggression, as he is on the offense and willing to oppose. Both of his arms are grasping the large stick pointed at the sky, asserting authority over the shadow. It's evident that Kalab did attack the shadow as a piece of the large stick is in motion at Kalab's right foot, making a declaration of his strength.

It's MY Helmet

From: Shawn
In this photo, you can see that two-year-old Branden is already learning where he belongs in terms of gender and what he wants to do when he’s older. Branden's refusal to take his brothers helmet off is a big sign that playing football may very well be in his future. Branden sees his brother play football so he wants to play as well. In terms of gender socialization, Branden is falling in the typical gender role as a result of his social learning. His gender role is learned through the reinforcement and encouragement he receives from his family. Also, besides the focus on the helmet, the poster on the wall obviously shows that Branden is not in his own room. This implicates that Branden is hanging around older boys (in specific his cousin), which will strongly have an affect on his gender socialization and perhaps even his behavior in the future. Lastly, the picture was taken looking downwards so that Branden is looking up at the camera, implicating how he looks up to others as his role model.

Tough Guys Can't Sleep Peacefully‏

From: Jacob
This is a photograph of my girlfriend’s little brother, Elijah, lying in bed. The most noticeable aspect that I included is the overwhelmingly blue atmosphere. Blue is the color designated for male infants and is socially understood as a representation of boys and men. The blue in this picture represents the amount of pressure that boys face to conform to typical gender roles. I asked Elijah to pretend to be asleep but look as if he may be having a nightmare. The grimace on his face shows that most kids are unhappy with having to conform to societal ideas of proper gender behaviors. Also, he is sleeping with a sword. The sword represents strength, protection, and even violence. Elijah has the sword held close to him like a teddy bear, but his hand is still on the hilt ready to defend himself. This shows that the feeling of strength is most important to him, and he is prepared to prove his male dominance if challenged. The sword can also represent his desire to protect himself from the overwhelming “blue” of masculinity. Although he is learning how to act as a tough guy or a real man, the fact that he is holding it so closely symbolizes the underlying, unspoken desire for males to feel emotionally close to someone or something. The sword replaces a teddy bear in the sleeping child’s arms which shows a move away from the neediness and innocence of a boy to the independence and steeliness of a man. I chose to include a bunch of his Pokemon cards in the picture as well. Pokemon is a card game, video game, and television show about kids trying to capture and train wild creatures. The kids, called trainers, capture each Pokemon in a separate ball and train them for battle. When it is time for battle, they let the Pokemon out of captivity and make them fight other Pokemon to be able to say that they are the greatest trainer. There are many different types of Pokemon with each having individual traits and identities, but they can all be captured by the same kind of ball. This represents the encapsulation of boys into a defining idea of masculinity although they are all different. They are stripped of their individuality by attempting to climb this social hierarchy to become the alpha male or “real man”. The Pokemon cards are used for battling which teaches boys that, by enslaving and manipulating others through violence and physical domination, they can show everyone how tough and strong they are. Even the slogan for Pokemon, “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” is a direct order to prove manliness by conquering weaker foes. The pressure to conform to the idea of masculinity is detrimental to the growth of boys and contributes to the degradation of the male species in our society. I’m different, and I am sad for everybody else.

Seeing the Standards

From: Emily

Here we have a picture of a girl getting ready. She has her make-up out and contacts. Her glasses are just thrown carelessly in the pile of her never ending make-up. All you can see of the girl is her reflection. You only see this part because, to her, it’s the only important part. It only matters who she can make herself into that important. In regard to the picture she only takes up a small part of it. The objects around her are more important to her. She is not looking at us, this shows she is not confident in the person she is without being fully done up. The fact that her glasses are thrown is important too. Society has a problem with them, so she got contact to look normal like everyone else. While doing all this she doesn’t look very happy. She does this to know that people will find her pretty. She might not enjoy doing all of this, but she knows if she doesn’t then people won’t like her or won’t find her attractive. The reflection of her is blurred; you can’t see anything that might define her as an individual. The girls nowadays all look the same. There is no way to tell which is which. The girls all try to look like people in the media because they feel that’s what everyone should look like. It the picture the lights are bright so she won’t miss anything. If she doesn’t have all these lights she might not be able to see that a piece of hair have falling out of place, or that her make-up isn’t perfect. I took this picture at an angle to show all the girls’ make-up and things she has out. In the mirror you can see that she is looking into another mirror. The other mirror is a magnified mirror, with another light built in. On the smaller mirror she is looking in, there is an even smaller mirror! In this mirror you can just about see every pore on your face. When girls need to see all their pores up close there have to be a problem.

The Fairest of them all‏

From: Felicia
In the picture you see two year old Kaitlyn. She is enjoying her play time pretending to dress up like her doll. She is wearing a ballerina tutu, her favorite dress up item and putting on pretend make-up and perfume. From the photo you can see that even at two years old she loves the color pink. She also enjoys taking care of her baby doll Kai Lan, a character in one of her favorite television shows Ni Hao Kai lan. I took the photo at floor level because I wanted to show the proportions as if I were playing with her. It is also shot off focus to blur her features. The section of the text book that I used as a bases for this photo was “Becoming Gendered: Childhood” I vividly remember the section discussing children’s toys and how gender is socially constructed from a young age. In my opinion this photo embodies that message.

The Looking Glass Girl‏

From: Patrick
I chose to deal with the subject of girls learning adult roles. I choose the young girls face to be obviously apparent in the reflection of the mirror because as she is relaxing watching a cartoon she's faced with the view of her mother applying makeup. The mother is epitome of womanhood to the young girl; therefore, seeing these noticeable differences gives doubt to the young girl. The mother applying makeup teaches her what is needed of her to be considered a woman by society standards. The reflection of her face in the mirror is one of self doubt, she knows that there is no makeup on her which will inevitably lead her to apply makeup in the future so she will ultimately feel like a woman. While her mother is looking at her own reflection, she is unaware of the flaws that her daughter is picking out due to the fact that her mothers reflection differs immensely.

Princess To Be

From: Lauren D
The media has a big influence to younger children and society. Children start to have a stronger knowledge of gender stereotypes then an educational one. In this picture, I’ve shown that young girl’s toys have been portrayed by the media. These toys are not only feminine and pink but they feature the Disney princesses on them which are shown by the media. When children watch these films, they start to behave like the characters are made to be. Girls start to wear make-up and dress-up because they recognize the good looking features and how the girls catch the male's attention by their beauty. In this picture, as you can see is a Disney character doll laying down and tucked in because females are to have the nurturing and loving role. The picture has a brighter view to it because I wanted to show the colors that females are custom to.

Learning Motherhood

From: Laura

I chose to do my assignment on how children learn adult roles from their parents at a young age. This picture describes a domestic task, which a little girl has learned from her mother, and she wants to be just like “mommy”. The little girl sees her mother cooking and taking care of her so, she plays house and does the same thing with her baby dolls. As you can see I took the picture from higher up so the kitchen looks as if it was real. The lighting is very bright to show a symbol of happiness because most women enjoy being the ones to take care of housework. The fridge is open showing that the little girl already knows where to put the cold items and in the sink is the dirty dishes. This also shows how the little girl knows where the food is supposed to be in order to cook it. While she is doing all this cooking she is still making sure that the baby is being taken care of (getting fed and staying calm while getting house work done).

Defying Traditional Gender Roles‏

From: Megan
This is a photo that I took of my older brother Matthew cooking, while my nephew Paul plays along. You can see that Paul is clearly imitating his father's movements, watching closely and mimicking the way he is both holding and cutting the green pepper almost exactly. Even his toy food looks like a green pepper - he chose one that looked just like his dad's. This displays how children learn through observation. What fascinated me about this image was that it defies traditional gender roles, as women are traditionally those expected to spend time in the kitchen cooking and take care of the children in the home. My brother is an aspiring chef, and with this goal he is helping to show my nephew that men can cook too, and do not have to fit into certain categories when it comes to profession or lifestyle.

Beauty: A True Obession‏

From: Kayla
My photo takes a look at some of the things that girls buy in order to accomplish being beautiful. Today’s girls obsess constantly over the way they look. Most of that is a direct reflection of how the media portrays what beautiful looks like. From magazines to nail polish, girls have everything possible to make them “pretty”.


To capture the viewer’s eyes, I placed three Cosmopolitan magazines in the middle. They are the line which draws eyes to them first. These magazines are like bibles to females all over America. They are placed in the middle of the picture because all of this “beauty” revolves around the media and what it tries to depict to young females. Everything around the picture can be found somewhere in each of these magazines. To demonstrate this, the size of the magazines is larger than the other items of the picture. Their proportion of the picture is much larger than the other smaller items. Since all the items are directly affected to each other, the picture was taken in a circular shape to show the flow of the items. The items are all placed in a collage type of way and not giving much space in between the items to help represent their relationship to each other. The picture is taken directly above to give a direct look at the items. The colors of the picture are bright because beauty products tend to be colorful and bright to draw the consumer toward them.

In conclusion, I took a picture of “beauty items” surrounding three Cosmopolitan magazines. Girls start young and start playing with make up to be just like the girl they see on television. It can become an obsession to just keep trying to be beautiful and some girls will eventually get lost in that. The picture symbolizes how these magazines, along with other media, show to young females that you need to go out and buy everything in order to fit their ideal of beautiful.

An Education in Beauty‏

From: Annie

In this photo, we see Arlene, a seventeen year old girl, waxing her legs. Though this may seem like a normal occurrence, it is also startling: the process of waxing literally rips the hair from one’s legs and, though she should be in a considerable amount of pain, Arlene is wearing an innocent and anticipatory smile. This is suggestive of the fact that, though beautification methods are often both ridiculous and harmful, women have become numb to the pain and rigidity of conforming to beauty standards and instead choose focus only on the “perfect” outcome. While Arlene’s bedroom may seem average at first glance, the use of her typewriter as a footrest is noteworthy. She appears to have completely discarded her education in favor of beauty and is instead using her intelligence as a mere prop; a decoration. The fact that she has thoughtlessly thrown a white, childish thong on her typewriter shows that her immature sexuality carries more worth and power than her education. Much like the thong, Arlene has prominently displayed a sexy black nightgown in her room. The dress takes up much of the frame, suggesting that Arlene has learned to believe that her sexuality is her most powerful asset. One of the more disconcerting aspects of the photograph is the fact that she has used her easel as a clothes hanger for this dress. Arlene is shown to have completely suppressed her creativity in favor of beauty and sexuality, and yet she still wears a satisfied smile. Paired with this distorted accomplishment is the angle of the frame: its position is oddly skewed, mirroring the distorted worldview we instill in girls every day. Though we hear talk of education reform in public schools every day, the real change we must implement is the teaching of girls how to be women.

Stepping Out of the Box‏

From: Stephanie
Today’s society says that girls and boys have gender roles. Girls are supposed to dress in pink, play with baby dolls and kitchen sets. Boys are taught to play sports, video games, and with action figures. It’s almost forbidden for either gender to cross the fine line between the two. I chose the picture because it shows that a girl can still be a girl and enjoy playing sports. It also shows that not every girl is afraid to step outside the box or cross the line between gender roles. This picture is more of a reality because there are plenty of girls involved in sports like cheerleading and gymnastics. In the picture the little girl is painting her nails to show that her playing sports doesn’t mean that she will be any different that a girl who doesn’t. she still enjoys doing things girls who don’t play sports do, like going to Build A Bear Workshop, and Strawberry Shortcake.

Xbox 360, Drill, Toy Gun‏

From Christopher
This photo represents several objects that society and the Media associate or stereotype about being masculine. The background of the photo plays a role in masculinity; it's the color that is associated with being male. Society today uses the color blue for newborn baby boys; as well the color is used to represent boys in photos as well as other things. The drill in the photo represents stereotyping of men, saying men are the only ones who are good at fixing things. Media also reinforces this stereotype; almost every commercial or magazine ad shows or demonstrates a male fixing something. The toy gun can be associated with Learning Adult Roles and Gender and Toys from the text. In learning adult roles messing with a gun can lead a child into the occupation of law enforcement or military services. For Gender and Toys, toy guns are mostly used by boys because mothers won;t let their girls play with guns, believing their only for boys. The Xbox 360 and Call of Duty video games relates to the text about Facilitating Male Aggression, and some stereotypes about males. From the text; both Call of Duty games are war games and very popular among males today since they enjoy realistic games. Stereotypes saying boys like violent video games and show more aggression aren't true in some cases; some boys prefer racing games that don't have any kind of violence, and are not violent themselves.

Baby Boxed In

From: Karen
In today’s society children grow up in a box. This box consists of the stereotypes that the world has formed for men and women. In my photo, there is a baby doll, the baby doll represents the innocence that young boys and girls are born with. The environment around the baby doll is that only made up of the body images and gender stereotypes that world makes public for children to compare themselves to. In my photo you will see a variety of things. Some include sex and money, which makes up most the entertainment industry today. This industry controls what children see and hear on radio, billboards and television today. Because of that young girls grow up comparing themselves to the skinny, busty women smoking a cigarette. Young boys bulk up in order to look like their favorite television idol, who takes muscle supplements. Other important parts in my photo deal with body image, like cellulite or weight. I choose two photos that really depicted this. One is from a magazine that is talking about how these young celebrities are fit, but still have dimples on their legs. I think this is important because these are people that I look up to and instead of saying that no one is perfect, tabloids criticize these beautiful women’s bodies. Growing up as a little girl and seeing that would make me think, “this is not how women should look”, and that little girl will go to extremes to be skinny and dimple free, even if it kills her.

Building into Masculinity

From: Cara
My photograph is of a ten year old boy named Jesse playing with Lego’s. His father is an architect and bought him Lego’s to play with when he was younger. He plays with them in his spare time. The Lego’s are blue, red, green, and gray which are all considered masculine colors and his parents bought these intentionally to mold him into the male role. Parents encourage gender- type play. He has been socialized to Lego’s as being for boys and not girls since his dad builds things all the time for his job. Jesse is building tall towers, houses, cars, trucks and helicopters which are masculine occupations. Notice how the angle of the picture shows how intent he is when he is working by focusing on what he is doing. Men become very focused on the task they are working on. Jesse is in sixth grade and research shows that by this time boys are “aspiring more traditional masculine occupations” (p. 196). He is large in the picture to signify how boys are trained that men are strong and masculine. They are in control of their life and situation. “Boys are granted their autonomy and control at an earlier age than girls are of the same age group” ( p.196). Boys have to adapt to social norms because there are social sanctions for people who do not follow the rules. Boys who do not conform to the norms are made fun of and belittled by their peers. The pink picture with flowers on it hanging in the background is a symbol of the female influence of the mother image that is always in the back of boy’s minds. Mother’s nurture their sons when they are young and boys appear to “unlearn affectionate responses” as they grow older (p. 195). Jesse is building into masculinity in order to be a successful male adult.

Who is for 'Beauty' and who is for 'Brains'?‏

From: AS
My above picture projects two children posters in the front and a book shelf in the background. The two children posters have boys and girls building and arranging things. The poster on the left shows a little boy working on Abacus which indicates the creative side encouraged during the development of boys. The little girl in the same poster is arranging numbers which shows the development of feminine nature of arranging and decorating things. In between the two posters is the background which is covered with books, and there are names of the months written on each book shelf which project the meaning that there is a significant age gap between the children in the two posters. The books also signify the difference in knowledge between the children in the two posters. The poster on the right has again a little older boy hitting the toys with a hammer which portrays the expected notion about boys from the society to construct and build things. However, the girl sitting beside him has long hair which can be observed as a marked difference between the girl in the earlier poster who had short hair. Since the society expects girl to be beautiful, her long hair suggests the significance of beauty and delicacy, as she gets older. She can also be observed as arranging blocks and helping the boy, which again shows that girls have always been encouraged and have been expected to act delicate and pretty among her peers. It is also observed that on the left poster, it is written 'Math' and the girl's face is not shown and only the boys face is shown. This shows that men are always considered the face of technology and women are considered a face for beauty. The minority representation of girls in the Math and Science field is the result of the comparatively low encouragement and exposure given to female kids than male kids in their young age. However on the right poster, it is written 'Table Toys' where both girl and the boy are facing the camera as both are encouraged to play anytime. This can be taken as a very important observation in the Gender Socialization and the development of learning capabilities among boys and girls.

Mass Media and Adolescent Girls‏

From: Gerilyn
This photo symbolizes mass media's influence on teenage girls. The photo represents adolescent girls' abandonment of masculine hobbies and interests as pop culture has a growing impact on their values. Closets are often used to hide unwanted or shameful objects a person owns, in this case the closet symbolizes the oppressed masculine interests of many teenage girls. The skateboard and softball glove hidden in the back of the closet symbolize "tom-boyish" hobbies girls tend to abandon in adolescence. The dresses hanging from the closet, heels, and magazines take up most of the frame showing how mass media has such a huge influence on teenagers. The more feminine clothing and colors such as, the pink sweater and heels represent the influence and drive pop culture has in encouraging young girls to abandon any signs of masculinity in order to be liked. The feminine objects throughout the photo, and even surrounding the skateboard and glove, represents how mass media dominates over most other influences in teenage girls' lives influencing everything from their choice of clothing to their hobbies.

Toddlers and the Media‏

From: Julia

In my photo, I focused on young children and how the media is affecting them according what is truthful and what is fiction. I took the photo as if looking down at my daughter, symbolizing the dominating effect the media has on children. I have my 4 year off to the right, symbolizing that everything in the middle is more important and the unreal reality that young girls feel. I hung a Hannah Montana poster behind and higher on the wall, and placed a guitar in the front. This is symbolizing the false reality that many children like my own; believe they don’t have to anything except be a rock star when they are older. I also placed half dressed Barbie dolls in the middle; this is because the media gives children the belief that they must be Blonde skinny and sexy. This is happening to my 4 year old already. Behind my daughter I placed a few books thrown on the floor behind her. Insisting that school work and learning is not as important as being beautiful. Behind the Barbie’s I placed some baby lotion and a pull up, symbolizing these children are still very young and should not a such a young age be subjected to the stereo typical behavior of women.