Defining Masculinity

 

From: Phillip 

Masculinity has taken many different shapes and forms, others may share my belief such as how; often words carry the same meaning, but I think what defines said word can be open to interpretation. Not to preach or say words should loose meaning. Sure, we all have a broad idea, concept, or belief of what should be the definition of our “word” in question. Hang with me on this, I do have a point to all this. Being a tough guy is something I never thought I’d be contemplating but at certain points in my life I’d overhear others say that you must withhold certain feelings or traits, be cold, be assertive, and for the most part I ignored it. 

Through meeting people at AACC, partaking in different clubs, it’s helped me meet a variety of individuals. I’ve been fortunate enough to befriend and meet all kinds of people. Take the two people in this photo for example.

Looking at this photo gives me a mixture of feelings, though I find it perfectly meshing with my definition of masculinity. I must be aware it may be contradictory to some people’s per-view. Of course, all you can do is take my word but while one may fit the more stereotypical “masculine role” the friendship I’ve shared with them has punctured my previous interpretation/belief of what/who can define masculinity. 

It's not limited to a specific BMI or the type of clothing you wear, or what emotions you allow or don’t allow yourself to express. While I won’t define my interpretation of masculinity, I encourage you to test your beliefs by not limiting masculinity to a specific gender or sex. 

Codes of Gender in Children

 

From: Erin

The subtopic I chose to discuss is the ways in which gender scripts are encouraged in children, specifically in toys and even items of clothing. In the beginning of Module 5, we read a part of an excerpt titled “The Two Cultures of Childhood” written by Laurie Rudman, she highlights key parts of childhood in which society distinctly separates “boys” and “girls” toys. In the “Toy and Activity Preferences” section of the article Rudman talks about a study in which “Researchers transformed a “My Little Pony” by shaving the mane (soft girlish feature), painting it black (a tough color), and adding spiky teeth (an aggressive demeanor)” (Rudman, 60).This part of the reading allowed me to understand that there is such an expectation for young boys and girls to like toys and activities specifically scripted to their genders. Even if they are terribly similar in attributes Children still understand the codes scripted to them. Another statement by Rudman was that miniaturized human figures allow all children to engage in fantasy role play. With, children very much do know the difference between a doll and an action figure, and these children would not play with the opposite sexes toys as their physical appearances are scripted to be “designed” for a certain type of child to engage with.

In the left half of this picture, we see the egg breaking and collecting toys that is popular in the toy market. It is very noticeable to show which egg is scripted to be for a boy and which is scripted to be for a girl. We can see how the egg on the left side is rough around the edges and the dinosaur is showing his scary teeth to show aggression and appeal to young boys. While as you can see with the egg scripted to be for a young girl, it is shiny, smooth, pink, and even the animals you can see on the label are perceived as extremely cute and cuddly. On the right side of the picture, we can see again the similarity between the boots as both being rainboots and can be worn by children. The script of genders is very visible here as we see the spikes around the handles of the boots and the dinosaurs which are an interest to young boys rather than young girls. And the boots on the right side are shown having hearts as the handles and the pattern of hearts running down the boots with pink and purple colors shows a very feminine script. 

I used creative techniques in the photograph to further show the scripts of genders in children. As you can see the “feminine toys” are seen a little more blurry than the “masculine toys” to show how men and masculinity are at the forefront of this society and how femininity is pushed back to side and not seen as visible to others, the creative technique was used by the camera angle and allowing the focus to be seen on the young boys toy. I also used the creative technique of taking up space. It is seen in the left half of the picture that the egg on the left, scripted for boys, is taking up a lot of space in the picture.

Works 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.

The Ken Paradox

 

From: Bek

Growing up as a girl, I understood the significance of Ken as his own entity separate from Barbie. Ken could wear only his own clothes and shoes, never the extravagant and beautiful Barbie clothes. He fit awkwardly into Barbie’s car and seemed too big for the Dreamhouse. Upon being bestowed the role of Ken one could count on the familiar ring of “I wanted to be a girl doll”. No one ever wanted to be Ken, and those who did relinquished him to the background of the story. Ken became synonymous with Barbie’s boyfriend, or Barbie’s brother, or some other unnamed character that would only be picked up with the offhand when necessary. As I grew further into my teenage years and abandoned my Barbie dolls, I seemed to have forgotten the strange litany of feelings that accompanied Ken. He was secondary, Barbie was the star. Yet, my set of dolls would feel incomplete without his presence, as if there was a critical part of the story missing. In my adulthood, through reflections of my own playtime as a child and in caring for young girls as a nanny, I have seemed to stumble upon the conundrum which Ken exists – what I call, The Ken Paradox.

The Ken Paradox can be defined and understood as the space in which Ken sits as a crucial aspect of Barbie play while simultaneously being “other” and hence unwanted. I observed this phenomenon firsthand as I nannied for parents with a set of twins (a boy and girl, age five) and an elder sister (age eight). The image I selected best represents the idea of The Ken Paradox, which serves as a poignant example of the “Two Cultures of Childhood” model which sets boys and girls as living in two separate cultural spheres in adolescence (Rudman 59). More specifically, the idea of The Ken Paradox provides some insight into the ways in which girls are socialized to reject and move away from “boy culture” while at once recognizing the superiority of it within common society. When given the choice, neither the younger nor older sister chose the Ken doll as their primary toy. But perhaps more interestingly, neither did the boy. As he sought to assimilate briefly into the girl-centered world of playing with Barbie dolls, begging his sister to play, he was met with immediate resistance. When the resistance finally weaned, he was told he may only be the Ken doll, regardless of his preference because “boys have to play with boy toys”. Rudman cites this as the result of gender schema, which develops early on and creates associations between what is considered normal or typical for each gender. Through society’s perpetuation of gender roles, these ideas become synonymous with what is “good” or “bad” for a child to enjoy or seek participation in (Rudman 59-60). In the case of the young girls and boy playing with Barbies, they all have long understood that certain toys are for boys and others are for girls. As the boy ventured outside of his perceived gender expectations to be included in the play, he was met with the perpetuations of his sister’s gender schema. This is demonstrated through both his and his sister’s gaze, a technique I employed to convey this message. As he looks solemnly at the Ken doll which he did not want, his sister glances at him with confusion and a sort of anger at his denial to adhere to the roles in which his gender has placed on him. His sister’s play remains in the background of the image, centering on the idea that although she might hold more power within the dynamic of doll play (she is looking down on him), his play is still the central message of the image. The perpetuation of gender roles and schemas in early childhood creates a separation between boys and girls that is always felt. These beliefs distort personal feelings of self and identity, which are captured in the blurred nature of the doll within the boy’s hands. Although he wanted to take the role of being a girl within their play, he was denied and forced into the expectations of his gender identity, not allowing him to come into ideas of his own self through discovery but rather presumption.

The feelings and ideas that surround Ken demonstrate that girls and boys are surrounded by cultural norms of gender roles. In this sense, Ken exists as a mirror into the ways women are meant to see themselves in contrast to men. Men are strong, they are different, and they are necessary for a happy life in the Dreamhouse. Girls should not aspire to “play” the roles of men, and boys should not “play” the roles of women. This is a drastic enforcement of the “Two Cultures of Childhood” as discussed by Rudman, which permeates youthful development.

 

Works 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

Memory Boxes

From: Naomi

My photo is of two boxes side-by-side. The box on the left is a memory box, filled to the brim and overflowing with birthday cards, letters from friends, souvenirs, and gold ribbons. Next to it is an identical box, yet it holds very different contents. The box on the right contains neatly organized eyeliners, eyeshadows, lip-glosses, blushes, and other forms of makeup. The goal of this photo is to illustrate the transition from childhood to teenage years that young girls make, in which they quickly fall victim to expectations of rigid femininity. For many young women, memories of their teenage years are defined by their physical appearance: what haircut they had, their makeup routine, which products they used, their proficiency in their makeup skills. These memories differ from those of early childhood, where girls are more free to make memories without worrying about their eyeliner or lip color. This change occurs because from a very young age, most of the representation little girls see in TV and movies is made up of feminine teenage girls who only exist as extensions of their male peers who take a more important role in the story (Pollitt, 1991). This is the “Smurfette Principle” coined by Katha Pollitt, and it helps to explain that young girls grow into societal pressures of aesthetic beauty and rigid feminization largely due to the media they consume from a very young age.

One creative technique I used in taking this photo was color. The box on the left, which represents memories of young childhood, is much more vibrant than the one on the right. What especially stands out is the gold ribbon. Gold has the connotation of achievement and helps to convey the message that little girls are often encouraged to achieve and explore, yet when they grow older, they’re expected to conform. The box on the right that represents these later years is much more dull. The only color that really stands out is the bright pink tube of lip-gloss. What I wanted to illustrate was that when teenage girls are allowed to stand out, it is often only through hyper-femininity.

The other creative technique I used was line. The contents of the box are unorganized and are stowed away somewhat haphazardly. In contrast, the box of makeup is neatly organized; the brushes and eyeliners form parallel lines, and none of the items are stacked on top of each other or shoved in at odd angles. This is representative of the idea that the “ideal” woman is tidy, organized, and clean. The clean lines convey uniformity not just in how the makeup is organized, but also in how teenage girls use the makeup to conform to the aesthetic trends and styles of the time.

Sources:

Pollitt, Katha. “Hers; The Smurfette Principle.” The New York Times, 7 Apr. 1991.

 

To The Rescue

 From: Carly

How often do you see men working on cars? Most people would say they have seen it often in their lives. Now, how often do you see women working cars? If I were to genuinely think about it through my own personal experience, I would say that it would be an exceedingly rare sight for me to see. Not that women are unable to, but because it is not necessarily considered a norm in our society. Furthermore, society has made it more acceptable for men to take on more “masculine” and “manly” roles, while also striving to display a “tough guise” so that they are more like how our society has created the image of what men are supposed to be like. The background behind this picture depicts two men that come to “the rescue” by attempting to repair a car that has broken down. Society has influenced us that it is very gentleman-like for men to come to the rescue and take the more manly, dominant guise. They have been taught that they should know how to work on cars and are expected to know when asked. I personally could not tell you how many times I looked to a man for help because I simply expected them to know what they are doing because of the many times I was informed that women should always ask a man for help. 

In the documentary titled “Tough Guise 2” by Jackson Katz, we are shown the actions men tend to take including the demonstration of violence, careless attitudes, and masculine tendencies. The media is a huge part of why our society has these preconceived thoughts about the way in which men should carry themselves and it has ended up leading to horrible acts of violence and lack of emotions from men. Although this picture only shows two men working on a car, it is hiding the way that they really feel of being expected to be able to do certain things solely based on their gender. If they did not happen to know how to fix the problem with the car, how would people look at them? Would people look at them like they are less than a man? 

Overall, we need to stop expecting men and women to fulfill certain duties based on their gender. It is important for everyone to discover who they are on their own without being told how they should be like. 

Hostage To Social Media

 From: Kayley

The subtopic I used in my photo assignment was unrealistic beauty standards in today’s world

that us as young girls and women are blinded or subjected to on a daily basis. The methods I

use for this project are the specific way I placed the makeup all over the bathroom counter, the

position of the photo being that you look down on the person in the photo(Me) showing that the

girl (Me) is so used to makeup as a way to fit in with others that she’s blinded to its side effects

and lastly how the background in the bathroom the most common place young girls and teens

play with makeup and skin care products in specifically their parents bathroom. From anti-aging

skin care from the Generation Alpha age range to unhealthy diets such as #Thinspo and

#Fitspo encourages young girls and teens to basically either starve themselves or to be on diet

supplements and dieting pills to achieve the most perfect body that they can.

In the “Two Culture Of Childhood” reading By Laurie Rudman she mentions how little boys and

girls are more likely to play with the same gender growing up meaning that they as little girls and

boys can have influence over one other to do particular things such as either act up, repeat one

other speech patterns and syntax and also wear, act or play with the same or similar things that

usually young boys and girls play with like the typical dolls and makeup sets for the girls and

the cars and action figures for the boys. On the Dove webpage the statistics are shocking to

how young girls feel that they have to change themselves to fit in to today’s world with the

statistics showing that 90% of girls feeling that social media makes them feel less beautiful, 56%

of girls feel that they’re not worthy enough to be able follow or being like today’s beauty trends/

styles saying “They can’t live up to it.” and lastly a shocking 50% of young girls have self esteem

problems due to excessive social media usage. Also Dove has posted a lot of content to its

social media pages like Instagram, Youtube and Facebook to convince young teens, and

women specifically that they don’t have to live up to today’s standards but instead becoming

more accepting and okay with the way their bodies look naturally and learning to embrace that

day by day.

I felt that all the techniques I used in the photo such as the background of the picture, the

symbolism of the makeup products and camera angle all really capture that in today’s world

young women all follow a code of trying to being ultimately the most beautiful can sometimes

make some feel like a hostage if the code can’t be met. In Tannen’s video about conversation

rituals it mentions that boys are more likely to top one another physically whilst for girls it’s more

they top one other socially and mentally by who has more friends or generally who has more of

certain things like beauty. I feel that this can connect to the true reason that young women/girls

in today’s society feel the way they feel on social media and in social settings alone.

My Sources:

author, Dove. “Toxic Beauty Standards on Social Media: The Stats.” Dove, Dove, 31 Oct.

2022, www.dove.com/us/en/stories/campaigns/social-media-and-body-image.html.

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.

Pink and All the Rest

From: Kiara

One of the first ways children are socialized is through their toys. They learn what roles they are expected to play, how they are meant to interact with the world around them, and even how they should present themselves as they grow up. In her article, “The ‘Two Cultures’ of Childhood,” Dr. Laurie A. Rudman states that, “reactions to novel toys confirm that children do not merely learn by rote which toys are for boys and which are for girls, but extract general qualities that distinguish masculine from feminine. In other words, they have begun to learn a more general gender schema” (2015). Girl toys are pink and purple, softer, smoother, and more domestic, while boy toys are multicolored or blue, harder, rougher, and more action-oriented. For example, girls often play with dolls like baby dolls or Barbies, which they use to play games such as house, teaching them to be mothers. On the other hand, boys play with action figures, like superheroes or soldiers, which they use to play games such as war, teaching them aggressive behaviors (Rudman, 2015).

In my pictures, the differences between girls' and boys' toys is demonstrated primarily through color and the contrasting types of toys. To the right, the first thing one notices is the overwhelming amount of pink. Almost everything is pink, except for the dresses on the right, which are yellow and purple to match their respective princesses. If you take a closer look, you will find that almost everything is a doll. Whether it’s a baby, a princess, a Barbie, or a pet, the aisle is almost entirely just dolls to play pretend house (or castle) with. The few toys that aren’t dolls are just for dressing up, like a princess dress, a purse, or a purple-tangled bow.
On the left are the boy toys. There is no one color or kind of toy, it is a mix of multicolored WWE wrestling toys and merchandise on the right, followed by Star Wars guns and stuffed animals. On the left are “tech” toys and Hot Wheels, all different colors as well. Boys have a wide range of toys to choose from, from spy gadgets to guns and dinosaurs to ninja turtles.
When you compare the two selections, a message becomes clear: girls are the princesses who need saving, the boys are the superheroes who save them. Girls are the mothers who take care of the home, boys are the construction workers and soldiers who provide an income for the family. Girls have one “pink” job, and boys have as many options as there are colors on a spectrum.


Citations
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.

A Diva vs. A Champion

 From: Nate

The subtopic that I chose was the representations of femininity and masculinity in media, and according to “The Two Cultures of Childhood”, the media presents femininity as “soft, nice, and passive” and masculinity as “rough, tough, active”. The comparison of the men’s and women’s titles that were both in the WWE and how they are presented, show this. For the diva’s championship, the way we are looking down at the title, conveys that it doesn’t mean as much as the men’s one, presenting itself as “passive”. While the men’s one is looking down on the camera, presenting itself as superior and greater. The image of the Diva’s title being smaller, at the bottom, and pushed to side renders it obsolete, while the men’s is large and on top. The bright lighting behind the men’s title also presents itself as “God-like” or as something prestigious. Finally, even though the Diva’s title takes up more of the picture, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is presented as important, as since it is so close it gets portrayed as something that it is easy to grab or achieve. While for the men’s title, the perspective and the distance of the title from the camera presents the prize as one you have to reach or work towards to get it, making the prize more valuable.

Now, just comparing the titles, the fact that the women’s title is called the “Divas” title presents the idea to girls that they are supposed to act like a diva, which is commonly referred to as women who are known solely for their body and not as much for their intelligence. The title itself is also exceedingly small, conveying that you also have to fit a certain waist band to be considered successful. The butterfly plate presents women as being innocent or “soft and nice” and the heavy pink and bedazzlement of the title also presents common gender stereotypes of women. Finally, the fact that the women’s title has the gender labeled while the men’s championship just says “champion”, conveys the idea that the women’s title is a secondary prize and is gender exclusive. 

Through the use of camera work, and the titles themselves, it can be conveyed that according to the WWE (a PG rated show made for children), a huge source of media, femininity is about being girly, dainty, pink, and small, and as long your pretty, you’ll be successful, while masculinity is meaningful, large, and something that someone should live there life like. 

Hurtful beauty on youth

 From: Jenn

In The “two cultures of childhood” by Laurie Rudman gives us an explanation of children's toys and the role it plays in mirroring real world activities such as playing with makeup kits, playing dress up, toy vanity, and toy heels. The mirroring of adulthood comes from the many toys introduced to us at such a young age.  These toys given to adolescent girls encourage them to play in the stereotypical feminine way.  These toys can cause girls to look up to unrealistic beauty standards, giving them the wrong idea of needing makeup to make them feel beautiful. This idea can become harmful to adolescent girls later into adulthood that can lead to body image issues, social comparison and mental health struggles. This article emphasizes the “Gender schemas become part of self-identity influencing children's preferences, attitude and behavior as they strive to act in socially appropriate “masculine” or “feminine” ways (Rudman, 60). My photograph is intended to capture the fun an adolescent girl can have while playing with makeup yet can cause harm in wanting makeup to feel beautiful at such a young age. 

The subtopic I chose to pursue is the unrealistic beauty standards on adolescent girls. My photo captures my niece Sabine, 8 years old putting on lipstick while wearing all her makeup and toy heels on her toy vanity. This is a great example of how toys influence adolescents in stereotypical feminine ways. Most girl idolizes the adults around and watch them get ready if it's for o
utings or party's they get to see the process that they mirror in playing with makeup kits into reality and this also show the unrealistic beauty standards that leak on over into adulthood. 

The creative technique I used in this photograph shows the elements of makeup kits, hair products with heel toys on my niece's vanity. I wanted to show all the beauty influenced toy that show how an adolescent needs all these products as they would leading up to womanhood. 

Girl Stitch!?

 From David: 

I was cleaning in the toy aisle at TJMaxx last Sunday and found a toy set pretty interesting. The toy set has four different versions of stitch and with one notable different. In the toy set it had a female version of stitch. With a little bit of research, I found out her name is Angle, and she is Stitch’s love interest. Looking at this toy set and even the movie she’s in I believe this is the perfect example of the Smurfette principle. 

In the movie stitch’s cousins are all male and she is the only one that is a woman and doesn’t have much of an impact in the movie at all. She doesn’t even have her that much screen time and looks like stitch but pink with eye lashes and a little curvy. She is only in the movie to be a stitches counterpart and love interest with few speaking roles. I’ve read Katt Pollitt’s article about the Smurfette principle, and she brings up how there are kid’s books that have a male protagonist, but their gender is unrelated to the story and serves no purpose. On the other hand, the books she mentioned that had a girl protagonist gave feminist message in their stories. “Some of the best children's books ever written have been about girls -- Madeline, Frances the badger. It's even possible to find stories with funny, feminist messages. "The Paperbag Princess." (She rescues the prince from a dragon, but he's so ungrateful that she decides not to marry him, after all.) But books about girls are a subset in a field that includes a much larger subset of books about boys (12 of the 14 storybooks singled out for praise in last year's Christmas roundup in Newsweek, for instance) and books in which the sex of the child is theoretically unimportant” -Katt Pollitt. 

The toy set I chose for this assignment shows the Smurfette principle because they have so many different kinds of characters in the movie, they could’ve used but intend to use four different versions of stitch and chose angel to make it feel like it’s not a boy or girl toy set but anyone can play with the toy set. Lastly, I color the main Stitchs with a light yellowish color with the opacity turned down and color Angel with a darker shade of brown and turned the opacity down a bit to convey how unimportant she is to the toy set and the movie.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

From: Essie

This photo speaks to the two cultures of gender by showing the two extremes of the spectrum using two siblings. In the photo I represent the beauty standard held upon girls quite early in life by including the measuring tape around the girl figure’s waist, the makeup brush in her hand, and the other makeup brush, blush compact, and makeup palette around her. She is also wearing tight clothing, with a very short shirt in the ever so stereotypical pink color that girls are so often attributed with. As for the boy figure, he is surrounded by things representing the heavy insistence of violence in boy culture. He has a toy gun, trucks, a toy rocket building kit, and he is even holding a GameBoy console. His clothes differ drastically from the girl figure’s, as he is wearing shorts, a dark colored t-shirt, and a boy scout uniform shirt. Another thing to notice about the figures is how much space each of them is taking up. For example, the boy figure is sitting in a way that allows him to take up a lot more space, so much so that he is encroaching on the girl’s half of the photo. Also, it seems that all his toys and gadgets cannot even fit fully in frame, which can be related to the stereotype that boys are messy, or unorganized. Whereas for the girl figure, she is sitting “smaller”, with her arms closer to her sides, her legs close together, and her things are more neatly placed around her and in frame, showing the stereotypical gentleness and cleanliness. I chose to angle the photo this way and crop the faces out to put more focus on the stark differences of their other features and what they have around them, instead of drawing more attention to their faces. 

In The “Two Cultures” of Childhood, it states “Gender schemas associate maleness and femaleness with myriad different attributes, behaviors, and objects, defining “masculine” as rougher, tougher, and more active and feminine as nicer, softer, and more passive.” (Two Cultures) I think this is represented through this photo because of the contrast between the two figures and the objects surrounding them. I think the qualities that represent this quote are the differences in body language and space taken up, the drastic difference between the softness and violent nature of the toys and objects, and the figures' clothing. I think these all represent gender socialization in children because these figures are clearly on the older end of childhood, but the items used in the photo surrounding them were objects from their own bedrooms. They were raised with harsh gender norms and stuck to them as they went through childhood, and eventually their teenage years. Although these differences may not be as drastic and distinctly recognizable in everyday life because of the two cultures strictly enforced on children, they will almost always be strongly present in clothing, preferences, and behavior throughout life. 

Works 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.

The Purity Dilemma

From A: 

My photograph demonstrates how young girls are taught two different and conflicting ideas about their bodies and how they are supposed to act. The first one is purity. There’s this idea that girls are supposed to maintain their purity by dressing modestly and not having sex until marriage. They are told that they are delicate and, in a way, sacred. On the other hand, there’s pressure to be provocative and dress in a way that appeals to men. They’re taught that their looks and their body is their greatest asset and that they should present it to men. I wanted to capture the contradictions between these two messages that are pushed onto girls. The white of the top represents purity and the innocence of childhood. However, the top is stuffed to make the breasts appear larger, signifying how girls feel the need to sexualize themselves in order to be considered attractive. Sara, a 19 year old girl who was interviewed for Lauren Greenfield’s photo essay “Girl Culture”, says that “The way I relate to people is based on how I look…” When one beauty standard is pushed onto so many girls and women, it leads to feelings of low self worth. They may turn to things like restrictive diets, cosmetics, or surgery in order to fit societal expectations.

The hands holding the breasts show how girls are taught to give their bodies to men, but at the same time keep them concealed. Every message is contradictory, and following either side leads to criticism. Having the arms crossed shows the insecurity this type of socialization causes and how confusing these mixed messages are. 19 year old Lillian, also interviewed for Lauren Greenfield’s photo essays, says “But this city definitely teaches you that youth and sexuality go hand in hand.” Young girls don’t choose to sexualize themselves because they want to, but because they are told that it’s how they will be liked. This messaging is both explicit and implied through media, where girls are shown getting more positive attention when they look or act a certain way. Seeing this growing up has a lot of impact on how they will view themselves later in life.

 

Socialized into Segregation

 From Joe: 

For this photo assignment, I decided to focus on how gendered toys and their advertising segregate children, forcing them to develop and practice gender schema. In order to gain an accurate understanding of the kinds of toys available to kids, I traveled to my local supermarket. There, I was shocked to find that things had barely changed since I went as a child. As I perused the primary-colored isles of boys' toys and surveyed the bright pink rows of girls’ toys, I discovered that one photo could not wholly capture the issue. Through my collage, I aimed to capture the ways that companies capitalize off gendered play, reflecting society's tendency to push boys towards the tough guise and force girls into more domestic and submissive social positions that tend to be devalued in our patriarchal society. In the top left photo of children's electric cars, I used focus and background to represent how boys develop traditionally masculine gender schema to be domineering and assertive (Rudman, 60). With the aggressive sportscar-shaped body of the Spider-Man car dominating the frame, the little Minnie Mouse car is forced into the corner out of focus. This is reflective of how young girls and women are marginalized through the perpetuation of sexism fueled by gender schema (Rudman, 59). With both the license plate photo and the monster car photo I used angle and line to distort how the photos appear to the viewer. This is representative of young boys' distorted enthusiasm for following and enforcing the “tough guise” (Katz, Tough Guise 2). By angling away from the princess plate and by using a lower angle on the monster trucks, I endeavored to show the masculine dominance the products represent with words like “rampage” and “boys rule” proudly emblazoned upon their designs. The isle photos show the stark differences in the types of play styles that are encouraged by gender schema (Rudman, 61). The boy’s isle is shown at a lower angle emphasizing a position of power to represent the authoritative, and violent play young boys are encouraged to be involved in (Rudman,62). This is evident in the products advertised, an arsenal of hard, sharp, and colorful toy weapons inspired by popular boys' culture is on display, these companies capitalize off and perpetuate the normalization of violence and toughness within boys' gender schema (Katz, Tough Guise 2). Adversely the girls’ isle is captured from a high angle representing a position of submissiveness and servile expectation. From the baby chair photo, the cooking Barbie image, and a highly angled array of soft and smooth baby dolls we see toys that reinforce gender schema and encourage young girls to fulfill domestic roles through nurture play. These images and creative techniques symbolize the perpetuation of the programming of young girls into docile and submissive women. Whether it be the huge biceps of bulky action figures in comparison with the dainty dress-up dolls' slim bodies, role play exemplifies to children what they should value and have fun doing with boys glorifying strength or power and girls prioritizing good looks and glamour. Just like how gender schema creates and emphasizes differences in gender, I used line to create an added difference between the two images with one tilted left and the other angled right. This is representative of the collage and society as a whole, aggressive boy toy images appear on top, and gentle girl toys are pushed into the bottom of the frame.

Works 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.

Katz, Jackson. Tough Guise 2. Media Education Foundation, 2013

Women Beauty Standards

From: Isabella

In this picture is my younger sister getting ready to leave for her homecoming dance. In this picture I have her standing in the center where the sunlight would hit her. I do this to represent her as themain character, how important she is. On the other hand, I also back up to make her  look smaller. I do this to capture everything but to also represent how she’s a small part of women beauty standards. As she was getting ready, she had all these emotions and thoughts to make sure she looked pretty but didn’t get judged by others. I then had her pose in the way she felt capture of essence. She told me that she chose this pose because she felt the most beautiful thing about her was her smile. She thought everything was pretty but the one thing she didn’t change, or tweak was her smile in symbolism of being true to herself. Throughout this picture, I believe it’s important to capture the beauty of my sister but to also keep in mind the process she went through. She wanted to look and feel pretty but not to where she came off a certain way whether it was someone trying too hard or someone trying to sexualize her. These are the thoughts from my 18-year-old sister going to her high school dance. It’s not to say woman have it harder or any worse compared to men but instead a way to remind others that there are certain struggles that a man would not understand. As a woman myself who must watch her younger sister think about these things gives me a different perspective. Yes, I as a woman have also gone through these struggles but to see my younger sister afraid of such things is hurtful. The last thing I want my sister to worry about while getting ready for her school dance is whether or not she’ll be judged for not meeting societies idea of a woman beauty standards or none or less being judged in a sexual manner.

Pink to purple

 From Angelina: 

For this project two main prompts were in mind; “the tomboy phase” and the experience
of being nonbinary. I had an experience with my AFAB friends (Assigned female at birth), and it
was about how some of us had experienced a “tomboy” phase when growing up. In the center
of the photo, is an example of my style daily along with what I carried on my person from 5th to
9th grade. Noticeably, there was a noticeably big decrease in(typical)femininity. At that time, I
wanted to be referred to as “one of the dudes” because at that time, I rejected my femininity.
The Smurfette Principle talks about how there's–typically–a group of guys with a female
background character to provide; support to the cast, the voice of reason or to be a damsel.
With a female character only being the side character or damsel its consequences to young
girls, one impact is that some would start embracing their femininity; wear less pink, no skirts or
think makeup is too girly etc. The rejection of (my) femininity is symbolized with the visual
expression I added to the middle pile; I decorated it with what is stereotyped with femininity; a
frilly skirt, necklace, and a friendship bracelet. This is my own experience and my own way of
viewing my gender identity and expression for the past few years. It can be vastly different for
someone else and sometimes that “tomboy” phase is not really a phase. The drawn skirt is the
focus, when going through the tomboy phase, I still wanted to express my femininity and that is
what the doodles are, just an illustration of what I wanted at the time but what I thought (or what
the Smurfette Principle) taught: femininity is weak.

The last aspect was inspired by the story of “X: A Fabulous Child's Story,” the story–to
put it shortly– Is about how X the child is raised in a gender-neutral environment. This was not
provided for most kids of my generation so of course: the boy was blue, and the pink was a girl.
I mention this mainly because of the color choice of the illustration and outfits in the photo. The
clothes go from pink, (dark)blue to purple and to show the gender shift that I was experiencing.
The Purple from the dress is representing me as of now, it's how I would describe being non-
binary(to me),yes purple is just a mix of blue and pink but it's still its own color; being non-binary
is not what's “in the middle” or “between” the gender binary: It Is its own thing.

X: A Fabulous Child’s Story, Gould Louis, Daughters Publishing Company (1978)
I.S.B.N.
Pollitt, Katha. “Hers; The Smurfette Principle.” The New York Times, The New York
Times, 7 Apr. 1991, www.nytimes.com/1991/04/07/magazine/hers-the-smurfette-principle.html.

Gender Roles

 

 

From: Mercy

The woman and the boy wear neutral-colored clothing that does not precisely follow gendered norms (e.g., blue for boys and pink for females). This implies that the individuals in the picture are not limited to the conventional gender-specific color labeling (Women’s Studies, 2019, p. 47). The boy walks on his own and exudes confidence. In contrast to females, who may typically be guided into nurturing duties, boys are frequently encouraged to exhibit confidence and independence from an early age. The informal, equal presence of both individuals in this picture, however, dismantles such conventional gender role assumptions.

Also we see the boy, posing in the center as dominant and in charge though he is just 7years. He affirms the role of boys and men as leaders, authorities as generally accepted by society (Relihan et al, p. 48-49).

The notion that boys and girls require different, gender-specific accessories may be called into question by this. The image represents a direction of equality and neutrality in more general debates about gender roles, as the strict traditional duties of boys and girls are loosened. It demonstrates how practical, everyday apparel and accessories may be shared without perpetuating gender stereotypes. The picture defies gender stereotypes by conveying a message of coziness and usefulness.

 

 

Works cited

Pascoe, C.J. " Making Masculinity: Adolescence, Identity, and High School." Introduction to Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Approaches, edited by L. Ayu Saraswati, Barbara Shaw, and Heather Rellihan, Oxford Press, 2018, pp. 43-52.

Girl traveling the galaxy

  From: Melissa

Hello, my photo stands for the Smurfette Principle because in Katha Pollitt “Hers; The Smurfette principle she states that the Smurfette principle: a group of male buddies will be accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined.” In my photo I have a bunch of male Star Wars characters and one female Star Wars character. The girl character is the side kick to the male characters. I put the female Star Wars character in the middle, so she is like the trophy and all the other male characters surround her. In the background is the Death Star and the Star Wars characters are inside, and the background is space. The creative techniques I had to use is space. The male Star Wars characters take up space with their capes and armor while the female Star War character takes less space being tiny and petite. The background is balanced with the dark grey Death Star spaceship. I use zoom as one of the camera’s creative techniques to make the atmosphere of the picture look bigger and I use a wide lens as well. I group the male Star Wars characters by color so they can stand out better against the background of the Death Star. In conclusion this is my photo assignment is about the Smurfette principle.

Dark Reality

From: Chloe

The “ideal body” of today is not the same as it was ten, fifteen, or fifty years ago, but the
idea of a perfect body has affected the minds of every young girl just the same. Media is a huge
influence on young girls growing up which creates a danger as the things these girls hear, and
watch is harmful. Not everything on social media is real or achievable by most, and when it is
put on show it becomes idolized. The scale has become an enemy to all girls, making them feel
bad about themselves because they do not fit a standard set by today's society. For some, weigh-ins and frequent measuring by young girls has become ritualistic, constantly checking their
bodies, and comparing them to those they idolize.

In the photo, the darkness creates a depressing and scary feeling, showing how these
adolescent girls feel trying to follow beauty standards. The scale is in the center of the photo
surrounded by piles of clothes, showing that weight and size are a first priority for girls. Instead
of clothes being enjoyable and self-expressing, it becomes a problem making girls feel worse
instead of happy when putting an outfit together for the day. In another part of the photo, there
are little hearts from pieces of clothing with the measuring tape running through them. This
symbolizes girls feeling the need to constantly fit a certain standard. In media, weight, waist size,
hip size, bust size, etc. are constantly pushed and makes young women and girls feel they need to
look this way and then they are comparing each other in real life with these very unrealistic
beauty standards.

Lauren Greenfield’s photo essay perfectly shows the effects of beauty standards on girls.
Cultures have written and unwritten conflicting messages of femininity using the body
(Greenfield) when a person's body should be their own and not have to worry about what others
will think or if they have the “in” style or “perfect” body. Styles and standards are always
changing, but no one is helping to change the effect on young girls and how to help them learn to
be self-expressive and not harm their self-esteem.
 

Works cited
Greenfield, Lauren. “Girl Culture”.
http://www.zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/girlcult/index.html. 23, October,

2024. 

Consequences of Beauty Standards

 

From: Kelly

For my photo, I have chosen the subtopic of how there are consequences and risk of beauty standards and how it is socialized to girls. I could really visualize this theme throughout reading the photo essay, “Girl Culture” by Lauren Greenfield. “Women aren’t taught to use their voices. So they use their bodies instead. Many girls are not taught that it’s special to be a woman, and a lot of girls find out that it hurts to be a woman. That’s what I know. It’s not a vanity issue. We don’t all want to be supermodels. It’s a distortion. And it’s something that is tormenting and frustrating and sad, and it’s a struggle to come back. If you can come back.” (Girl Culture, Interview with Erin, a woman in eating disorder treatment). This specific interview emphasizes there is a torturing routine women have to go through in order to fit into beauty standard, because if they don’t, they have nothing because their voices are pushed down. In my photo, I used gradient lighting to highlight the “beauty” of trying to fit the beauty standard, and to take the spotlight away from the truth of it. Where the light hits the brightest, you can see the lipgloss and cosmetic products that are heavily associated with women fitting social standards, but on the far right (the darkest part of the picture), we get into the “ugly”, starting of with zero calorie sweetener. I saw this as a needed part of the picture because all my life, the women that I have looked up to only ever used Splenda, low calorie sweeteners, or only drink diet sodas. And these things have always been associated with them “needing” to have these things in order to “keep weight off”, AKA stay within the standards. Past the sweeteners, and almost not visible, there is berberine, also known as “nature’s ozempic” or an appetite suppressant pill. Another element that I added to my picture was the confetti/glitter, the glitter is more concentrated on the highlighted side, and becomes more sparse as you move to the left. 

Photo Assignment

 

From: Glendys

From the moment we are born, we are shown that boys play with trucks, and girls play with Barbies. While we observe, we see the roles each gender comes to play. If our mother cleans and cooks, fathers build and work. Gender norms dictate girls wear pink, and boys wear blue. We have the freedom to choose our gender and, especially, how we express it. Playing with Barbies and babies is expected for girls, while playing with cars and guns is expected for boys. The media promotes these toys differently for boys and girls to uphold gender stereotypes and roles that children will play in the future.

My image depicts a 14-year-old boy sweeping. Typically, boys play sports and hang out with friends. On the other hand, girls stay home and tidy up the house, aiming to impress. In advertising, such as websites and magazines, females are usually shown doing the cleaning. Some may think it's unusual to see a young boy cleaning, suggesting something might be wrong at home. However, my intention is to show different role plays being switched. As Laurie A. Rudman explains in "Two Cultures of Childhood,"Segregation both allows and encourages boys and girls to develop separate social worlds of 'culture' characterized by different activities, interaction styles, and social worlds." (2015 p. 59). This can be influenced by different lifestyles or how parents raise their children.

Rudman also discusses in "Two Culture Of Childhood “Children quickly develop strong gender schemas (Bem, 1981, 1989), cognitive associations of different attributes, behaviors, objects, or social practices with "male" and "female." (p.59). These schemas reinforce traditional gender roles and stereotypes. I include creative elements like gaze, focusing on the boy's smiling face. It may seem unreal to see a boy smiling while cleaning, as it challenges stereotypes. Normalizing the idea that males can do cleaning and females can do hard work is important. While not all genders enjoy switching roles, it is worth acknowledging.

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.