From: Mandy
When assigned this photo assignment I knew exactly what I wanted to portray, which was how a child is typically pushed into following his or her gender roles by their own parent(s). Luckily for me, I have a three year old son, Kellan, whom I was able to use as my subject. On the surface level of this photo the child seems to be getting scolded by his father for playing with girl toys. Yes, that is one part of the photo, but if you look deeper, there is a hidden meaning. The child is playing in a corner, hiding. This symbolizes how children feel about participating in things not in line with their correct gender roles; ashamed and embarrassed. There is a pair of adult hands on the left, which were placed there to relay that the father/mother is where children get most of their direction, especially at such a young age. The little boy is wearing a football jersey, which shows that the child is already being socialized into sports, a male sport at that. The focal point of the picture is the girl toys. This is because it is the conflict between the boy and his father, and I wanted it to be highlighted. The father is obviously telling the boy to play with the boy toys he is holding in his hands, but the emotional selling point of this photo is that the child is looking to his father, pleading to let him play with the girl toys. I edited the photo so the lighting was dark, which is foreshadowing what is to happen- that the child’s voice is going to be silenced and the girl toys will be taken away, with no further discussion. This scenario sheds light onto how a child’s voice is not heard when it comes to following gender roles. Children are often corralled into ‘gender appropriate’ activities, and scolded if they stray. To me it is very sad that children’s play and creativity are edited. Children are innocent, and so are their voices. I think it would be wise if we listened to what they had to say a little bit more so they can flourish to their full potential.
2 comments:
I agree with Mandy’s description of the image and the artistic elements she used to portray the ideas of backlash against atypical men. In the photo, the young boy’s expression shows his fear of his father’s disapproval. The child being pushed into a corner shows how children are often cornered into becoming the ‘typical’ boy or girl. The father figure’s hands holding out the typically boys toys in desperation for his child to be a normal boy shows the struggle between children and the social norms of our society that are forced upon atypical children of both genders.
After examining this photo one thing is becomes clear; the male subject is playing with girl toys and the hands of a man are forcing what society sees as boyish toys. Thinking further into the photo and what it portrays also brought up a couple of other feelings I had. The boy is in a corner between a wall and the couch. To me it is almost like he is for one hiding to play with the girl toys and for two it seems as if he could feel cornered to up hear to societal norms. Sex is something we are born with and gender is something that is taught. Little boys and girls don’t know what toys to play with until they are exposed to pressure of outside issues and the influences around them. In the article “Dude you’re a fag” the author examines men who are criticized for the way they dress and for expressing their feelings. The pressure of what toys a child should play with are just the beginning of what gender norms are supposed to be. I like that the photo is also in color because as you can see the girl toys are given a mostly pink and purple coloring which is just another way society has chosen to label women and the colors they “think” are appropriate for girls.
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