Sociological Images - Boys vs Girls

Blog entry title #1: Gender, Technology, and Toys R Us

This particular blog entry talks about how the Toys ‘R’ Us online shopping site generates gendered gift giving guides. There are pictures that show options based on personality and interests, which are similar. Both genders have options on the basis of their personality which includes being: adventurous, creative, sporty, techie, smarty pants, outdoorsy, and glamour girl (an option for girls only). The interest options for both genders are exactly the same, which includes: animals and nature, cars/trucks/trains/planes, music, building, and gaming. The author experimented on the differences in what the site would offer when the box for “techie” and “building” for both girls and boys were checked. For the top 24 suggestions for boys, there were 13 building/engineering games and the rest were ipod accessories, DVD players, and mp3 players. The girls only had one suggestion regarding a building/engineering game, and the rest were ipod accessories, DVD players, mp3 plays, cameras, and laptop computers. The author goes on to say that, according to this experiment, boys/men generally BUILD or are the PRODUCERS of technology while girls/women BENEFIT as CONSUMERS for the products being made, therefore are benefactors of shopping.

Blog entry title #2: Guest Post: Fun with the 2009 Target Catalog

The author of this blog entry focuses on the front cover of a Target holiday catalog, which features two children innocently playing with their toys. However, when this ad is further analyzed, there are assumptions in this image that suggests gender socialization propaganda, as well as other things such as homophobia and commitment issues.

Blog entry title #3: Hair, Gender, and School Dress Codes

This entry focuses on a 4 year old boy named Taylor, who was temporarily suspended from school because he did not adhere to the dress code regarding the length of his hair. According to the school administration, this policy is to prevent distraction. However, Taylor likes his long hair and his parents support his interests and will not force their child to have a haircut.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHZip9N76Bw&feature=player_embedded

All three blog entries include children being analyzed on the basis of gender, an ascribed status. Ascribed status is a status that one is born into, such as one’s gender, race, and sometimes ethnicity. A baby shower for a boy will have clothing that are mostly blue or green, as well as toys that mark their inevitable strength and wisdom as men. Such toys include racecars, construction trucks, airplanes, and toy guns. Boys usually have short hair, since it suits their future profession whether being a construction worker or doctor. In contrast, a girl’s baby shower will include pink or purple clothing, as well as dolls, dresses, jewelry, and cooking toys. These types of generalization are tools to determine a reference group, which serves as an exemplary model that past generations have set up for all of us. Even as newborn babies, the medical facility would wrap the children either pink or blue which specifies their gender. It is the norm, a culture’s rules of conduct, that women wear pink clothing, tiaras, dresses, and play with dolls. They are also supposed to be interested in love, marriage, and babies as well as shopping and physical appearances.

Boys on the other hand, are expected to be strong and productive with their bodies. This can be in terms of creating a model plane, constructing a building, or being oversexed. These are naturally acceptable in our society.

Now, there are other societies that do not agree with oversexed men (although my family strongly encourages my brother to have plenty of girlfriends but I, as a woman, am unable to even go out on a date “until after I am married”). Cultural diffusion, cultures inevitably affected by other cultures, can occur when a family moves from one country to another, where the country of origin does not allow early relationships to occur but the new country allows men to be promiscuous. Therefore, such beliefs are highly adaptive based on the norms of the dominant society.

There can also be those who take part in persistent subcultures, who are looked down upon by the majority. Persistent subcultures are unassimilated subcultures that adhere as much as possible to their own way of life and resist absorption into the dominant culture. Such people include the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-sexual, queer) community who try to survive from being attacked by other’s selective perception, or the absorbing of information that accords with their own beliefs and rationalize away information that does not. Some are negative, which can result into conflict or negative self-image, also known as self-hatred due to the consistent of prejudice and discrimination.

It is reasonable that people shy away from those who do not adhere to the norms, such in the case of Taylor. However, such opinions do not support people who are “abnormal” and can further result in cases of hate groups because they “do not adhere to policy” of the dominant group, minority group’s relationship with the rest of society.