This week in class one of the required forums was on gender stereotyping in advertising. I chose to use the Carl's Junior commercial(s) to illustrate this because they are the ones that so blatantly stick out in my mind.
However, I think that gender stereotyping is everywhere. And it seems to start at birth. I say this because I am getting ready to have a baby (hopefully I'll make it to March 10th, even though I'm not due until the 30th). When someone is getting ready to have a baby, the American culture tradition is to get registered for various baby products. While most products are transgendered, such as pacifiers, toys and play things, a lot of products aren't. You still see the traditional "if it's a girl, they should wear pink and if it's a boy, they should wear blue". I am having a little girl and I have been blessed to have been given a lot of baby clothes. So my apartment therefore has been inundated with pink. I have some friends say the rationale is so that when a person sees your baby, they know right away if it is a boy or a girl. I have bought our little girl some boy-ish outfits (as declared by my friend Abby), that she will wear. I don't mind (at least not yet) making a clarification to someone of her gender. I've had to make that clarification for months now and she hasn't even arrived. Anyway, I like pink and some of the outfits are adorable, I just think that there is a very strong stereotype when it comes to clothing colors and gender. You don't see a lot of boys (I've never seen any) in pink or purple and you don't see a lot of girls wearing blue or green unless it has a lot of lace on it and it's a dress.
So where does the gender stereotyping end if it begins at birth?
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I don't think it ends until you are very, very old. And even then, people expect the women to knit and the men to reflect on their past fishing triumphs. So, it probably never ends...
ReplyDeleteI have a baby girl and she, too, has a lot of pink. She has a few other things, though. I guess I'm guilty of gender stereotyping because I love to put her in pink dresses with pink bows. I can't help it, it's just way too cute!!! She does have red, blue, and yellow clothes that she wears often, though.