gender dichotomy

Tierney Cargo-Collard

This notion has been

perpetuated &

naturalized when

people see young

children acting

according to their

‘correct’ gender

norms.

Thorne (1993)/West & Zimmerman (1987)

Though

in

our

culture,

you’d

never

know

it..

Lorber (1993)

Kids learn everyday what is ‘acceptable’. How they act,

how they look, what they say, what they like, what they

do and who they love is all told to them by the culture

they live in, the family that’s supposed to support

them, and the peers they learn from…

That women are strong, smart, aggressive leaders?

That men are caring, supportive, understanding partners?

Or…Thorne (1993)

Mothers

PinkSoft

Sweet

Weak

In need of saving

Small

Delicate

Submissive

Wives

Men’s

Emotional

Irrational

Inferior

Self worth based off appearance

Tringali (2004)/Wade (2011)/Baker-Sperry (2003)/West & Simmerman (1987)

Though this is generally accepted in our

culture, it stops children’s individual

development. It influences them and leads

them to act in ways that bring them

‘personhood’…essentially, children have to be

gendered to be seen as an adult, or a ‘big girl’

or ‘big boy’. Thorne (1993)/West & Zimmerman (1987)

Aggressive

Big

Strong

Leaders

Ambitious

Smart

Brave

Violent

Rulers

Active

Persevering

Saviors

And fathers..

Hey…wait a minute…

Something’s

not

right

here…

We must be fundamentally different.

There must be two kinds of human.

I guess that’s just how things are, I guess it

really is genetic and natural. The stores

wouldn’t lie to us, right? That can’t be legal.

What will they think? How will they act? How

will they discover who they truly are unless we

tell them? How can they freely and happily live

their lives without culture telling them how

they are supposed to look/act/speak/think?!

What will become of our culture without

gender forcefully guiding our children to the

paths their genitalia have predestined for

them?!

Charles (2011)

Why is that so scary?

What’s wrong with that?

We are human.

We are not two different creatures.

Our culture has been lying to us.

Overthrow gender?

Destroy the system?

Start a revolution?

Create a new society?

Or…

Thorne (1993)/West & Zimmerman (1987)

Let your kids decide. Let them create the culture

they will be living in. Let them be them.

Ren – Nu’est Zee Zee

Looking pretty isn’t seen as something

shameful or demasculating or ‘less than’

being handsome. Some cultures use words

like ‘handsome’ or ‘pretty’ without even

taking the gender of the individual into

consideration.

*Disclaimer, these cultures aren’t perfect either..Pascoe (2005)

Willow Smith Jeffree Star Ashley Purdy

Don’t

Criticize!

Toy companies that exploit our children, and mean people

that have thrived under the strict gender norms we

enforce on our peers.. (Oh well)

All media clips and images are used

under U.S. Copyright Law "Section

107: Limitations on exclusive rights:

Fair use" for "purposes such as

criticism, comment, [and]

scholarship" and is not an

infringement upon copyrights.

*Sleeping with Sirens –

With Ears to See & Eyes to Hear

*Nu’Est –Face

*Sleeping with Sirens –

James Dean & Audrey Hepburn