Lauren Greenfield’s photograph portrays the typical gender stereotype that so many little girls have to fight against or give in to. The gender training all around us says the girls and women need to be skinny to be beautiful. While is it acceptable for men to have their beer bellies, a couple extra pounds cannot be compatible with a beautiful young woman. On the photo, we see how a young girl is worried about her weight and what it may mean. Even though she is dressed beautifully in a black dress that show off her small waist, this is not enough for her. The truth is in the numbers.
The photos of the football team also show the gender stereotypes. Apart from the fact that young boys are the ones playing the game, the outfits jump out. While the boys are wearing conformable cloths that are simply just clothes, it is not the same for the cheerleader. The girl just has to wear the short skirt and belly-free top. While men are to stand there looking strong, the girl is there to be sexy and helpless, as she is searching for something in the distance.
The military add is a curious example of gender training. Here we have a typically male role and profession, advertised through the help of a young woman. It seems as if this advertisement is aimed to get women to join the armed forces. The metaphor comparison similar to “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” encourages both sexes to “play the hand that you are dealt”. Thus, one can see that this is definitely a modern advertisement, which is open to see women in the typical male roles.
Art Spiegelman’s comic strip shows that it is inevitable to get a girl to play with boys toys. Even when the father gives his little daughter a fire truck to play with, she still decides to nurse him as she would a doll or a plush toy. This is where gender training starts – in childhood. However, this comic strip aims to prove that it is not the influence of the society that makes girls play with dolls. Firstly, the girl feels fine playing with the fire truck. Secondly, she is yet too young to be under any great influence from society. The problem is not that the little girl does not want to play with the truck. She does. It is rather how she plays with it. The father is encouraging his little daughter to play as a boy, to be more aggressive and love speed, action and fire. However, even if the words are taken out of the comic strip, we will still see that the little girl is far too soft and gentle to play the rough game suggested by her father. She is puzzled and confused at his suggestion but decides to go with it the only way she knows how.
