Happy Tuesday! For my second blog post,
I would like to focus on one personal experience of gender
performance in the media. It would be helpful to view the media
before reading on, so I have enclosed the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5_i4cC6ls I believe the commercial
was originally aired sometime in the fall of last year.
To preface this post, I would like to
explain the reason this commercial has gained my attention in the
first place. I live with two roommates, one male (Jason) and one
female (Kim,) who both have a bachelors degree from UW-LaCrosse and
Marquette University, respectfully. When we saw the commercial for
the first time, we all happened to be watching TV and Jason and Kim
started a small discussion about the boy's selection of toys. During
the first couple scenes, Kim mentioned, “apparently this boy is
playing 'house' by himself.” After the boy realizes his father came
home, Jason remarked, ”Oh now he's got to explain why he was
playing with Barbies.” I sat quietly and listened to the dialogue
but ultimately never gave my opinion on the commercial at the time; I
tend to remain relatively unbiased towards petty debates. I would
assume the boy has a sister for the female gendered toys to be
present in the first place so if I was his father, I wouldn't think
twice about him playing with a pink horse trailer, purple-haired
dolls, or Barbie houses.
One of the comments posted on YouTube
was, “I never understood why the kid is playing with girl's toys...
maybe he has a sister? But at the end of the commercial it's just
him, his mom and dad outside... no sister... I guess he's confused
about his sexuality.” Another post commented, “I think it's great
that they show a little boy defying gender
stereotypes and playing with both trucks and dolls in the
innocent way all kids can. Good job Chevy!”
So what do you think? If you were a
parent of a young boy about his age, do you think you would notice
his gender performance, or would you dismiss the concept as young
innocence? If he was playing with the toys and a girl about the same
age was in the room with him, would the context of the boy's gender
performance change?
I see nothing wrong with the commercial. I believe that young children should be able to play with anything that makes them happy. Who cares if a boy is playing with a Barbie?? Who cares if a girl is playing with dinosaurs?? All that is important is that they are happy. I would probably take notice of the gender performance but would not say anything like, "Oh son, how about you play with those trucks" or "Sweetie, you are a girl and should be playing with ponies, not monster trucks". It amazes me how many parents will say that to their children and think nothing of it but it is how society should be. It just simply amazes me...
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