My Girly-ness. By Jennifer

My Girly-ness. By Jennifer

Four things a woman should know: How to look like a girl,
How to act like a lady, How to think like a man, And how to work like a dog.

In class we’ve been talking about transgenders and transsexuals and about why they would change their sex. We see men dressed up as women either with dresses, makeup, cosmetic surgery, and everything else in between.

I can see why they might want to be a girl. It’s actually fun. Personally, I wouldn’t change my gender. I like being a girl. It’s what I do and it’s what I do best. What I mean by that is that, I like being the stereotypical girly girl. No, I’m not as fragile as the typical girly girl and no, I don’t put a ton of makeup on every day. Yes, monthly surprises are a pain in the butt for four to five days. I like to wear heels and putting on makeup every morning, even though I honestly don’t need it. I love to go shopping. Although, my taste in music has changed from Britney Spears and N*Sync to Kelly Clarkson and OneRepublic, it still has a girly girl influence, just a more mature one.

My sophomore year, I lived in the dorms with a girl who had a ton of makeup and who put a lot on. She didn’t need it either. One day I asked her, “Why do you spend so much time putting on makeup when you actually don’t need it?” She replied, “Because it makes me feel safe and comfortable.” And now when I stand in front of my mirror throwing clothes everywhere and putting on finishing touches on my mascara, I can understand why I care so much. Being a girly girl makes me feel safe and comfortable because I know who I am and I don’t want to change it.

In class, we drew a timeline of the average girl life and one the timeline was the “tomboy” phase. I stared hard at the words “tomboy” and tried to remember a time where I actually went through that phase. The problem is is that I never went through one and I’m glad I didn’t. Two of my cousins went through a serious tomboy phase and in my family, being a tomboy wasn’t okay. It wasn’t “right” for a girl to dress and act that way. When I was younger my mother would always put me in dresses and would tie my hair up into a small pony tail with cute butterfly clips. Now that my hair has grown out more out of the innocent fine straight hair characteristics it used to have, the butterfly clips had to change into headbands or bobby pins. When I reached high school, I never realized that girly girls were able to be girly girls while being great athletes. My mother never put me through sports.

But now when I walk around the streets, I never see a “tomboy”. You see girls with too short skirts or girls in high heels. Where did the tomboys go to? New University writes an article about how young girls are growing up too soon in an article called, “Girly Girl Dominance: Death of the Tomboy.” The problem is that, in this article, girly-ness might be changing into slutty-ness and I can definitely tell you that I am far from slutty. Just because you want to wear a skirt shorter than your knees or you like to wear heels, doesn’t make you slutty necessarily. It’s just how you present yourself and in the way you act.

Being a girly girl comes so naturally to me that I don’t understand why there’s a Wikipedia article on “How to Be a Girly Girl”. I guess there would be downsides of being a girly girl. Guys think you’re too fragile to joke around. Your parents won’t let you sleep over at your friends’ house. People don’t really take you seriously which might make getting into the business industry hard. To me, there’s so much more to being a girly girl than liking the color pink. The color pink is something that I can rely on whenever I’m picking out anything whether it be a shirt or a slice of cake. So being indecisive as I am, this comes in handy. Shopping is so much easier for me because I know that I can always stick to ruffles or florals. If you were to ask me to describe myself, girly-girl would definitely be said and I’m sure darn proud of it.

How Different Sex Siblings Effect Your Own Gender by Ansley

People's gender characteristics are often an effect from the sex of their siblings. A boy who grows up with sisters will behave and have differing characteristics than a boy who grew up with all brothers. The same goes for girls. For example I grew up with an older brother. This has effected my gender characteristics especially at a young age when many kids are looking up to their older siblings. I began dressing in my brothers t-shirts and gym shorts, disregarding the bows and dresses my mom laid out for me. I refused to play with Barbies and only wanted to play man hunt or capture the flag with the boys outside. I truly believe this behavior was a result of me having an older brother. All the "boyish" things he did were normal to me so I didn't understand why I would act any other way especially because I wanted to be just like my big brother.

Eventually I grew out of this stage but the effects of having an older brother has continued to effect my gender. I am much more aware of how some men of the opposite sex behave. Its like I have an inside look on how guys deal with girls and other stresses in their lives. I have been able to see nagging girlfriends and how ultimatums never work. The way my brother often treats women is similar to the way I am with my own relationships with guys. My friends often say joking "you're such a guy," because I don't typically become attached or too emotionally invested in my relationships.

These characteristics that have developed are extremely differing from those my best friend has because she has grown up with two older sisters. As a child she was extremely feminine and always dressed in her sisters hammy downs consisting of dresses and bows. She played house and with all her older sisters' barbies. Every time I would come over her and her sisters were always having a dance party which my brother and I never did. They would also play games like Girl Talk when I was used to playing Battleship. These little differences have effected the way we have grown up creating slightly different gender characteristics and behaviors as result of our opposite sex siblings.

On a whole I feel like these observations can be held true for the most part, although I am sure their are always exceptions. But I certain in my own personal life that my brother has had more of an effect on the way I portray my gender than he has any knowledge of. My question to you is how has your siblings effected the way you carry out your gender characteristics?

Gender Blog by Gus, Bob, Rachel M., and Alexis

Details:

- Woman floating on pillows in a pool

- “Feminine” position

- Pink pillows

- Wearing a dress

- Flowers in the pool

Messages:

- Women need time to relax

- Target is comfortable

Premises:

- Women are always busy working, whether its around the house or at their jobs

o They need time to relax and slow down

Implications:

- Women should go to Target to buy comfortable things such as pillows so they can relax and rest

Questions:

Why is an ad depicting a comfortable woman a good advertisement for Target? Does Target have ads with other women selling different products? If so, how are the women depicted in those ads? If this ad were of a man instead of a woman, how would it be different?

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Details:

- “Dreamy Dress Up for Kids”

o Company doesn’t specify the gender intended

- Girl intended area, boys things in different area of store

- Pink Dress with flowers, ribbons, and sparkles

- There was a woman working in the aisle, not a man

- Little Boy: “I like the blue ones, [to mom] do you like the pink ones?”

- Mostly moms and girls walking through the aisle

Messages:

- The color and design of the dresses impose traditional effemininity upon girls

- You can be a princess if you’re a girl

- You don’t need action figures/”boy” toys, you can dress up!

- If you put on these dresses you will feel pretty and cute

Premises:

- Girls love pink, flowers, ribbons, and sparkles

- Girls like dressing up

- Girls like being princesses

Implications:

- Only girls are going to buy the dresses

- Fairytales and princesses will be a “girl” thing

- Associates pink with girls, blue with boys

o Defines the connotations of colors

- Because blue and pink are separated, it’s not okay for boys to wear the dresses

o Ex: No army patterns on the dresses, just pink and frilly

Questions:

How many boys purchase the dresses? Do any boys purchase the dresses? When did it become okay for only girls to dress up and princesses? What made pink the girl color? Why are flowers and sparkles only associated with girls? Would girls be attracted to that aisle if they didn’t believe that was part of their role as females?

Barbies and Basketball (Sana, Max, Ngina)

ESPN

1. Details

a. Many TV’s and bars

b. Male associated colors (Blue, black and green)

c. Darker ambiance (less lighting)

d. Male majority (any women are accompanied with at least one guy)

e. At the arcade, everything is on a larger scale (bigger seats, bigger screens)

f. Guys get VERY involved in the games

g. Everything is sports related and for all ages

h. Sports and beer were prevalent

i. Only male sports were being shown on the TV screens

2. Messages

a. Guys like sports

b. Guys like bigger things

c. Guys tend to be biggers (ex. Bigger seats, but that can also be an accommodation for all ages)

d. Guys need food, TV and beer to have fun

3. Premises behind message

a. Guys like sports

b. Guys tend to be better at sports

c. Only guys can play sports

4. Implications

a. Guys are generally more active therefore they attain a physically more active role in society (ex. Construction worker)

b. Guys take sports/competitions VERY seriously/intense

5. Questions

a. Why do guys like things to be bigger?

i. Does bigger automatically mean better?

Barbie Dolls

1. Details

a. All the Barbie dolls have makeup on their faces.

b. They all have different faces. Growing up, Barbie dolls had only one face structure.

c. Their bodies are more realistic, with more curvature.

d. Target audience is little girls, but the Barbie dolls are doing grown up things

e. Different outfits

f. Very fashionable

2. Messages

a. Barbie dolls are made of plastic à in today’s world we call people who are materialistic, plastic… INTERESTING!!

b. This image of looking pretty is prevalent and around girls ever since they are little

c. We are influenced by dolls to look like them and do things they do (model, sing, act)

d. There are many Barbie doll outfits, and little girls are encouraged to buy these outfits for their dolls… eventually this concept is morphed and adapted by girls and applied to themselves as they grow up à girls are expected to have lots of clothing

e. Image of perfection and glamour

3. Premises behind message

a. Girls should have lots of clothing and be materialistic to fit in and be like the Barbie dolls they idolize

4. Implications

a. This implies that girls will always try to buy more clothing and fit in with the current style

b. As girls grow up, their style changes, and they buy more clothes à try to be fashionable

5. Questions

a. Why does this need to be older so important?

b. Why does fashion have such a big influence/society?

Gay Stereotypes by Nick

Over the past twenty to thirty years homosexuality has become a cornerstone of mainstream American Culture. The fact that homosexuality is openly talked about in most social circles has, for the most part, had positive effects on the gay community; but the move to the mainstream from obscurity has not been completely beneficial. Along with a general “acceptance” of the gay lifestyle came stereotypes about gays and lesbians.

For one reason or another gay men were stereotyped as flamboyant, sensitive, fashion loving, and frivolous. An intensified version of the traditional female stereotype was projected onto all gay men who identified themselves as gay. Lesbians, on the other hand, received a distinctly male stereotype: gruff, good at manual labor, and uncaring about physical appearances. Someone looking at the homosexual population for the first time might come to the conclusion that these stereotypes are not unfounded but were based on the ways most gays and lesbians actually act. For instance, there do seem to be a lot of flamboyant gay men working in both the fashion industry and the art world, and there also seem to be a lot of lesbians with short hair who we are quick to write off as “butch.” I’d venture to say that it is not the people that define the stereotype but the stereotype that defines the people.

It’s the classic question of the chicken or the egg. But this time I think the answer is quite obvious. The heterosexual mainstream, when forced with a new group, placed the new group in a box and went on with their lives. By doing this, the mainstream did not have to feel like they were discriminating the homosexuals and at the same time had an easy way of labeling them. It must have been easier to define each homosexual by their group than to admit that every gay person was an individual in their own respect. This would have meant admitting that gay people are actually human beings.

These stereotypes have clearly had lasting effects on the gay population. It doesn’t seem plausible that such a large population of the gay male population is so zealous about fashion or that so many lesbians choose on their own to disregard society’s definitions of beauty. I think that a lot of gay men and women simply conform to the accepted stereotypes because it makes their lives easier. If they fit themselves into the box provided for them then they don’t have to answer any questions. They further confirm the mainstream’s assumptions and as long as its assumptions are not defied the mainstream is satisfied. Homosexuals, instead of being free to live as individuals, must constantly conform to society’s image of them. If gay stereotypes had never been created would there be more, gay, male mechanics? Would there be more lesbians working at fashion magazines? I guess we’ll never know.