Gendered Bodies (response from Melissa M.)

     Karin Martin's study on how bodies become gendered into "boys" or "girls" from the young ages of 3 and 5 brings up an interesting view of how gender is taught that most people wouldn't think about when speaking about gender. As older individuals who have already established our own genders, knowingly or otherwise, we don't usually take notice of the subtle acts and instructions we were given by those in high authority while we were growing up and how they shaped our gender in some way or another. What makes it more difficult to identify is how subtle those actions or instructions were, and yet they made such a profound impact that followed us throughout our lives.

     In her study, Martin points out how pre-school students are gendered by what they wore, their type of behavior, and their voices. I point these three observations out because they seem, to me, to make such a large impact that can be seen years after young age. 

     In terms of clothing, boys clothing didn't have much of a difference between the ages of 3 and 5. However, for girls, the number of girls who wore dresses increased from the ages of 3 to 5. This could be due to the fact that over the course of two years of life the girls have become accustomed to be in dresses and they have been influenced by those around them that girls their age wear dresses, which in it of itself serves as a way of identify gender. The color of the clothing is also something important. Pink, from birth, is seen as synonymous with "girl". For this reason, boys are influenced to reject to wear pink. And these influences may not just come from pre-school, but from home and the way the parents dress their child. This can be seen in older individuals. Most older men won't wear pink in fear that it will threaten their own sexuality, as if wearing pink and being a man must mean they are homosexual. 

      The type of clothing children wear then influences, in part, the type of behavior that teachers encourage for the kids. Boys, overall, are expected to be loud and cause a commotion with their voices or bodies. Usually, boys clothing doesn't create any bodily restrictions, allowing for larger movement.  Because this behavior is assumed, the teachers don't bother too much to try to correct it unless another child runs the risk of getting hurt. That type of attitude towards boys encourages more of a relaxed behavior because they are told to stop what they're doing. For girls, on the other hand, they are steered towards a more formal behavior, where they're movement is restricted. Personally, I feel this connects a lot with how little girls are dressed. If a little girl is in a dress, she can't necessarily sit with legs wide because it'd be inappropriate, even though young children don't think about why that would be wrong. Also, because media and parents who were raised in older societies were taught that girls should be "sugar, spice, and everything nice" they should be dainty, docile, and soft. And soft, leads into soft spoken. This then leads into the examples Martin gives of how teachers manage the children's voices. For boys, they are simply told to quiet down in groups (for the most part), while girls are usually singled out and are instructed to repeat what was said in a quieter, softer tone. This can be seen in examples of older men and women. It's more acceptable for a man to belch and be loud at a bar, but not for a woman. In most cases of rape, women, who are used to have movement self contained, find it much more difficult to fight off the predator or to scream out for help. 

     This study then begs the question, if one desires to not expose one's child to gender normative practices, how does one go about doing so? To me, this seems like a nearly impossible goal to achieve. Because most older individuals are so unaware of their own genderfication and have become so accustomed to see the "male" and "female" genders as normal, it's difficult to teach young children otherwise. The only way children can't be exposed to the process of being gendered is by being blocked off from everything, but even then the family still has an influence, maybe even a greater influence than schooling or media could have on them.