Cory D. sent us these pictures of gendered T-shirts for kids at Disneyland (see them here).
T-shirt text: “I rode [the Pirates of the Caribbean ride] and I spun around in a [teacup]. I ate some [ice cream] and yummy [popcorn]. But the best part of my trip is when I met [Goofy, er Pluto].”
T-shirt text: “I rode [the Carousel]. I saw [Cinderella] and went to her [castle]. I spun in a [teacup] and I ate [ice cream]. But the best part of my trip is when I met [The Little Mermaid].”
This is an image of brass stencil that was used to identify products made by women during WWII.
Found here thanks to Breck C.
Vietnam-era anti-draft propaganda from The Draft Resistance offers girls to pacifist boys.
From Vintage Ads via Jezebel.
Maybe you’ve never noticed, given that feminists are always talking about the ladies, that there are lots and lots and lots of things that (real) men are not supposed to do. For instance: drink fruity drinks, wear pink shoes, look at their fingernails the wrong way, enjoy a “chick flick,” like a girl, like cats, prefer not to fight, care about grades, eat salad… should I go on? You get the gist.
Comparably, women have got it good. We’re allowed to knit and play soccer, be a mom and be a lawyer, take dance and karate, wear skirts and pants!
How do we make sense of this? Crash course: Femininity is just for chicks. When men do feminine things, they are debasing themselves. Masculinity is awesome and for everyone. When women do masculine things, they’re awesome. This is sexism: Masculinity rules, femininity drools. Men are encouraged to stay away from femininity, so their individual choices are constrained, but they also are staying away from something debasing. In contrast, women are required to do a least some femininity, so women are required to debase themselves, at least a little bit, even as they are given more options.
I say this all to introduce these two hilarious examples of men and how they have to worry about doing masculinity (sent in by Vesko J.).
How To Give The Perfect Man Hug
How I Sit On The Bus
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Jenelle N. sent this ad in:
As she put it, “I’d say there’s nothing subtle about this one.” No, indeed.
Thanks, Jenelle!
I took these pictures at the Toys ‘R Us in Henderson, NV. If you can’t tell, the picture on the left is the boys’ section of the store, and the picture on the right is the girls’ section. First, why must there be a boys and girls section at all? Must all toys be coded as masculine or feminine? Second, notice how gender is color-coded. Kids can tell immediately, even before being able to read, which aisle is for them. All this is aside from the content; that is, what toys are sold in each aisle. These are strong and clear messages to children about group differentiation.
* Picture and title borrowed from Jason S., who snapped the picture in the parking garage for the Sundance Kabuki Theater (Japantown, San Francisco, CA).
