Observing Gender in Advertising and Media

In class, we took a look at several different films exploring gender roles in media and advertising. After watching these movies, I've noticed I'm looking at gender roles in advertising and media with a keener and more informed eye.
Later that day when I was Facebook, I took a look at some of my photo albums. I realized just how many photos I had taken where I was in many of the classic poses that we observed in the last film. Head tilted, leg canted, twisted into a position that threw me off balance or contorted me in some way. In positions that are considered to be classically feminine poses. I had never realized before how many of my photos were like this. Very few that I had taken could have fit into the category of "masculine" stances.
A few weeks ago, my friend's little cousin, Gabriel, came to visit. We took him out shopping with us. In one store, we came across some coloring books. My friend suggested to him some Batman or Thomas the Train Engine coloring books, but Gabriel was very insistent upon getting a bright pink and yellow Hello Kitty coloring book. My friend was attempting to discourage him from picking the girly item and even made a few comments to me about Gabriel potentially being gay. Gabriel is four years old and already being mocked for not being "masculine" enough.
Just experiencing this situation really brought to mind just how much importance we place on fitting into your gender role and how early on we are pressured to meet society's expectations of those roles. Before you are even born, sometimes as soon as your sex is determined, your family may give you a pink or blue nursery.
These films brought to light the enormous divide in the world of the feminine and the masculine and have made it easier to observe it.