Thursday 26 April 2007

Gender Stereotypes

Today was school photo day. Nothing exciting there you might think, but remember this is Thailand and boy do they like to pose for photos! They all started off with the formal shot against the blue background and then it just got cheesier and cheesier. Hands in the pockets looking moody, hand on the chin looking pensive and of course the cuddling a teddy shot.

I did wonder why they had split the boys and girls into two groups and I soon found out. After the blue background shots the girls were ushered in front of an English country garden scene, complete with white fence, roses and a wooden sign saying welcome. They were then handed a basket of flowers and posed once more. The boys, on the other hand, were put in front of plain background and given a bike to pose on and a golf club to swing.

Needless to say I was having none of this and told the girls that if they wanted to have a picture on the bike they could and the boys that if they wanted to hold a bunch of flowers then they should go for it. Several of the girls swapped over and although one boy looked keen he decided against it when none of the others would. I’m sure I’m now very popular with the photo company and our head said that any complaints from parents would be directed to me! What could they possibly complain about? It’s ridiculous!

1 comment:

Molange said...

you tell 'em Alex! We just had our school photos too.. now props may be cute for little kids, but 15 years olds? i got so mad at my kids choosing to sit on little motorbikes and pose with water pistols in their school photos! ridiculous!