Gendered Performance on Facebook
Monday, July 27, 2009 by JCT
I'm looking at my friends list on Facebook and checking for any evidence of 'gendered performance' within the their online faces of display pictures. I am quite surprised to find that just as many males have solo, 'posed' pictures of themselves as do their female counterparts. (One macho man is even posing on a pole). The remaining display pictures shows what was suggested in class today of the male tendency to use shots of themselves participating in activities (wheather it be snowboarding or dressing up as Harry Potter) while the females prefer social group shots in intimate pairs or small groups of three or four friends (looking glamorous on a night out most predominantly).
In regards to the gender performance in the gaming realm, I have to agree with a student's comment that she was not surprised at the way that genders are represented (most notably in 'Second World') to impossible standards of 'ideal beauty'. In my opinion it isn't a good thing for males and females to be fixated on unattainable body standards yet the likes of 'Second World's' character's bodies are so exaggerated it is hard for me to take it seriously. I guess in a way I have become numb or a disbeliever in what media (in all forms) considers as beautiful because with the ease and excess of manipulation that goes into making an image of a person 'more attractive' has led me to not believe what I see anymore.
In the words of Public Enemy - "Fight The Power!"
In regards to the gender performance in the gaming realm, I have to agree with a student's comment that she was not surprised at the way that genders are represented (most notably in 'Second World') to impossible standards of 'ideal beauty'. In my opinion it isn't a good thing for males and females to be fixated on unattainable body standards yet the likes of 'Second World's' character's bodies are so exaggerated it is hard for me to take it seriously. I guess in a way I have become numb or a disbeliever in what media (in all forms) considers as beautiful because with the ease and excess of manipulation that goes into making an image of a person 'more attractive' has led me to not believe what I see anymore.
In the words of Public Enemy - "Fight The Power!"
I agree but I also wonder if the tendency for us become numb to (and cynical about) unrealistic and idealized media images of (hyper)masculinity and (hyper)femininity means that those images aren't really affecting our culture or whether it just means we are being fatalistic about it (i.e. not fighting the power)?