My take away from the class was about gender roles, as well as other identities that are prescribed to us, from most facets of life whether it be through media, peer interactions, interactions with adults and so forth. How conventional gender roles perpetuate themselves, and why deviance is stigmatized, or controlled. As a kid I never understood why it was that girls could wear pretty anything, but boys could wear pants or how come boys were supposed to do this and girls were supposed to do that, while everyone else around me just blindly accepted it. I remember being very upset when I wasn't allowed to do some things, because it wasn't appropriate for my gender, or even feeling ashamed about it and it's good to feel sort of redeemed by learning how it's only a social construct.
I also never thought as deeply about how race and class affect gender intersectionally, and my eyes are opened now.
Prior to this class, I too did not really think about the reasoning behind the socially constructed norms of girls and boys - why blue is assigned to boys, and pink to girls. Now I understand that it is completely constructed by third party sources who are trying to make money (capitalism). But aside from the explanation of capitalism, I'm still pondering why it is blue that's assigned to boys, and pink to girls, rather than vice versa.
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