Post 3: Brooke

This portion of the book reminded me of the ongoing issue of "gender roles" and the ways that gender roles affect children, adolescents and teens. In the vigniette "The Family of the Little Feet", Esperanza and her friends get to wear shoes "like Cinderella", so they feel like princesses. As they walk around in them, they feel more and more feminine and soak up the attention that they receive from the men in the neighborhood, until it becomes too much for them ("we are tired of being beautiful") . The girls in this vigniette are really too young to understand sexuality and to be walking around in shoes that make them feel "sexy", yet they do because this is ingrained in them form birth. To be a "woman", which all of these girls are starting to become, they feel like they must do what women do: including wearing high heeled shoes. Although I do not have a newsclip to show this phenomenon, I have chosen a couple of videos that highlight the issues that arise with gender roles. In the first video, titled Gender Roles- Interviews with Kids- it is apparent that these gender roles are formed at a very young age. The second is a commentary on gender roles in Disney films, which suggests that popular culture works at reinforcing these gender roles at a very young age. Esperanza would have been subject to these gender roles and as a blossoming woman, would feel pressure to fulfill this role that is predetermined for her by society. I think it would be interesting to have a discussion around these vigniettes (especially "The Family of Little Feet" and "Hips") in relation to these videos and the students' own experience or knowledge of what it means to be a "girl" or "boy" in America.