Monique Armstrong

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Gender Stereotypes in Birthday Cards

• Monique Armstrong
• And
• Sheri Savino

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Outline of Presentation

• Explain how each perspective is applied to
  birthday cards Structural functional, symbolic
  interaction, and social conflict.
• Explain our research method of experiment and
  explain what we saw in actual birthday cards
  (What symbols).
• Explain our second research method of survey.
• Explain our survey results for each question
  asked.
• Our conclusion about the survey results.
• An in depth analysis of how symbolic interaction,
  structural functional, and social conflict is
  connected with birthday cards.
• Lastly, our observations and overall conclusions
  about gender stereotyping in birthday cards.

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Structural Functional

• This perspective views society as a machine whose
  parts function as a whole.
• What are the manifest, latent, and dysfunctional
  structures for birthday cards?
• Manifest intention
• To communicate and keep in touch with family.
• Latent side effects
• To make relatives happy and show them you care,
  and keep businesses going.
• Dysfunction issues
• Certain cards might offend relatives or friends,
  and can too expensive.
• Social change how structures adapt
• Productive businesses help stabilize the economy
  and provide jobs for people.
• Saves people time and energy from making a
  birthday card.

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Symbolic Interaction

• This perspective views society as the sum of all
  personal interactions based on the interpretation
  of meaning.
• Mead explains that symbols help shape the
  sophistication of people. They help us to
  communicate in order to form human relationships
  with people we respect or feel obligated to like
  our parents.
• People identify images with various age groups.
• Two examples of symbols on birthday cards are
  images and age.
• For further information, see next slide

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Social Conflict

• This perspective views society as a constant
  struggle for power and resources.
• The ultimate goal for Social Conflict (SC)?
• The goal is to distinguish the difference between
  gender and age groups.
• Gender roles
• Women are pressured to buy birthday cards for
  both sides of the family, whereas men are free
  from this responsibility.
• Example
• 1. If the wife forgets to purchase the birthday
  card in time then she gets blamed for it.
• 2. Men easily forget and therefore not held
  accountable for their actions.

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Research Method Experiment

• Pick meaningful Ages
• Looked for the birthday section
• Saw sections marked His Birthday, Her Birthday,
  Birthday Humor, and other occasions
• Picked cards!

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Symbol Examples of Images
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Symbol Examples of Images
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For Him
Symbols

• Images
• Superheroes, idols, sports, cars
• Words
• Super, fantastic, awesome

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For Her
Symbols

• Images
• Flowers, princesses, glitter on cards
• Words
• Lovely, sweet, wonderful

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More Symbols Related To Symbolic interaction
Colors

• Age Gender Envelope Color
• 1 Male or Female Green
• 4 Male Blue
• 4 Female Pink
• 16 Female Pink
• Male or Female Orange and Yellow
• 40 Male Blue

Word Comparisons

• Words inside cards stereotyped gender
• Words for females are more girly and cuter, guys
  are more masculine and cooler

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Research Method Survey
We chose this method of research because we could
ask both males and females questions about
gender. By using the survey, people could answer
the questions without feeling awkward since it is
anonymous. Hypothesis Women would answer it
is the womens responsibility to buy birthday
cards, and men would circle the same answer.
Both sexes would circle the expected answer for
the particular gender question.
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Survey Results For Question 1
Type of Birthday Card to Buy
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Survey Results For Question 2
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Survey Results For Questions 3 4
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Survey Results For Question 5

• The results for this question were agreed upon by
  both men and women due to biased choices.
  Females chose princesses and fairies seen on
  birthday cards as symbols for young girls. Men
  chose sports and cars seen on birthday cards as
  symbols for little boys. Each participant chose
  these answers since they only had two to chose
  from. Basically, the results were 50-50.
• Example
• What types of symbols are usually seen on
  birthday cards for young children?
• Girls
• a. Princesses/fairies
  b. Cars/sports
• Boys
• a. Princesses/fairies
  b. Cars/sports

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Overall Consensus Results of Survey
Our research method was successful in determining
gender stereotypes among men and women. 56
percent of the participants surveyed agreed that
it is the womens responsibility to buy birthday
cards for each side of the family. As a result,
gender roles play a significant part in shaping
society. Another observation was 63 percent
said females more often than men celebrate their
16th birthday. In America, sixteen year-old
girls have adapted to the idea of becoming a
women at the age of sixteen. This age is a
symbol for womanhood and is highly recognized by
females. At this age, men dont really pay
attention or care about this idea because of
maturity level.
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Symbolic Interaction Analysis
Symbols Images Age
What do they mean? Represents the gender interest, for instance role models. Each age has a significance.
Does everyone agree on the meaning? Are they the same or different? It changes with gender, for example princesses for girls, and superheroes for boys. Overall, the meaning is the same. Age determines birthday party styles. Some examples include themes, peer groups, and decorations. All in all, the purpose is the same yet changes with age.
How does the interpretation of symbols shape the way people interact with each other? Images become role models for each gender. Age influences the actions or behaviors of the individual.
Are interactions changing on this issue? The images change with each birthday card for boys and girls. With each birthday there are different expectations in the maturity of age.
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Social Structure of Age
With age comes certain privileges
and expectations (refer to social conflict
analysis for more details).
Turning 21
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Conflict Analysis Age Groups
Power Resources 21st Birthday Card 16th Birthday Card
Who has them? Males and Females Predominately young girls
Who wants them? (Who is in peer competition for them?) Why? Adults, to celebrate their right to drink. If they dont then their reputation is weakened. Teenagers
How/where/why are they fighting about the power resources? By going to a bar in town and drinking the most because they are able to, and want to appear cool. Teenagers want to have the most memorable party by renting a hall to raise their popularity.
Who is winning? The person who is able to consume the most alcohol and not pass out. The teenager who has the best party and gifts.
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Observations

• As a whole, we learned that society is shaped by
  creating stereotypes for each gender. Some of
  the factors that apply to this concept are
  symbols and age. These vital factors influence
  certain expectations made among men and women as
  well from an early age. For instance, symbols
  seen on birthday cards are one of the key
  factors. In addition, cars seen on birthday
  cards for young boys inflict the idea that their
  role in society is to fulfill hands-on jobs like
  becoming a mechanic or carpenter.

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Observation (cont)
Another important factor to take into
consideration is age. Especially, the subliminal
messages within birthday cards such as turning
sixteen. According to the consensus, by the
participants within the society that girls
turning sixteen in America represents womanhood,
and forces them to take on more responsibilities
like babysitting their siblings whereas, boys are
not held up to the same standards and are
typically more careless.