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Here we see a picture of my nephew taking a A nap. So in our family his parents see him as a male which is why we use pronouns such as he him and his. But the reason I chose this picture is because it reminded me of the lesson when we watched a TedTalk of of Audrey explaining the gender norms place on outfits and the significance it plays in society. You see my nephew laying on a pink blanket, now due to heteronormativity and different gender stereotypes placed on even things such as color, one might say a pink blanket is for a girl. But as I learned in taking this course gender is what you make of it and in my family we don’t stress things such as colors and what toys that my nephew gets to play with. Instead of living life with the gender stereotypes we just want my nephew to be happy and healthy no matter what toy he plays with what color he likes and what he will identify as when he gets older.

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In this image you see me and my two friends experimenting and testing out different wigs. In the center you will see my friend Mike, Mike is a rapper in the entertainment business but has never been afraid to express himself in anyway possible. In society putting on a wig or even make up is seen as not being masculine, it’s seen as a feminine activity. However, Mike does not let those stereotypes of masculinity affect how he experiments and identifies. Hegemonic masculinity are large contributors to masculinity; so anything that does not fit in that criteria or is deemed not masculine is automatically seen as feminine. Mike identifies as a heterosexual male but that doesn’t stop him from expressing his feelings, doing different activities that might be deemed feminine by his other male counterparts or not being as aggressive and dominant like males are protrayed to be. Mike is one of the strongest and most beautifully expressive person I know.

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In this picture, as I have mentioned previously about it; you see my dad holding my nephew his first grandchild and the first grandson in the family. I decided to use this picture for my example of gender stereotype resistant because in many cultures especially Caribbean cultures men are seen as the breadwinner who work and women are seen as caretakers. My dad is my nephews primary caretaker other than his parents and he does a great job at that, and he does all the diapers, makes my nephew food, and gives him a bath. My dad has always been the primary caretaker since I can remember he took care of me and my sister in the morning times when getting ready for school, my dad even did school projects with us and I can even remember a time my dad sowed my Christmas play costume together(I was a angel). I feel as though this is also an example of caring masculinity because instead of a dominant aggressive man we see a nurturing and caring father and grandfather. And even until this day my dad is down for any creative artistic project that one of my cousins need help with. My dad has done  many things that are stereotyped to be a woman’s job, or for a women to do and he never complains and doesn’t see it as a issue or a gender characteristic.

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I hope this picture counts but here’s a picture of my brother-in-law and one of his groomsmen on his wedding day, they decided to take a selfie on my phone that I found weeks later. But I think this identifies with me as tender masculinity because my brother-in-law and his groomsmen have been friends for their entire life they grew up in church together and have been inseparable since. I have witnessed countless conversations between the both of them and the other males in their group about their emotions, in regards to violence towards African-American men, their married life, and even their mental health. And being that my brother-in-law is a doctor he spends a lot of time speaking about the disadvantages that African-Americans go through in the healthcare system. But in every conversation it’s never been an awkward exchange and you can really tell from their bond that is important to the friendship my brother in law values dearly. All of his relationships with his male friends are the same very loving, openly expressive of what they are going through and consideration and compassion for each other, they even say I love you to one another to show their appreciation for each other.

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Femininity is defined as “qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women.  Accommodating dominant gender norms influence how we view and assess ourselves, whether we follow them or not. With masculinity it was  socially created as masculine ideal characterized primarily in opposition to feminine. However in this picture I am dressed up for 90s hip-hop day at my high school similar to 90s break dancers that I like and many who happens to be male. However that doesn’t affect how I think I should dress or pose because even though my costume have male influences I still feel the most feminine dressed up the way I am. To me no one should be able to define femininity or masculinity based on clothing, expression, stereotypes and many more that hold a hard grip around gender in society and cultures.