gender development / notes

Gender Development by Susan Golombock and Robyn Fivush is an extremely useful book covering a wide range of factors that affect children's gender development. Key areas of this book talk about stereotyping, parental influences and social learning theory which was mentioned also in Understanding Children's Development. It is important that these sources are linked together within the essay to form a complete argument.

Stereotypes - 

It is quite clear that adults have gender stereotypes and use these stereotypes in interpreting behaviour of other adults and even of young infants. But when and how do children learn these stereotypes? (…) Perhaps not too surprisingly, children learn about gender in very early development. Children begin to consistently label themselves and others as male or female sometime around the age of 2 years, and very soon after this, they begin to associate particular behaviours and traits with one gender or the other. Even more interesting, young children, between the ages of 3 and 6 years of age, are even more strongly sex stereotyped than adults. 

Preschool children not only know what the culturally defined gender stereotypes are; they believe very strongly that they are true. 

Interestingly, children stereotyped other children more than adults; when pictures of adults were used, children at all ages were more likely to say that both males and females could engage in that behaviour when pictures of children were used. 

So, it seems that the content and structure of children’s stereotypes are similar to adults’. However, very young children’s gender stereotypes are more rigid than adults’, and information about someone’s gender overrides any other information about that person. Further, children seem to believe that gender stereotypes apply more to their age-mates than to adults. 

timeplan / week 4

Aims
To begin writing chapter 1

Achieved
This week I have started to put my notes into writing ahead of my 2nd tutorial. I am hoping to discuss what I have written for chapter 1 with Simon and get some feedback to ensure it's heading in the right direction.

relevant images

Ahead of my second tutorial, it was advised that I bring along some relevant images to discuss relating to graphic design for young children. I found some general examples of graphic design aimed at children, including magazines, food packaging, toy packaging and book covers.

This mood board of images includes a range of gendered and un-gendered pieces of design. Characters from popular children's tv shows are present too. Moomin which is a genderless character has been around since 1945 and has been proven to still be popular today.

This next mood board consists of comparisons between gendered products and the way they are portrayed. The products aimed at boys usually use the adjectives 'clever', 'brilliant' and 'ultimate', where as the products aimed at girls use words such as 'beautiful' and 'gorgeous'.

The contrast between the way the same product is marketed is particularly interesting, especially with examples like food. The Pombears are the same flavour crisps but with different adjectives for the different gendered designs; 'wild paprika' for the boys design and 'sweet paprika' for the girls.

proposed essay structure

After the tutorial with Simon it was clear there were some changes to be made to the main points of my essay and the structure. I'm now focussing my dissertation on the age range of 3 - 5 year olds, using a range of graphic design examples to form my argument, with the title being:

Does graphic design influence children's perception of gender?

This title allows me to argue and triangulate, rather than to mildly explore the topic and not having anything to answer. Identity has been removed from the title as gender falls under the umbrella of identity. Other topics would have be discussed if identity was included in the title, e.g. sexuality and race; which is not what I wanted to focus on. From this, I decided it would be beneficial to create a main structure that included 3 chapters and bullet-point what would be discussed in each one. The word count was also included so I know roughly how much I need to research for each section. My dissertation will explore how children relate specific design to gender, and how this impacts their perception of gender. I will undertake primary research to help understand this, and look into specific theories regarding gender and development. Colour theory and case studies will also be explored within the paper to comprehend the ways in which brands appeal to certain young audiences. The paper will be broken down into 3 chapters:

STRUCTURE:

Introduction (1000)

• Introduce the question and things that will be discussed
• Talk about the structure of the essay

1. Gender development (2000 words)
This chapter will focus on how children develop in regards to understanding gender. It will introduce the concepts of gender and identity, looking at gender stereotypes and social structures surrounding children in terms of their gender. Parental influences could also factor in their understanding of gender.

2. Graphic design and gender (2000-3000 words)
This chapter will explore the fundamentals of colour theory regarding gender and look at the history of pink and blue becoming gender specific. A few children's brands will be analysed and compared to see how they differ within their target audience. Primary research will also be featured within this chapter, looking at how boys and girls respond to certain aspects of design.

3. Design and children (2000 words)
This chapter will focus heavily on graphic design and children's brands. Case studies of specific brands will be analysed in regards to the results of the primary research. I will look at gendered and ungendered examples of graphic design and see what techniques are used. The findings of this chapter will determine whether graphic design influences childrens perception of gender, and to what degree.

Conclusion (1000)

• Round up analysis
• Discuss findings

Total: 8000 - 9000

timeplan / week 3

Aims
The aims of this week were to get feedback from tutorial 1 and consider this in terms of my project.

Achieved
I attended tutorial 1 and gained some good feedback regarding my introduction. The next stage is to continue researching and gathering quotes for chapter 1, which I am aiming to have some substance by the next tutorial.

tutorial 1

Going into the first tutorial, I wanted to discuss the structure of my dissertation and get a fully realised plan of what I was going to say. Before the tutorial, I emailed Simon a rough draft of my introduction to discuss and see whether I was going in the right direction.

We discussed the question in depth and talked about how I was going to discover where the effects of graphic design take place. Some things I should consider are:

• Graphic Design and visual culture - where its seen by children.
• Elements of typography, colour, image, people, who they appeal to and why.
• Is there anything that appeals to both genders?
• For primary research, look at setting up the experiment in a way to reveal whether peer pressure has an effect on children's choices - e.g. one group is allowed to discuss the questionnaire where as the other group is done separately without discussion. 
• Consider a younger age group than 7-11 y/o's as the larger developments take place way before this. 

Before the tutorial, I had changed my focus slightly due to feedback from the presentation. I wanted to hone in on editorial design to focus my essay and allow it to have a concise topic. From the feedback in this tutorial, I have decided to keep the focus quite broad within terms of graphic design, as it was pointed out that it's not just editorial design that has effect on children's development and it would be hard to prove how only editorial design effects them. I will still have a large focus on editorial design, but I feel exploring other areas of design, for example, packaging, food, advertising and tv shows.

For the next tutorial I need to bring lots of visual elements relating to graphic design and children of my specific target audience. I need to decide whether the age range I will be discussing will be of the older or younger end of the scale and look into the relevant theories regarding my age range. I also need to decide on the structure of my dissertation and potentially start writing Chapter 1. 

introduction draft

Ahead of my first tutorial, I thought it would be useful to create a rough draft of the structure of my essay given the feedback from the presentations. I wanted to have a clear structure and understanding of my essay before the tutorial which could then be discussed and improved.

Does Graphic Design influence children’s perception of gender and identity? 

An investigation of children’s editorial through ages 7-11. 

Throughout this investigation I will be looking at how children’s editorial has an effect on their perception of gender and identity through primary research and specified reading.

This paper will be broken down into chapters to distinguish between the factors that may take effect on a child’s perception of gender and identity, which include the development and psychology of children, gender and identity studies, colour theory and examples of editorial design available to children. Therefore, crucial to my methodology is primary research in the form of interviews and observations to determine what aspects have an influence on the child’s development.

Chapter one will look into the psychology behind child development and lay a foundation of understanding towards the way children perceive gender and identity. The main focus of this chapter will be the psychological theories, not necessarily linked to gender or graphic design. The main influences of this chapter are Smith, Cowie and Blades (2011) with their textbook Understanding Children’s Development. 

Chapter two will discuss the broad strokes of gender development and identity and highlight any links to graphic design. Key influences of this chapter are Benwell and Stoke (2006), Gauntlett (2002) and Golombock, Fivush (1994). To fully understand the way children perceive gender and identity it is important to firstly understand why they think this way. Primary research will also feature within this chapter, with interviews, surveys and observations taking place. The primary research will be taken from children aged 7-11 and will ask them questions about specific magazines, colours and content which link to their attitude towards gender. The design of this research will be a cross-sectional design, where different age groups are looked at simultaneously. Ideally, the research would be a cohort design which allows us to look at historical change following different children born at different times, but due to time restrictions, the cross-sectional design is the best fit. 

Following on from a broad range of research chapter three will look specifically at editorial design, comparing and contrasting magazines, novels and other types of activity books. This will determine, with results from the primary research whether these types of graphic design are inherently linked with gender and identity. 

Chapter four will be an analysis of popular children’s magazine, Anorak. Anorak is inherently gender neutral and designed by a professional illustrator and graphic design team. Looking at this magazine closely will form my closing argument about whether editorial design influences children’s perception.

understanding children's development / notes

Understanding Children's Development has proved to be an extremely useful book within the area of psychology and how children develop ideas around gender. The book talks in great detail about the types of psychological experiments, models of human development and specific theories about the development of gender which are key to my studies.

Types of experiments - 

Cross-sectional design: In a cross-sectional design, an investigator might look at several age groups simultaneously. For example, she might record language ability in 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds, at the same point in time. The cross-sectional design is quick to do, and is appropriate if the main interest is in what abilities or behaviours are typical at certain ages. Because of the convenience in this method, the majority of developmental studies have been cross-sectional.

Longitudinal design:  In a longitudinal design, the investigator follows certain individuals over a given time period, measuring change. For example, our investigator might have recorded the language ability for a sample of 3-year-olds and a year later visited the same children to get a sample of what they can do as 4-year-olds. Longitudinal designs are generally preferable if the focus of interest is in the process of change, and the relationship between earlier and later behaviour. 

Cohort design: Here, different cohorts (i.e. samples of children born in different years) are compared at the same ages. This design will inform us of the image of historical change. For example, if we compare the leisure activities of 8-year-old children born in a Western society in 1930, 1960 and 1990, we will see changes influence by (among other factors) the advent of television in the 1950s an and the widespread use of the internet and mobile phones in the 1990s. 

Social Learning Theory - 

The answer often seems to be that parents do behave differently towards boys and girls. Besides the cross-cultural evidence referred to above, observations have been made in homes and nurseries in Western Societies. For example, Fagot (1978) studied children aged 20-24 months in American homes. She found that girls were encouraged by their parents to dance, dress up, follow them around and play with dolls, but were discouraged from jumping and climbing; boys, however, were encouraged to play with blocks and trucks but discouraged from playing with dolls or seeking help. 

Cognitive Development Theory - 

Children tend to imitate same-sex models and follow sex-appropriate activities, because they realise that this is what a child of their own sex usually does. This process was termed self-socialisation by Maccoby and Jacklin (1974), since it does not depend directly on external reinforcement.

What evidence is there for this cognitive-developmental view? In a number of studies, the development of gender identity and constancy has been found to correlate with the degree of sex-typed behaviour. For example, in a study of 2- and 3-year-olds by Weinraub et al. (1984), it was found that the children who had achieved gender identity more securely were also the ones who were observed to make more sex-stereotyped toy preferences. In another study of 4-6-year-olds (Ruble et al., 1981), the level of gender constancy was measured, and each child was shown a film of either same- or opposite-sex children playing with a new toy. Only children high on gender constancy were influenced by the film; if a child high on gender constancy saw opposite-sex children playing with the toy, that child avoided playing with it subsequently.

Social Cognitive Theory - 

Social cognitive theory (Bussey & Bandura, 1999) in effect draws together the ideas of social learning theory and the cognitive developmental and gender schema insights; which, after all are complementary rather than antagonistic. Social cognitive theorists stress the variety and complexity of mechanisms that are at work - for example: 

Self-regulatory mechanisms - children monitor their own behaviour with reference to a self-accepted standard of what is appropriate

Identification with a peer group - monitoring their behaviour in relation to how they expect same-sex peers might react.

Motivational mechanisms - children are most likely to imitate behaviour that they think they can master and that will enhance their self-efficacy and self-esteem. 

presentation feedback

To get a sense of what our chosen project was, presentations took place to determine our specific tutors for CoP3. As my project direction is still quite broad and rough, I took this as an opportunity to get feedback from my tutor and peers.

The feedback I received was positive and useful. I was encouraged to specify my question to focus on one particular part of graphic design, for example packaging or editorial. I also feel I should specify an age range, as there is a lot of development between the ages of 2 and 12. The designs aimed for a 4 year old for example, will be a lot more simplistic and stimulating rather than have any actual intellectual value as that for a 10 year old. 

timeplan / week 2

Aims
The aim of this week is to begin researching and note taking.

Achieved 
This week I have begun researching for chapter 1. This chapter will discuss gender development in young children. So far I have found books by Golombok and Fivush and Smith, Cowie and Blades that talk about the development of children.

I have also begun to structure my essay and plan a rough introduction.

timeplan / week 1

Aims: 
The aims of this week were to receive the brief and begin to plan the essay.

Achieved: 
The brief was received yesterday. I have already began to plan my essay question; Does graphic design influence children's perception of gender? We are to prepare a presentation that describes our general idea and proposal to the group.

timeplan

To ensure the project gets completed in time and makes progress throughout the coming weeks I have decided to create a time plan. This will act as a rough guide for each week on what should be completed.

Week 1 (3/10/16)  - Briefing and planning
Week 2 (10/10/16) - Research and note taking
Week 3 (17/10/16) - Tutorial 1 
Week 4 - (24/10/16) - Begin Chapter 1 
Week 5 - (31/10/16) - Tutorial 2
Week 6 - (7/11/16) - Plan practical
Week 7 - (14/11/16) - Organise primary research / Tutorial 3
Week 8 - (21/11/16) - Begin Chapter 2
Week 9 - (28/11/16) - Tutorial 4
Week 10 - (5/12/16) - Practical crit
Week 11 - (12/12/16) - Begin Chapter 3 
Week 12 - (19/12/16) - Finish Essay
Week 13 (26/12/16) - Finish Practical
Week 14 (2/1/17) - Tutorial 5 / Print practical work
Week 15 (9/1/17) - Print and bind essay / hand in

brief

Brief

You will produce a 6,000 to 9,000 word extended essay AND a related practical artefact(s) (ie. prototype (testing of an idea) / or body of content in response to the knowledge researched) including research notes and documentation of development (blog/journal/poster ). in response to an agreed question / title. The text should include an introduction to your theme, the development of an argument followed by a conclusion that makes clear your position at the culmination of your enquiries. The essay and practical work will be assessed as a unified research project based on the criteria set out in the module specification and therefore will evidence your developed appreciation and understanding of the interrelatedness of theory and practice in the field of Graphic Design.

Your extended essay will be bound and presented to academic expectations - lectures will give guidance. 

Your extended essay must not exceed 10% of the upper word limit or fall under 10% of the lower limit. It will be referenced throughout using the Harvard referencing system and will contain a bibliography.

Module aims

- To define an individual analytical and evaluative research interest within the study of art and design contexts.

- To develop skills in appropriate written and practical research and evaluative formats that reflect an understanding commensurate with BA (Hons) Level 6 academic practices.

- To employ a synthesised understanding of theoretical and practical contexts of individual creative practices and concerns.

- To adequately prepare learners for the theoretical and practical research demands of postgraduate study.

proposal and feedback

My initial proposal for CoP3 is included in the images below:

Feedback

‘This is an interesting question and you have developed a nice focus which will certainly help direct your research over the summer. Your plan for primary research with children is well received but I would recommend planning this very carefully in advance to ensure that it is relevant and has impact. Some other books you could explore are: Media, gender and identity by David Gauntlett; Gender development by Susan Golombok, Robyn Fivush; (chapter 4 in..) Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis by Lia Litosseliti.  It is important that you spend some time learning of the various theoretical positions on gender development before considering what role graphic design and branding play in influencing these.’

Analysis
I felt optimistic about this feedback and was pleased with the amount of resources I was given. Studying gender over the summer was an important aspect of my research to gain a solid foundation of knowledge and build from there. This question will allow me to explore aspects of design that I am interested in and to create a piece of practical work that will sit well in my portfolio. Primary research is essential and will need rigorous planning, especially for young children.