Children's Bodies

Children are taught from a very young age how bodies function, and the children grow up into our own cultured bodies that we now possess. I found these two images from a fairly famous photographer by the name of Sally Mann. Sally Mann is an artistic photographer who uses her photography to protray the reality of childhood. These images made me realize how children are always being pressured to "grow up". (and they mean grow up mentally and socially even though it is commonly thought of it meaning physically). Children are thus taught how culture their bodies into the bodies we have now.

Sally Mann: "Gorjus" (1989)

Within this first photo I am going to share, there are two girls "playing" make up behind an old pick-up truck. In this photo it is clear that these children are not upper class, or else they would have found a better place to play. (And the old pick-up truck wouldn't be anywhere in a wealthy area) But their make-up and brushes are fine silver, and as children they do not understand that expensive things should be treated with care, so all their make-up is scattered across the ground. Neither of these girls look like they are enjoying playing make-up, in fact the younger one seems to be forced into it by the older girl. This set up makes me feel like they never wanted to learn these bodily practices, and are being forced into it in order to "grow up" These girls also seem to be playing dress up, wearing their prettiest white dresses while out in the dirt. They still are not the nicest dresses, but they may be for special occasions which the children do not seem to have a sense of.

This photo is titled "Gorjus" the misspelling of "gorgeous" which could either symbolize their childish knowledge of spelling, or the text on the license plate of the pickup truck. It could also symbolize their lower class status as being illiterate. "Gorjus" also is mispronounced "gorgeous" if you read it out loud, it could almost mimic that of a southern accent. A lower class southern white is stereotypically are not the brightest people, and it would directly relate to the misspelling of it. Sally Mann took these photos in Virgina, which is actually a Southern State. So many of these "readings" could actually be taken literally since, it is misspelled in a southern accent, and it is tucked away in the license plate for more connections.

This photograph is protraying the need for children to learn how to treat their bodies, even though they may be doing it wrong. If these children didn't learn how to "play" make-up then they wouldn't know how to use make up correctly when culture tells them that they need it. This photo also argues that lower class children will never be able to do it correctly without upperclass manners. These children do not have any guidance in learning how to use make up and in fact, look like they are hiding from adults while they play. Why would they be playing behind a pick-up truck otherwise? This image protrays childhood innocence at learning bodily practices, and doing so in secret.

Sally Mann "Candy Cigarettes" (1989)

The second photograph that I wanted to share was of an 8 year old girl also playing "grow-up" except in this photo she is playing a rebelious grown up with her candy cigarrette (as the title of the photograph tells us). She has a "too cool for you" posture that lets you know just how much she has observed in our culture, and what she thinks about it. She also has sexy hair that you would usually only find in a magazine, whether it was to protray her "wild child" spirit, or her sexuality at a young age. But also notice, the younger girl next to her has her hands on her hips as if she is sassing somebody out. This "grown-up" sass really protrays how our bodies learn culture, even with the innocence of a child.
When I first view this photo, I am struck with surprise. I immediately think that the girl is too young to be smoking, and when I read the title, I'm surprised that she is so good at mimicking it that I would think that she was actually smoking.

My thoughts begin arguing to myself that children should not be practicing such unhealthy habits at a young age because they think its "cool" and I am immediately worried for the child's future wellbeing.

Sally Mann is a contiversal artist, because she uses her own children as her objects for her artwork. And in some photos, they are naked. Many accused the art as child-pornography however, Mann argues that her work is "natural through the eyes of a mother, since she has seen her children in every state: happy, sad, playful, sick, bloodied, angry and even naked."

Our culture is very sensitive to how children art protrayed within it. As you may have noticed, I have repeated several times that children are "innocent" and thus are not effected by culture to the degree that adults are. However, these photos seem to argue just the opposite. Children are more effected by culture than adults because of their innocence! When children are learning how to speak, they mimic sounds that we make. And so when children are learning bodily practices, they mimic ours (and so the tradition continues) Its really hard to change a bodily practice once you have it, so if you want to change a culture, then you begin with the children. And thus, our culture protects children and trys to keep them innocent as long as possible. Even though children seem to be growing up faster and faster these days. (remember a time when middle-schoolers didn't worry about dating?)