The opposite therefore is the Puritan discourse, this is used to depict children as needing to be controlled and disciplined. It also claims that children lack morals and so need to be taught them. It is also the case that society tends to lend the Romantic discourse more to girls and the Puritan discourse to boys.
French historian Philippe Aries wrote that childhood is a social construction when he penned his book “Centuries of Childhood” (Aries 1962). He challenged that ideas about children and childhood have changed over the years of time. Aries studied Art from the Middle Ages and found that pre 16th century art depicted children as “scaled – down adults, with the posture and muscles of adults” (Pg 55, Understanding Childhood). After the 16th century art shows children as we would see them today, with their own clothing and toys. Basing his thesis heavily on art, Aries claimed that before the 16th century children were not defined as such were not separate from adulthood. However, we can question Aries thesis to the point that he only used art to base his ideas on and these paintings were compiled by people who had their own ideas on children and childhood. Aries’ own ideas of children may have also hindered his outcome. The art work he used for his thesis used the Puritan discourse when showing children as ‘smaller adults’ showing them as toned and muscular. This could be seen as adults not having love for children that they deserved and needed, and yet with the high infant mortality rates that existed at the time they were painted, every child would have been treasured and cared for in the best possible way. Yet, Aries theories are still used to this day as a key place to start when looking at the social constructionist’s view of childhood.
In modern Western Culture there is now a third discourse which comes into play, this is the tabula rasa discourse; this see children as needing to be shaped during their childhood and are not born either good or bad. Tabula Rasa is translated as ‘blank slate’. Philosopher John Locke came up with this discourse and used it to say in his writings that “the child is born with a potential” (Pg 64, Understanding Childhood). This discourse is used when a child performs an ‘evil’ act and is said to have done so not because they themselves are evil or bad but because they have not had the right upbringing.
The best way to say that visual representations are used to display what we consider to base this upon the advertising we see everyday when aid agencies use images of helpless starving children in order to gain funds to help them, this is pulling at people’s heart strings as many view children in the romantic discourse and would, upon seeing these pictures, donate towards their plight.
Today, a child is believed to be anyone under the age of 18, as is signed in the agreement drawn up by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and every country signed it, apart from the USA and Somalia. However, this cannot always be seen as being true, as children over a certain young age are expected to perform tasks and daily duties that Western Culture would deem more suitable for adults.
In television adverts, the notion that children are something which should be protected is very common, the Peugeot advert where the image of a young girl in front of a fast moving lorry shows a child very similar to those in Victorian paintings, one that is full of goodness and innocence, one that must be protected; (the Romantic Discourse). The advert is constructed in such a way that it’s aiming its audience at families who wish to protect their children from danger, this is why they have filled the advert with black and white pictures of danger and harm happening in the world today and have the smiling long haired girl the only one in colour. Again, another advert with which we can draw a conclusion from is the Evian advert which captures the imagination of its audience by showing babies as sweet and smiling, although it is unrealistic in how it portrays babies, it shows complete innocence and has no morals throughout it, unlike that of the Peugeot advert. Television and billboard/shop adverts all want to sell their products and in doing so, display the cute image of the ‘perfect’ child, almost telling its audience that in buying their products their children will be full of smiles.
Movies on the other hand, can show children and the whole idea of childhood on its head and show them in any form it chooses to. In the movie Leon, the character of Matilda is exposed to violence at a very young age and here emotions are very dysfunctional. She sets out to get revenge for her families deaths and in doing so, looses the ideals of what a safe, normal childhood should be. Her character does not have a passive role in her childhood but has an active role in how she chooses to be; Matilda therefore does not conform to any recognised formula as to what childhood should be. Another movie with which we can gain evidence from is American beauty; this shows a young teenager as more of a sexual object, particularly in the eyes of Kevin Spaceys character. It depicts the young teenager as being provocative and delves into the notion of how men can view teenage girls as a sexual object and yet how they can also be vulnerable and childlike in their ways. In movies then, there are no set ‘rules’ as to how childhood and children should be portrayed, it is only guided by what the director wants us to learn about the characters themselves and in doing so, does not necessarily follow the social constructed ideas of childhood.
In conclusion, how we as a society create and shape children’s lives has a major part in how childhood is portrayed and in reality, children’s lives explore how we think about childhood. Children and childhood are socially constructed and the many varying visual representations around us can depict how we build these ideals; more over, unknowingly sometimes, we group these everyday images into the Romantic and Puritan discourses.
Reference List:
Understanding Childhood, an interdisciplinary approach. Woodhead, M. and Montgomery H. Page 55.
Understanding Childhood, an interdisciplinary approach. Woodhead, M. And Montgomery, H. Page 64.
