Good Example Of Essay On Warning: Welcome To Your World Baby, Gender Message Enclosed

A congratulatory greeting card sent upon the arrival of a baby represents different reactions to the different gender of the baby as discussed by Lynda Willer’s “Warning: Welcome to your world baby, Gender Message Enclosed.” The reaction to the gender of the baby brings out specific and certain expectations from the baby given the different congratulatory words, colour and illustrations used in the cards sent to each gender of babies. Willer states that in many instances, there are differences between girl-identified cards and boy-identified cards (Willer 339). That is because each card sent to a new born baby possesses some specific attributes according to the gender of the baby ranging from the colour of the card, the message on the card and the illustrations or images which the card bears. It also examines the reaction and basis of sending a non-gender-specific card to a new born baby.
Comparing the cards that were selected for study based on different aspects of colour, toys, animals, objects, emotions and the messages contained in these cards; it was clearly highlighted that all these different aspects affect the perceptions and characteristic roles of the babies as perceived by the society and are seriously taken into consideration by the senders of these cards. Willer argues that while the babies are not doing the actual receiving of the message, they are going to be the recipients of these perpetuated gender expectations via family, friends and the mass media (Willer 344)
There is an evident difference between the boy cards, girl cards and non-gender-specific cards from the verbal and non-verbal messages contained in the cards and the emotions and symbol that the manufacturers choose to use on these cards. According to the research conducted it has indicated ways in which we can communicate gender differences nonverbally through, for example, color usage and the attachment of specific symbols or objects only to girls or only to boys (Willer 344). Thus, the birth congratulations greeting cards also are used to convey intentional or unintentional message about gender roles. However, the study depicted by Willer may not represent the totality of the usage of these cards because it was geographically limited to the Midwest only hence not bringing out the true and accurate representation of the general population.

Work Cited

Willer, Lynda R. Warning: Welcome to Your World Baby. PDF File