Little (Gender) Games

"Little Game" by Benny illustrates the pressures placed on us when trying to fit into our prescribed gender roles and all that it encompasses. The video uses "gendered" colors (blue and pink), and stereotypical activities attributed to the male and female gender such as sports and wearing makeup/checking waistlines. When trying to reach out for something the protagonists of the video are truly interested in (the boy grabs a doll and the girl grabs a book) they are judged and ostracized. Following their harsh judgement given by the others around them, they find themselves all in the same place as others who have been removed from their societies for going against the norm in order to follow their true desires. At the end, the different genders are playing with blue and pink paint symbolizing a sense of togetherness and mixing together.

This video and song shows how taxing it can be to impose strict and rigid gender roles. This is especially evident in the song when he repeatedly says "hush boy" and "hush girl" underscoring how these defined roles create an unsafe space for people to express themselves. When applying a strict definition of what a gender should and shouldn't do, it gives the person less freedom to be themselves without judgement, causing both an internal and external struggle. We are each unique and have different things that interest us. This is why generalizing a certain scripted behavior for gender among a large group of individuals can be harmful. This song popularizes the idea that everyone's gender identity is THEIR own, not our society's. So instead of getting uncomfortable when going against societies ideas of gender, we should all embrace our individual differences.