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Stereotypes In Toy Stores

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Stereotypes In Toy Stores
Gender Roll Stereotyping and Gender Similarities in Toy Stores
Rachel Skelton
Spiderman action figures, The Care Bears, Legos, and the famous Barbie, all represent popular toys in toy stores. Toy stores divide the many toys, games and movies into two primary categories: boy and girl. After going into Toys R Us, many can conclude that the toys that children play with pass down stereotypes of gender roles. Through their gender-biased toys, typically, boys learn "warrior-like" roles (a learned attitude to be the stronger and more aggressive gender) and girls learn to nurture (take on motherly roles and play house. Girls’ toys also stress physical beauty and appearance while boys’ toys focus on respect for their physical abilities. Gender socialization, …show more content…
For sons, parents tend to choose more masculine and gender-neutral toys. For example: Small Soldiers Action Figures, Small Soldiers Karate Fighters, and MMA(mixed martial arts) action figures. Most of the toys I observed promoted encourage competitive and aggressive behavior. Masculine traits associated with these toys are aggressive, active, dominant, and competitive and they receive a message that being active and assertive, often suggesting violent activities, is the idea of a “real man”. These particular toys have become so popular due to the stereotype that all boys show more aggressive behavior than …show more content…
The very well-known toy, "My Tool Kit", teaches boys coordination and problem-solving skills. Manufacturers make these boys ' toys under the stereotype that boys excel at task that require higher level of cognition (Macoby and Jaclyn1996).
Unlike the girls’ toys, boys ' toys such as, The Erector Set, Challenge Building Set, Deluxe Solar System Set, foster mental stimulation, and teach coordination and problem solving. Through these toys, boys freely, explore and experiment. Many of these toys promote active participation. Of course, boys and girls show physical differences, but as a young child, they generally have the same mentality when it comes to play. Before adolescence boys and girls are more alike than different in biology and attitudes. However, society defines "appropriate" gender roles, which eliminate cross-gender play (Swanson
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