Gender Inequality In Board Games

Children grow up playing many different board games for the excitement of competition. Some of these games include Monopoly, Candy Land, and Life. The obvious messages of “success” and “achievement” are portrayed through these board games. Gender and race are two ideas that are subliminally hidden inside of the games. These games are directed towards children; however, they hide secret messages of gender, sexuality, and race that go unnoticed by society. Monopoly is a board game that teaches children the inequality of social class, gender, and race. What many people do not see is what this game teaches our children. Take a look at where the game Monopoly originated from and you will see it is not a pleasant beginning. The game was originally
Looking at the beginning of the game, a young boy and girl are running towards the path. Both of the characters are white and the boy is leading the girl. This may not seem like a problem but it carries on an idea that society creates. Society believes that men are supposed to lead and be the power figure. The boy leading the girl is an image that creates this inequality. The lack of diversity is also apparent in this game because all of the characters are white. Mr. Mint, King Candy, Grandma Nut, Queen Frostine, and princess Lollie are all white. On the cover of the box it says, “a child’s first game” which means children are playing this game at a very young age. At this stage of a child’s life visuals are key to learning. A young boy who sees the image of a boy leading the girl will think that this is how society should work. Also, seeing all white characters in the game teaches a child that white is the “dominant” race. These examples hurt children because it teaches them the flaws in
On the box it shows several families in multiple cars. All these families have two things in common: a man driving the car and heterosexual couples. The idea of a man driving a car puts him in charge of the family. This adds to the idea that men are to dominant gender and puts females in an inferior position. The families on the box are all stereotypical heterosexual families. This shows that families are supposed to make of a husband and a wife. Society now has many different variations of a normal family but the game puts the heterosexual family on top. Another example of inequality in the game is the white family is in front of the black family. The image shows that whites are leading blacks and this is a problem society still have today. Racism is a big problem is America and it starts with educating the youth. The images on this board game teach kids that whites are the superior race because they are leading everyone else. Stereotypical families are portrayed all around the game of Life and this gives children an image of the “right”