In the article "Sweeping Away Gender-Specific Toys and Labels" writer Hiroko Tabuchi explains how many companies and manufacturers are now changing their products for all genders. This is a big step in our society because normally some toys and costumes can be seen as targeted towards one gender. For example, the Barbie dolls are a children's toy that could be seen as a toy only for girls and if our society can change on how it sees these types of toys, then in the future it will be more common for boys to be playing with these toys. Companies like Target and Toys R Us have taken some initiatives in removing gender labels for toys intended for children. Even though they removed the gender labels, toys that could be seen intended…
The passage "Why Boys Don't Play with Dolls" by Katha Pollit is mainly about society and stereotypes. Which include how girls tend to ne feminine and usually play with dolls, clothes and pink shoes that are usually for girls. Others find this hard to believe that boys might not understand that their toys consist of just trucks and action figures. Others fail to see that there was a women’s movement and many people were against it. People are not just born with the connection to a certain color or even to a certain toy; it is something that we are taught by our parents and even by society.…
Source 1 (scholar article): Auster and Mansbach cite a study done by Blakemore and Centers in 2005 that many adult, including college students have not change their attitude about toys. They still judge and see children’s toys in a gender stereotyped way. The logos, packaging, color and function of toys are used by adults as “gender markers.”…
As a child, I never really gave any thought to how a toy of some sort was packaged or advertised. The author of this article, Elizabeth Sweet, delves into why the marketing and advertising behind popular toys have become more gender based than they were in the past. She mentions that in her research she found toy advertisements and marketing were primarily gender neutral up until the 1990s where gender-cues were most commonly used. This initially confused me because I was under the impression that over time we as a society became more accepting of people, however the examples Elizabeth provides clearly support the claim she makes in the title. The one thing that was most off-putting about her article though, was that she only used examples…
Walking through almost any toy store today, the first thing to be noticed would be that there are two main sections. One, displaying an immense amount of colors from pink, yellow, to purple. Glitter and frill were not absent among this section that held children’s toys ranging from dolls, stuffed animals, plastic play houses with kitchens as well as telephones, and common feminine characters scene on young television channels. Looking at the bikes or toy motor cars here, the same color variations appear only along with streamers and prominent words such as “princess” or “sparkle”. Looking more closely at the toy dolls, there is a very common attribute in almost every one having blonde hair, blue eyes, and large breasts. These can be found more often then dolls portraying ethnicity of African American or Hispanic denomination. Stuffed animals are often seen with name tags such as “Candy” or using the prefix of “Miss” before their…
Imagine going into a toy store and looking at how the toys are organized. Most places label the aisles “girls” and “boys”. Another way the division is visible, is by color; pink is what tends to pop out first, and this is the aisle where the dolls are. These methods are just the beginning of how dolls are sorted by gender. Next comes the clothes and the different roles that the dolls play. Gender bias with dolls plays a significant role in the world of a child by affecting their learning, behavior, and image of themselves.…
Young boys and girls are influenced by their respectable toys in a manner of ways. While girl’s toys promote an unrealistic version of…
In our society, it has always been a given that colors like pink and purple are girly and blue and green are boyish. Through the use of colors, toys can be identified as either girl toys or boy toys. Doll houses, Barbie, and other toys specified for girls are commonly decorated with different shades of pink and purple to emphasize the femininity of the toy. In contrast, hot wheels and action figures like power rangers or superman are dressed in shades of blue and green to address their masculinity. Even when babies first come out of their mother’s wombs, baby boys receive blue clothes while baby girls receive pink garments. Genders roles influence children at a very young age and expand with age.…
It would create a much better environment for the kids and make them independent and free as they are able o choose their toys based in their interest. There is no such thing as blue or pink. We should be ashamed in ourselves to allow our kids to grow in this toxic environment. Another factor that contributes to these stereotypes is that boy’s toys are usually involved with construction, science and action, while; girl’s toys are involved with beauty and cooking, which can have a great impact in their future jobs. As you may notice there is much more man in engineering than women this normally occurs because young boys are always stimulated to play with building and construction as it is a ‘boy’ toy, while girl is not stimulated and often oppressed if they are interested in this kind of toys. As a result, this can generate a huge inequality between man and women causing. Therefore, man is known to be superior to women. Unfortunately, sexism influenced the little ones since a young age as we segregate toys by gender not genre. In addition, the main reason for this stupidity and old thinking is due to the huge profit the storeowners make as the parents are forced to buy the same toys to their children’s one in each color as pink is a ‘’girl’s’’ toys and blue are a…
The topics that I intend to research are some stereotypes associated with race. Also, how these stereotypes are portrayed through the consumption of children’s products. I intend to argue a point in my research paper that race is not associated with biological features, but through consumerism it is constantly associated with them. I intend to research the typical stereotypes types associated with the Hispanic, Black, White, and Oriental races. My focuses in this research paper are the toy manufacturers of Barbie and American girl.…
My paper titled toys and gender, is based on the toys of today and how they relate to gender socialization. I decided to go to the local Wal-Mart in Cookeville, Tn. I chose this store because it is a worldwide known large retail store. I concluded that it would be a good store to analyze because it is thought of as a family store where many families go to shop. Therefore, I knew that there would be a wide variety of toys to analyze and collect data. I went to Wal-Mart December the 3rd. I analyzed the toy sections of Wal-Mart and how the toys are associated with gender, color sound, types of play they encourage, types of interactions they cause, and what they prepare children for. With the exception of preschool toys that were sometimes offered in gender-neutral packaging, kids’ toys were largely segregated into different aisles according to gender. And within those aisles, the markings of gender were clear. The “girls’” section resembled the aftermath of an explosion of Pepto-Bismol. In the “boys’” section, there seemed to be a profusion of aggressive, hyper-muscled, weapon-wielding action figures. And in both realms, the majority of toys seemed to be explicitly tied to movies and television…
Although changing one’s sex is a biological process and often unchangeable, changing one’s gender is a fluid social process. It is hard to distinguish so-called natural and social qualities of one’s gender or sex since culture strongly impacts what society believes to be natural (TAW Social construction of gender 26). The social construction of gender is important to note when thinking about domesticity, because girls are taught from young age to believe they are naturally better suited for family work rather than market work. For instance, toys for toddlers mimic gender norms as toys directed for girls involve care-centered play, such as pretend vacuums, kitchen sets, and baby dolls. On the other hand, toys for young boys involve science experiments and building blocks, toys that help to develop cognitive skills (39). The differences in toys relate to the different skills boys and girls learn at a young age; girls tend to learn nurturing skills while boys tend learn motor skills. As a result, the difference in toy design, as well as the fact that there are toys made for one gender over the other, are examples of how domesticity pervades US society. Girls grow up to believe that they are more suited towards…
Gender stereotypes are exaggerated generalizations that are based purely on gender. The area of study for this investigation is sociocultural influences. This is a contemporary issue as it is becoming an excessive thing in modern society due to companies increasingly gender marketing their products towards children. The toy sections at shopping centers are divided into two categories: girl’s and boy’s toys. Aisles are filled with either pink, frilly princesses or blue, aggressive action figures. Toy marketing has changed dramatically in the past 50 years. As a matter of fact, it was not until the 1990s that toys were exceedingly targeting specific genders…
test is to drop the small parts through a paper towel tube, if the toy fits through the…
Professor Blakemore of NAEYC did a survey. She asked people to check whether the toys she presented to them were very feminine, somewhat feminine, gender neutral, somewhat masculine, or very masculine. She found that toys that are very gendered are usually not conveying educational or positive messages - very feminine toys are focused on physical beauty, while very masculine toys focus on aggression and fighting. On the other hand, somewhat gendered toys help teach children skills for adulthood - somewhat feminine toys teach about cleaning, cooking and taking care of children, while somewhat masculine toys teach about building. No matter a child’s gender, they need somewhat gendered toys for both genders to teach them important skills for the…