Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Gender stereotypes in childrens toys
Gender stereotypes in childrens toys
Gender stereotypes and children toys
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gender stereotypes in childrens toys
“A social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.” That is the definition of taboo. Some current controversial/taboo issues include gun control, animal testing, medical marijuana, the death penalty, gay marriage and more. One particular issue is sexism, specifically the gender norms that surround children’s toys. I will give you a brief moment to read through some examples for yourself.
The articles I have selected explore the themes of gender norms in children’s toys. Both articles target the global toy company LEGO. Article one is titled ‘Lego Friends’ Can Go Straight to Hell, or Why Gendered Toys are Bad for Kids, by Brett Ortler and article
…show more content…
They reasoned that the way girls and boys play with their product are completely different. The results from a series of experiments (conducted over the course of four years) involving over 4000 female children and their parents, supports this claim. One particular testing had both genders build a Lego castle together. The mixed groups successfully built the castle together but then took different approaches in playing with it. The majority of girls were concerned that the castle had no interior aspects whereas the boys continued to play and used the creation as the ‘background’ for their games. This is why the Friends set is predominantly consisted of parts to play with in the interior of the …show more content…
She writes “I love Lego. I had a big bucket of it when I was a kid, and I spent many happy hours constructing anything and everything from it.” By conveying this, Czerski similarly persuades the audience to trust her through the use of the personal pronoun “I”. Additionally, the author reflects on her childhood such as “When I was 14, I was the only one in my class who knew what a worm gear and cam were.” The fact that the author knew what these complex mechanical arrangements were (which are largely associated as being boys-toys), establishes her as one who challenges gender norms. Furthermore, suggesting that she may be opposed to marketing Lego solely based on gender- given that she played with boy toys as a child and then pursued a career as a physicist and oceanographer. Additionally, the author incorporates a number of rhetorical questions as to lay emphasis on her point and to engage the audience. After stating several new female characters such as a paleontologist, a chemist and an astronomer, she wrote “That’s progress surely?” acknowledging that society is moving forward with the jobs and occupations that women can have. However, she reveals her frustration when she continues, “Even if, in 2014, we should be miles beyond that sort of progress.” She also writes further on in the article “Is this Lego’s problem? They just make small plastic bricks, after all.” This is a demonstration of the
“If Barbie was designed by a man, suddenly a lot of things made sense to me,” says Emily Prager in her essay “Our Barbies, Ourselves” (Prager 354). Prager’s purpose for writing this essay is to explain the history of Barbie and how the doll itself has influenced and continue to influence our society today. Prager is appealing to the average girl, to those who can relate to the way she felt growing up with Barbie seen as the ideal woman. Emily Prager uses a constant shift between a formal and informal tone to effectively communicate her ideas that we view women today based upon the unrealistic expectations set forth by Barbie. By adopting this strategy she avoids making readers feel attacked and therefore
The narrator is a young girl from a lower class neighborhood, who has difficulty affording new toys and accessories that are a necessity for her reputation around her friend group. In the story, she explains, “So what if our Barbie’s smell like smoke when you hold them up to your nose even after you wash them and wash them and wash them.” (Barbie Q). This quote infers that the narrator is upset with the circumstances she has around getting new dolls, and that she doesn’t care that her toys come reused from a neighborhood market. Throughout the story, the author uses figurative language to describe the way poverty can affect the childhood innocence of the narrator. Even though we can infer that the girl is from a lower class neighborhood, the narrator still explains that she is able to be creative in solving problems from economic difficulty. As the girl is playing with her dolls, she says, “This and a dress invented from an old sock when we cut holes here, here, and here, the cuff rolled over for a glamorous, fancy free, off the shoulder look.” (Barbie Q). From this quote, we can infer that the narrator is from a lower class neighborhood, and is unable to afford new toys, so she improvises by creating her own Barbie fashion. This short story uses figurative language to describe the way childhood innocence is affected through socioeconomic
In David Barry's article, Guys vs. Men, he discussed the differences between "guys" and "men". This article made several valid points, including that guys will try and out perform each other where sports are concerned and that the space shuttle is the ultimate guy toy. My question is why do only guys play with all the neat toys?
In order to fully comprehend the how gender stereotypes perpetuate children’s toys, one must understand gender socialization. According to Santrock, the term gender refers to the, “characteristics of people as males and females” (p.163). An individual is certainly not brought into the world with pre-existing knowledge of the world. However, what is certain is the belief that the individual has regarding him- or herself and life stems from socialization—the development of gender through social mechanisms. For instance, when a baby is brought into this world, his or her first encounter to gender socialization arises when the nurse places a blue or pink cap on the baby’s head. This act symbolizes the gender of the baby, whether it is a boy (blue cap) or a girl (pink cap). At the age of four, the child becomes acquai...
That is, boys will customarily receive blue clothing or toys while pink clothing or toys will be for girls. “Children‘s toys and games are also differentiated on the basis of sex” (Diekman and Murnen 2004; Seccombe p.99). Through these toys or playing with these toys, boys and girls would eventually distinguish the differences between male and female; also, may strengthen, and perpetuate the traditional gender stereotypes. For instance, boys or men are expected to act and behave in ways that have been considered masculine or associated with masculinity (Seccombe p.104); “men are often assumed to be more aggressive, sexual, unemotional, rational, and task oriented than women” (Seccombe p.93); and thus, action figures, such as Superman, WWE wrestling toys, and Hulk are made for boys to play with. While girls or women’s roles are associated with femininity (Seccombe p.104); “women are assumed to be more nurturing, passive, and dependent” (Seccombe p.93); and so, cooking and baking set and baby dolls with bottle feeding and diapering set are made for girls, so, they could apply their nurturing and culinary skills when they get older and mainly do household chores. Personally, I believe these toys have both negative and positive influence on children’s socialization. For instance, playing with toy guns or military toy set with a knife may lead to early exposure to violence and aggression. However, some toys, such as Lego building set and blocks, arts and crafts have a powerful and influential influence on children’s thinking and
I noticed the girls’ toys engaged fine motor skills more than the boys’ toys did. The girls have several different types and sizes of dolls to choose from – however, this also makes dolls or items used with dolls (Barbie clothes, doll clothes, doll houses, Barbie cars, and doll furniture). Over half of all the products in the girls’ section. This shows the stereotypical attitude that all girls like to nurture and will someday be expected to be mothers and the primary care giver for their children. Other toys I noticed that were very stereotypical were the child size vacuum, broom, and kitchen set.
The socialization of children is greatly affected by the toys they are exposed to while growing up. Looking through magazines and walking down the aisles of toy stores it is clear that toy companies are supportive of cultural gender roles biases. Toys designed for girls are commonly found in pink boxes; typically these toys involve housework or taking care of children, for example, dolls and easy bake ovens. On the other hand, “boy” toys are found in blue and black boxes, and a lot of them involve construction and cars.
Toy stores are perfect places for a sociologist to use their sociological imagination. Gendering and racism is thought to be something that is socially constructed as opposed to biologically constructed. Gendering starts during infancy, and around 2 years old children start to internalize these gender differences. I argue that children’s toys help socialize children into gender specific roles. Toy stores, like Target and Toys R Us help us understand what types of toys help to gender children. I will explain how the toys in the toy aisles differ and compare. Not all toys are either male or female, some toys are gender neutral.
First off, I will describe the role the toys are playing when it comes to the socialization process for boys and girls. The masculine wrestling action figures and construction vehicles are showing boy 's their gender roles. In the book, “You May Ask Yourself”, defines social roles as “the concept of gender roles, set of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as male or female” (Conley, pg 130). In the store it is fairly easy for parents to find which part of the store will fit their kids gender roles. For parents with young boys, all they have to do is look for the blue in the store. When looking for the girl toys, parents just need to find the pink. Parents are actively doing gender in their child
Francis’s study analyzes three to five-year-old preschool students as well as their parents about their views about toys and viewing materials based on gender. The study showed that parental beliefs shaped their child 's opinions of gender roles based on the toys they played with. The parent 's idea of what is female and what is male is transferred onto the toys their child plays with which in terms developed their child 's stereotype of what is male and female based on their toy selection and color. In the article “How do today 's children play and with which toys?”, by Klemenovic reference that a child 's view on gender stereotypes is developed by their parents who train them on how to use the toys. Klemenovic (2014) states "Adults start training in the first months of a child 's life because knowledge of objects is the outcome of other people 's behavior towards us" (Klemenovic, 2014, p. 184). Young children’s development of gender stereotypes is largely influenced by his or her parent’s actions and view on what they consider male or female. A parent’s color preference and toy selection can influence a child’s gender bias or association to a specific
In Katha Pollitt’s essay “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls,” she explains the differences between the genders and she argues how feminist movements are hardly appreciated. Pollitt further demonstrates that women’s have the same power as any men have, but society doesn’t let women get higher than men. Pollitt explains that, “It’s twenty-eight years since the founding of NOW, and boys still like trucks and girls still like dolls” (544). From here, we can infer that the author is comparing the activities of boys and girls, and their choices of toys. Since, I am able to read and see the World, I saw that all the time that boys are more rivalry. There have always been presumptions in society that boys are very outgoing and bold, on the other hand, whereas girls are a little laid back sometimes. Girls play quietly and with non-hunting objects. However, boys always make noises. In addition, Pollitt keeps using the word “feminism” throughout her essay, and talks about how women and men should have equal rights. For example girls can do the same things as boys can do or vice versa. I can relate to this story as I grew up with two brothers who always played with cars, trucks, and other toys like dragons, but I was expected to stay away from their things and go play with my, so called, girly stuff.
In the article The gender Marketing of toys: An Analysis of Color and Type of Toy on the Disney Store Website, Auster and Mansbach conducted research to examine the gender marketing of toys on the internet. They looked at what characteristics of “boys and girls” toys share, such as color of toy, type of toy, and witch toys were labeled for girls and boys. The pre - research of this study suggested that children are making gender distinctions of themselves and their group based on the types of toys that are bought for them. Bright and darker colors are meant as a distinction for “boy” toys, while pastel colors are meant for “girl” toys. The previous research also suggested that toys for boys and girls express traditional gender roles and that gender neutral toys are more likely to
Children start to define their gender identity in early preschool (Zhumkhawala 47). This means that the toys children are given go a long way to further (or help change) gender stereotypes and inequality. In general, boys are given trucks, blocks and doctor’s kits, encouraging them to build, explore how things work and be a...
Girls are supposed to play with dolls, wear pink, and grow up to become princesses. Boys are suppose to play with cars, wear blue, and become firefighters and policemen. These are just some of the common gender stereotypes that children grow up to hear. Interactions with toys are one of the entryway to different aspects of cognitive development and socialism in early childhood. As children move through development they begin to develop different gender roles and gender stereotypes that are influenced by their peers and caregivers. (Chick, Heilman-Houser, & Hunter, 2002; Freeman, 2007; Leaper, 2000)
As a child, our toys were not exactly as gender neutral as earlier times, but also were not as gender stereotypic as the toys in today’s time. The fact that everyone eventually comes into contact with buying toys whether you have kids or you have a friend or family member who have kids which makes this an important topic. Eventually, everyone has to buy a child a present. Would it bother you that all toys are either pink or blue and there is no in between? Or does sticking to what your child is already familiar with and knows the more ideal option when it comes to gender stereotyping with children’s toys? Authors James Delingpole and Eleanor Muffitt both do a good job at arguing both sides to this issue. Although both authors provide valid points throughout each article, about gender stereotyping with toys, James Delingpole clearly was more effective in persuading the audience because he used all three elements; ethos, logos, and pathos to support his idea.