Sunday, October 17, 2010

KIDS THESE DAYS...



We started our trip to Toys R Us by asking ourselves what types of toys we liked to play with when we were younger. Quela, Abby, and Mika mentioned Bratz, Barbies, and Hot Wheels, and Christian said he used to love action figures and Hot Wheels as well. There were overlapping interests for the “boy” toys, but not for the “girl” ones. Arriving at Toys R Us, the result was the same. There was a multitude of little boys and little girls running around in the Lego and Bionicle sections, but no boys in the Barbie house, and if there were, it was unwillingly for the most part. No labels clearly designated “boy” and “girl” sections, but when we asked an employee where best to find a toy for our young niece, he definitively answered, “2nd floor. That’s the girl’s floor.” The 2nd floor consisted of a plethora of pink and butterflies, the premise being that girls like pink, and boys do not.

Along with colors being assigned to certain genders there were unspoken implications in the packaging that we saw that seemed to say: Boys like red and blue, cars, fire, and things that move fast. Girls don’t like “boy things” and boys don’t like “girl things”. These premises lead to the implications that boys will deem it socially unacceptable to play with Barbie, and it will become socially unacceptable for girls to play with cars.

After going down the escalator we went right and found ourselves in the electronics section. After browsing the various products, we noticed a pattern; the most notable being the color scheme. For example, we came across iHome music players available in two colors; one being blue, the other pink. This further shows how color is so directly involved in societal gender roles.

After discussing what our reactions were to visiting Toys R Us, everyone in our group came to the mutual agreement that the toy industry is abhorrently sexist. They make assumptions and premises based on the stereotyped genders that are imposed upon young children today. These toys, whether it’s a remote-controlled helicopter or an Edward Cullen Barbie doll, are geared towards either the boy or the girl by embedding within the toys a specific influence of gender.

C H R I S T I A N

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3 comments:

  1. While i was in Toys R Us, I noticed the same thing with color. I wondering how this started, who said pink was for girls and blue for boys? Do you think there is at all a natural gravitation towards those colors for the two sexes? Or is all of it put upon by society?

    -Adela

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  2. This makes me think why it is okay for girls to be in the boys section and not boys to be in the girls section. A girl with hot wheels is not weird but a guy with barbies is a lot less likely. -Rachel

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  3. This reminds me of gender class when we talked about how bisexual females are more acceptable than bisexual males, and how it's normal for a girl to call another girl hot, but it's not the same with boys. I think the toy industry reflects the rigid construct that society has around masculinity.

    -Sophia M

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