Blog 5 "Gender and Toys"

What are your thoughts about gender and toys. Conduct some research about toys. How are boys/girls toys marketed? Do toys influence the way children play? Do they influence what children will become. Explain. Give examples. What are some of your favorites childhood toys and why?

As a child toys are toys. Boys play with boys toys, and girls play with girls toys. Children don't think about what toys are really saying about the different genders. But as young children gender stereotypes are already being pushed on to us. Pink is the color for girl babies and blue is the color for boys. It would be unthinkable to put a baby girl in a blue outfit, but why?

I have 2 little sisters and 1 little brother and the oldest one is ten years younger than me. So while watching them grow up i have been able to see the differences in the toys that they play with and how they play and have been able to compare the two. When looking at how marketing portrays girls and boys toys, there is a big difference. Commercials for girls toys usually consist of girls brushing the hair of their new Barbie, playing dress up and house in their play kitchen, or using play make up and jewelry to make them beautiful. Boys commercials are the complete opposite. They usually consist boys playing sports outside with other boys being active, getting their action figures and fighting them, or building their Lincoln logs or LEGOS. The commercials that the media shows, promotes the thinking of young girls and boys to be one way or the other. Young girls are supposed to be beautiful, love to take care of the house and simple and only care about looks and delicate things. Young boys on the other hand are supposed to be active and love sports, be manly by fighting their action figures, and be intelligent because they can build things. The media will never show a boy playing house and cooking dinner. And like in “Barbie Klaus, and other dolls I’d like to see,” by Susan Jane Gilman, you will never see Business Barbie, or Harley Davidson Barbie.

I feel like children's toys to influence how they will become. Maybe not as extensive but I still think that it does have an influence. Girls who play with G.I. Joe's instead of Barbies might not get the sense of beauty and really care about "accessorizing", therefore that girl might not care about how she looks when she grows up and then will be judged for not have the stereotypical look of a women. The same goes for young boys. Not only do girls see other girls in this view, girls see how boys are supposed to be by looking at their toys and how the media portrays them. And vice versa for boys. So this adds even more pressure to be like the media and our toys says children should be. As for my favorite toys, I fell right into the stereotypical girl. I had so many Barbies and the clothes and houses to go along. I had my stuffed animals that I treated like babies, because women had children and that is just what women did. Even thought i was the stereotypical little girl, i did eventually go through a tom boy stage and then back to a girly girl but probably not as much as when i was little. That is why I think that toys children play with do influence who they will be, but I still think that both boys and girls will have much more of a say when they are older.