Gender Neutral
Toys
Upon
exploring the toy aisles of the Super Target in Orem, Utah, I observed many differences
between the marketing strategies geared toward girls and aimed at boys. It is
easy for a consumer to notice that the majority of children’s toys are catered toward
one specific gender, but rarely are toys “gender-neutral.” There is a large
divide in the way “boy” and “girl” specific toys look and function. For example,
as seen in the photo below,
a consumer does not even have to look at a toy product to know if they are in
the “right” or “wrong” aisle for their child – the store painted the aisle
walls stereotypical gendered colors (blue for boys and pink for girls).
Several of the toy packages within the aisles
were explicitly labeled as being for “boys” or “girls”. The packaging also included photos of boys
playing with the gender-specific toy for males, and the same marketing tool was
applied on female toy packages. In the girl aisles, there were all sorts of
Barbie and Disney princess dolls and pretty much anything else that was “cute”,
“dainty”, or “nurturing”. For the boys, there was a wide variety
of Legos, race cars, construction toys, super heroes, action figures, and play
tool boxes.
This great disparity in product content and package
color fuels the gender roles and expectations that are commonly found in our
society today. The
way toys are marketed and organized in stores and on television perpetuates
gender stereotyping. This abundance of gendered information being fed to
toddlers daily inevitably results in more gender-specific behaviors, norms,
rules, and expectations.
The
marketing differences in toys send a strong message to girls and boys,
insinuating that
their respective toys are the types of things that “normal” boys and girls play
with and are ultimately
what their gender should be involved with later in life. Young girls are
taught, through toys, that their female gender is expected to dress up, look
pretty, associate themselves with the color pink (or at least acknowledge it is
a feminine color), and become a dainty housewife or mother; according to the
content of girl toys, women are to nurture and be docile in society. Toys for
boys suggest that their gender is to take on a manly and aggressive role – a
role in which they are to be the providers, protectors, warriors, and
aggressors in society. This role is perceived to be accompanied by huge
muscles, familiarization with weapons, and a little bit of violence and
fighting. Overall, toys may have been created for and based off of former
gender roles, but seem to have now locked in and perpetuate the gender roles in
today’s society.
The
way the toys are marketed and used promotes gender equality to some extent, but
it also promotes gender inequality to a greater extent. Gender specific toys are able to promote equality
because there toys are geared toward both males and females, as opposed to
solely having toys aimed at only one gender. This promotes equality
because it encourages the important life roles for both men and women. Boys are
commonly given toys such a Legos, action figures, construction vehicles, and race
cars. These toys promote skill sets that accompany building and problem-solving.
Girls are given toys such as play kitchens, dolls, and tea sets which promote creative
play that puts a strong emphasis on analytical thinking, nurturing, and
cooking. From a young age, the toys that children play with are indicative of
their stereotypical roles in society because the toys given to girls promote a
life as a homemaker as opposed to promoting a career in the business or science
world. While creativity skills are useful, most of our education system caters
to those who are skilled in math and science but not so much to those who tend
to thrive in a creative environment. This gives boys a higher level of
confidence in school because the toys that boys play with are more conducive
for the skill set required to succeed academically. They also see that girls
are playing with “dumber” toys, and that may skew their perspective towards
female intelligence. For example, the toys that boys play with are more
mentally stimulating. Playing with Legos requires a lot more thought than does
playing dress up. Having these messages sent to girls at such a young age can
alter the course of their life. It can also make them feel less qualified for
jobs that the toys catered to boys promote. It puts pressure on them to pursue
a life style that the toys promote and can discourage them from pursuing life
styles other than what is promoted by the toys that are catered to girls.
The
chart above shows the results from a study performed by Clemens et al. During
the study they gave a group of two-year old girls the option of playing with
four toys stereotypical of boys (a cement mixer, a car, a tool box, and a dump
truck,), four toys stereotypical of girls (a teen doll, a baby doll, a crib,
and a vacuum,), and four gender neutral toys (play-doh, a piano, a puzzle, and
a book). They gave the group of two-year old boys the same option. They then
recorded the amount of time each child held the various toys to see is they had
a preference. They repeated this five times are recorded the results. Two years
later, they performed the same test. The results clearly show that at the age
of two a girl is equally as likely to choose a toy that is designed for a boy
and visa versa, but children as young as four-years old have picked up on the
marketing strategies used by companies, and they are aware of the difference.
It is interesting that the majority of children selected either boy or girl
toys as opposed to gender neutral toy at either age. Also notice that at both
ages, more girls selected the gender neutral toys than did boys. This could
possibly be attributed to the fact that there is not a large selection of
gender neutral toys on the market.
Later on, the same procedure was performed but
this time all the children in the study were four-years old and they were split
into groups based not only on gender, but also on the average amount of T.V.
that they watched per day. The chart above shows the results. According to this study, the more
T.V. a child watches, the more of a preference they have towards the toys that
were aimed at their gender. This could be attributed to the advertisements that
are seen on T.V. The marketing used to sell toys is not gender neutral. Girls
are showed playing with the toys that are designed for girls and boys are shown
playing with the toys that are aimed at boys.
In conclusion, there is a lot of movement and
progress towards producing gender neutral toys.
This progress will help girls gain a higher self-esteem and boys not
have a bias attitude towards females that lasts long-term. This will inevitably increase feminine
progress.
http://www.lettoysbetoys.org.uk/
