1970s to NOW
The marketing and media surrounding children’s toys is perhaps the best example of gendering, and this has been proven to make a difference in children’s development. Said Elizabeth Sweet, a sociologist studying children and gender inequality at the University of California: "Gender has always played a role in the world of toys. What’s surprising is that over the last generation, the gender segregation and stereotyping of toys have grown to unprecedented levels. We’ve made great strides toward gender equity over the past 50 years, but the world of toys looks a lot more like 1952 than 2012."
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Kids and their future jobs
Experts have found that the gendering of toys can have a far-reaching impact on children, especially in regards to future occupation and roles in society. Becky Francis, a professor at Roehampton University in London, conducted a small study about the gendering of children’s toys and found that boys were often given toys involving action and construction or machinery, while girls were given dolls and things more in line with “feminine” interests (Francis). Francis learned that “Boys toys tend to contain didactic information, with technical instructions and fitting things together with Lego and Meccano, whereas girls' toys tend to be around imaginative and creative play, which develop different skills,” (Barford). So not only are gendered toys marketed to be more pink or blue, but they are actually encouraging different, often stereotyped, skill sets.
Kids, toys and jobs
Sweet looked at the role of gender in Sears toy catalog advertisements in the 20th century, and found that almost 70 percent of toys had no gender markings at all, while very few were explicitly gendered. In fact, “In the 1970s, toy ads often defied gender stereotypes by showing girls building and playing airplane captain, and boys cooking in the kitchen,” Sweet said. However, by 1995 the gendered marketing started coming back and is now at an extreme.