Why toy gendering can be a
problem
Society — through marketing, branding & labeling — has created a pink/blue divide in the world of toys and all things boys and girls.
Children — like adults — are influenced by everything they see, especially the media they consume. And the media that each person consumes is a factor in determining how one perceives the world and society; it is how society is defined and made, because what people see is how they choose to act and be. Since childhood is the obvious start to everyone’s journey of becoming who they will be and deciding where they fit into society, the marketing and media children consume is crucial to the way their perspectives and decisions are framed. This is especially true in the way that gender is portrayed in the media, because how one identifies themselves is a foundational part of who they are. For children, whether it is the clear line between boys’ and girls’ Legos, or the pink and blue differences in the two toys aisles right next to each other in every department story, there is serious gendering in media marketing for children, and many experts know and understand the consequences of this.
Some steps to change the gendering of toys has taken place in American society, including Target taking “Girls” and “Boys” aisles and labels away, for any toys to be deemed appropriate for any children, and other companies are working to make those gendered lines less explicit in their children’s product lines. However, there is a still a lot of baking sets and dolls shoved down the throats of girls, while action figures and sports are smothering the boys.
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. However, most interestly, it is only in the past few decades that gender specific toy marketing has been so widespread. Elizabeth Sweet, a sociologist studying children and gender inequality at the University of California did research on 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.
And it isn’t just the packaging and look of the toy that can make it gendered towards boys or girls. A study conducted in 2005 looked at how the advertising for toys affected whether viewers believed they were for boys, girls or both. Those who were shown commercials with all boys playing with a toy were more lately to later report that the toy from the commercial was for boys, while those who had seen a commercial with all girls playing with the toy were more likely to report that the toy was for both boys and girls.
“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."
~Elizabeth Sweet
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Toy marketing from the 1970s to now