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TOYs for all kids
Elizabeth Sweet: An expert on the gendering of kids toys
Elizabeth Sweet began noticing a change in the way that childrens toys were marketed when she had her daughter. She didn't remember toys being marketed or labeled as boys' or girls' toys, when she was a child, and wanted to know why and when this change had happened. I decided to study this topic emperically. And in my dissertation research and my post-doctorate research here at UC Davis, I analyzed over 7,000 Sears catalog toy adverstisements from various time points over the 20th century, to try to understand how the gender marketing in children's toys had changed over time, and why," Sweet said in a Ted talk on the topic. "Now there's a ton of things I could tell you about this research, I could talk to you all day about it, but I actually want to talk to you about one of the most very basic points that emerges from this research, and that is this: Toys are far more gendered today than they were at any point in the 20th century. Toys are more gendered now than they have ever been before."
Sweet goes on to share how gender has always played a role in childrens toys, but how that role is much more prevalent in the world today. One of the most troubling things Sweet found from not only her research, but her own experience as a mother, was that children have to sacrifice a part of themselves if they aren't naturally drawn to those toys and things that are part of the "boy" and "girl" boxes society has created, in order for them to fit in.
Watch Sweet's talk to learn more about the dilemmas of toy gendering and why all labeling of childrens things has an impact on development, societal acceptance and future vocation choices.
For more information about Sweet, visit her website at: www.elizabethvsweet.com.
For more information and discussion of these issues, visit these blogs and resources: marinagraphy.com/gender-toys-messages-send
Or our blog: blueandpinkkids.blogspot.com.