Nature or Nurture? Are we we making our girls more "girly" and our boys more "macho" with the toys that we are encouraging them to play with? Our feature writer Alison Tedford explores the issue.
PINK & BLUE TOYS
"Mommy, how long does it take you to forget things?"
I am used to getting weird questions from my kid, but I didn't know where he was going with this exactly. I looked at him quizzically and prompted him to explain.
"I want to watch Barbie on Netflix but I don't want you to tell my dad about it tonight when he calls," he elaborated, boyish face full of shame. I was more than a little perplexed. I explained to him the position his father and I share, that toys are for kids, not boys or girls specifically. I reassured him there would be no judgement associated with his television viewing choices.
But where did he get this idea? I filed it away in my head until the next time we went to a local fast food establishment. He was looking in awe at the display of toys that would come with his meal.
"Do you want a boy toy or a girl toy?" the cashier asked in a manner that reflected the hundreds of times she had asked this same question, apparently unaware of the judgement that came with those words. This seemingly benign inquiry forms a piece of the underlying social messaging that gender stereotypes toys.
This raised some issues for me:
Why does this even have to be the question that we ask a child?
Why do we need to label his or her selection of toys to be gender appropriate?
Would there not be some value to the franchise owners associated with these toys to offer them by name instead of by gender, reinforcing their brand and generating excitement about it? How do toy manufacturers feel about the
30