Dolls vs. Actionfigures

This study tested if exposure to a sexualized doll (Barbie) would affect young girl’s beliefs of possible careers available for them as females compared to a non-sexualized doll (Mrs. Potato Head). The predictions of the study are as follows: girls assigned at random to participate in “free play” with the Barbie will identify fewer possible careers available to them, girls will perceive more male-dominated occupations for boys rather than girls, girls assigned at random to play with Barbie will identify fewer career options for themselves than possible careers for boys,

Young girls have been playing with Barbie dolls since the dolls inception at the American International Toy Fair in New York. Recently, researchers have been skeptical on whether the dolls have an effect on the self-image of girls who play with them. In order to determine if Barbies have an impact on young-girls self-concept, clinicians have carried out several studies where they monitor the interaction between the young girls and the famous figurine. From these experiments, scientists concluded that Barbies can have a bearing on a girls self-image, making the consumers who buy the doll more aware of the issue Barbie

Once a child is born, he or she learns to view the world based on the behaviors of others. The child’s primary caregivers, usually the parents, and others present in the child’s environment, such as siblings, peers, teachers, and even the media, contribute to the development of the child’s perception of himself, those around him, and society overall. This concept is called socialization. “The way we are, behave and think is the final product of socialization” and it is through socialization that we “learn what is appropriate and improper for both genders” (Crespi, 2004). This concept of gender socialization leads to the inescapable

Mothers and fathers have different perspectives on how their children are raised. This causes parents to have different hopes and standards for their children. Parents believe they are being fair and equal but are unconsciously differentiating their standards by gender. Although many parents think they have similar standards for their sons and daughters, parents more often than not have different standards when it comes to their own.

This is called gender socialization, which exaggerates sexual differences physically, experimentally, academically, and psychologically. Most parents are unaware that they play such a large role in creating a male or female child. But they are the first and one of the largest influences on their child. When parents have a female child she is viewed as sweet and gentle. The parents will even hold their daughter closer than they would a son. As they grow older boys are encouraged to explore while girls are kept closer to their parents. They are taught different approaches to many different problems in life. They may not realize it but through their interactions with their children they are encouraging their children to grow into a certain type of person based on their gender. The toys they are introduced to are even gender-based. Toys for males encourage them to develop such abilities of spatial perception, creativity, competition, aggression, and constructiveness. Toys for girls encouraged creativity, nurturance, and attractiveness. Children’s rooms and clothing are specific color: girls are pink and boys are blue. Girls often wear dresses and skirts that limit their physical activity. These types of influences at such an early age lay a foundation for the child’s personality. By the time they reach school age they already have a sense of being male or female. In school peers and teachers enforce these differences even further. (Lips, 1979,

There are many social agents that cause the construction of gender roles. Parents and family are important socialization agents in the gender role development of children. They have different values and attitudes regarding male

Society is changing how women are raised, and not for the better. People often genderize babies from the moment they are born. Right from birth, hospitals make it a point to identify the gender of a baby by wrapping the newborn in either a blue blanket for a boy or a pink blanket for a girl. This is because society assumes that just because someone is female, they would like the color pink. Society is pushing parents to identify children based on gender early on, which also is the beginning of how gender roles from. For example in the article “Learning to be Gendered,” Penelope Eckert looks at the role that the gender of a baby has on the parents and how the parents in return treat the child differently. In an experiment conducted in the

Girls liked playing with toy dolls that they could make say and do what ever they wanted, and they could live in a fantasy world with their friends. Boys liked playing with their toy trucks and tools because it was fun to run things over and play with toys in the dirt, or with the tools, they act like they could actually be like older boys or their fathers and build stuff. Neither one of the toys that the boys played with seemed that it would scar them for life. With Barbie they more and more have made her a more positive role model by having her say encouraging things. So when it comes down to it, how a young boy plays with his toys is the same as how a young girl plays with her Barbie’s because they both just want to have fun with a toy, and they can make it do whatever they wanted. Young children could have control over something which both genders liked to do.

Much like Disney cartoons, the creation of an ideal type of fashion-show beauty is based primarily on the worship of the generic blonde image of womanhood. Of course, Barbie is a doll that is made into an adult figure, which defines the role model that young girls should follow as part of popular culture. This is a clear form of cultural indoctrination by forcing the child to witness the popular meaning of Barbie as an icon of American culture. More so, the popularization of Barbie is one way in which the Mattel Corporation (like the Disney Corporation) can portray idealized an unrealistic examples of women as a type of cultural child rearing. The Barbie has become the generic version of the adult American female, which is often promoted as an ideal toy for young people in the toy marketplace. For instance, Steinberg (2009) defines the way in which the “adult” shape of the Barbie provides a means of commercial indoctrination at a very young age in childhood

These attitudes can be unhealthy as they promote the ostracizing of children who fall outside traditional gender roles. A boy who may be more sensitive than his peers may find himself socially outcast, and a girl who may like to be a little more rough and tumble than her peers may be openly mocked by them. There’s also the issue of transgender children who may fall even further outside the spectrum of what we’ve grown to consider “normal.”

Stroll through the toy aisle in any store. Adjust your eyes to the colors, patterns, and themes associated with the products available in the “girl” and “boy” departments. These stereotypical standards of pink and blue are as strictly contrasting as black and white. The problems presented in the restrictions and societal ideals of modern day womanhood are not limited to those born female. The channels of femininity are structured to both provide identity for those with breasts, wearing bows, and Barbie dolls, but also as a contrast to the qualities associated with the opposite gender. Clothes, hair lengths, toys and games are superficial signs of gender identity, but are often readily accepted by children absorbing the lay of the land as it presented to them. If a young boy identifies himself as being a girl, playing with Barbie’s instead of trucks and trains is complex and not accepted. The young boy feels a sense of excitement a thrill that he can

Parents have goals and standards for their children. They have high standards and dreams that they desire for their children to accomplish by the time they reach old age. However, do parents have different hopes and standards for their sons than daughters? Males and females are different, but equal. Therefore, parents should treat all their children the same way and base goals and standards off of their children as they grow with new interests. More than a decade into the 21st century, parents across the globe have similar standards and similar goals for their sons and daughters, but American parents are far more likely to want differently, act differently, and treat their children different based on gender. Parents have different hopes and standards for their sons than for their daughters sexually, academically, and socially; all having different effects on each gender.

For years, both male and females have been treated differently. Parents claim, son or daughter, they treat all of their children the same. From the research I have gathered and also from personal experience, this claim deceives parents. In the sense of a parent, determined by the child’s sex, parents treat their children differently. With this treatment comes numerous situations where double standards occur.These standards can begin to take place as early a toddler. When it comes to parental gender double standards, I believe the phrase “well, she is a girl” and “boys will be boys” is too commonly used by parents. Although parents set a standard for all of their children, daughters tend to be set at a higher standard than sons. These standards

Children learn at a very early age what it means to be a boy or a girl in our society. As children grow and develop, the gender stereotypes they are exposed to at home are reinforced by many elements in their environment and are thus perpetuated throughout childhood followed by adolescence. One major societal issue uprising with the way children are raised in today’s society is the gender specific dressing for boys and girls. The history with gender specific dressing is a one sided masculine enforced point of view for centuries. As children move through childhood and into adolescence, they are exposed to many factors which influence their behaviors and attitudes regarding gender roles. It is difficult for a child in today’s society to grow to adulthood without experiencing some form of gender bias or stereotyping. The question lies whether the view of gender specific dressing shall change or stay the same. As society continues to evolve and grow so does the tolerance of new uprising views for the general purpose of equality and freedom to do as pleased. Children regularly learn to adopt gender roles which are not always fair to both sexes. These attitudes and behaviors are generally learned first in the home but then reinforced by their environment, school experience, and media viewing. Nonetheless, the strongest influence on gender role development seems to occur within the family setting. Culture, values, and beliefs are the parents early role for passing on, both overtly

It is no secret that there are pre-existing stereotypes linked to men and women’s roles in society. Men are the strong and providing bodies in households; their women counterparts being the delicate and care-taking ones. Examining aspects of adolescent development in society can reveal the source of these beliefs (e.g. gender-based toys and clothing). Because one can pinpoint the notion of female inferiority to gender stereotypes, one can only conclude that they are the cause of gender discrimination in the workplace.