Children and Adults Encounter Toy Stores that are Rigidly Segregated by Sex.

The toy section at Target had many clear differences in the toys for boys and the toys for girls. The types of toys that were out on the shelves were different, but also the way the toys were presented were different. Girls toys mainly consisted of stuffed animals, dress up clothes, babies and dolls including Bratz, Barbies and fairies. The primary colors of all these toys consisted of different shades of purple, pink, and white. There were bits of blue and yellow but it seemed that all the colors stood out and had a type of feminine aspect to them. Besides color, the girl’s toys were often soft and fuzzy or

The first thing a person notices upon walking into a store is all the different categories separated by different aisles and giant signs hanging from the ceiling. The categories are then separated into smaller, more specific sections. Like in the bathroom accessory aisles, there are different sections in it that include the towels, curtains, and soap dispensers. Kid’s clothes and toys are no different, they are both separated into two different major categories which are boys and girls. This separation between boys and girls does carry on throughout a person’s life, and influences many gender roles and biases.

Toys have proven to be a valuable symbol of childhood innocence across generations, regardless of gender. The color of toys were changed to create a link between the toy and the interest of a particular gender (i.e. pink for girls, blue for boys). In Peggy Orenstein's Cinderella Ate My Daughter, she expresses the claim that color associations for juvenile playthings have reversed since pre-twentieth century. During the course of two interviews, Orenstein's claims prove to be, for the most part, supported despite a large difference of age between my interviewees.

In the world of toy marketing, choices are made with direction put in place for both genders (girl and boy). For example, as I walked down each toy aisle, I felt the gender conformity among the parents as they were with their children. With multiple aisles and two dominant colors (pink and purple) designated for girls, the message (in my perspective) marketed on the toy package yelled: “Your ambition is to be stylish, while a nurturing mother who partakes in domestic works!” In addition to the toy packages being in pink, the words (on the toy) were predominately frivolous and amusing. On the contrary, the boys’ aisle contained wide varieties of colors, although the color blue caught my eye the most. The boys’ toys entailed sports, building sets, as well as action figures. Conversely, the message in my perspective, marketed on the toy package screamed: “You have the power to do whatever you want; however, it is imperative that you build yourself physically, as well as train yourself in order to properly excel.” This type of act, referred to as the social role theory—“a gender difference that mainly results from the contrasting roles of females and males” (p.165),—gives a great cause of difference in gender regarding power, nurture, and

Toys play a major role in socializing young kinds into “appropriate” gender roles. The first obvious characteristic that separates toys for boys and toys for girls,

I decided that for this assignment that I would go to Walmart and observe their toy department. I chose this retailer simply because it was convenient, and it supplied a wide variety of toys for me to observe. Before I went to the toy aisle, I found myself reminiscing about my trips to the toy aisle. When I was a young girl the toy aisle was a pink wonderland. From what I can recall, all the packaging for girl toys were pink and violet whereas boy toys were blue and green. The former girl aisle mainly consisted of Barbie’s, Polly Pocket toys, Littlest Pet Shop toys, baby dolls, stuffed animals, and kitchen playsets. I do not remember much about the boys’ aisle except that there were a lot of toy automobiles. I also do not remember any gender neutral specific toys; however, that could be due to my age. I was surprised to find that the toy section actually had gender neutral toys. They had outdoor toys like balls, hula-hoops, kites, and jump

Sexism is an arrangement of dispositions and practices towards individuals that judge or put down them in the premise of their sex, or that sustain cliche suppositions about sexual orientation parts. These days, the term is frequently used to allude to men’s state of mind towards women, the mentality doesn’t generally need to be awful however. In the disney motion pictures the audience see today we generally observe sexism towards women, since they are never ready to ensure themselves, but instead we have the male character swoop in to allow her out, and this is the thing that surprises a few of the audience when viewers see or discuss disney movies. Disney movies are full of sexist messages which teach young girls to accomplish a submissive role in society such as “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”, and “Snow white”. Young girls have learned to admire the Disney princesses, and have even began to look at them as the perfect role models to follow in order to achieve perfect lives. These disney movies teach young girls that they need a male figure in their lives for them to fulfil their idea of a “perfect life”. “ for the second stage of the analysis, a toy that appeared both on the list of toys disney deemed us appropriate for boys and the list of toys for girls would be categorized only as a toy for “both boys and girls” .” In this article Auster Carol concentrates on the analysis of the color and type of toys on the disney store. All the females were wrapped up in the

Should there be gender specific toy aisles lining the rows in stores? How much does this reassure the sociological idea of gender itself? Does putting restrictions on kids’ toy decisions effect them in a negative way? Research has shown that it is natural for kids to want to experiment with different toys and identities. Pushing kids into a box of what they can, or cannot play limits their true potential and imagination.

In conclusion, the toy store observation allowed me the chance to look at toys designed for each gender and neutral toys. I observed how socialization affects gender attitudes, values, and behaviors. This paper also gave me the opportunity to look at the gender roles these toys promoted, as well as helped me to learn new things. Through this assignment, new questions were raised, however, I also gained knowledge.

I remember getting excited when I received a toy doll that came with diapers and accessories to care for when I turned 4. I was the only child at the time but somehow I knew how to care for the inanimate object, maybe from TV shows or from seeing how the women around me cared for their child. The toy section was almost like the equivalent to heaven for kids, walking down the girls’ toy section I was surrounded by toys imitating kitchen objects, there were many versions of baby dolls and the color pink flooded the isle, whether it were pink dresses or the pink vacuum cleaner. On the other side of the isle I saw soccer balls, Lego blocks and toy cars targeted for boys. Growing up, I realized the toy industry that targets the stereotypes of a gender was a sample of the gender roles that are expected to be followed in some cultures; and clearly the representation of a woman is one that does domestic work and has concern over their appearance.

Gender socialization often begins early once parents are shown the sex of their child; from then on, baby showers are planned according to gender “appropriate” colors, which are often pink for girls and blue for boys. Even differences in how children are spoke to can be picked up easily in Western cultures. Girls are called pretty and sweet, whereas boys are handsome and strong. Ultimately, the way children learn to identify with their gender culture is in part due to not only family and friends, media, schools, and religion, but also from the toys that may inexplicitly advertise gender expectations. Gender-typed toys may be bought for children as a way for parents to encourage and reinforce gender-appropriate behaviors. However, recent debates have engulfed toy manufacturers and major retailers, which has brought about changes in toy design and marketing in an effort to make reflect more realistic and gender neutral options.

Toys play an essential role in defining gender characters. If parents buy their daughters high heels, make-up, purses, doll houses, then they are only sending one set of messages to the daughter(s) saying that this is what you should play with or want to play with. If parents buy their sons toys such as: doctor bags, tool kits, hot wheels, and building blocks, then the message they are sending their son is this is what your future should be as an occupation. I will address children's toys as symbolic bodies may pose narrowly gendered and heteronormative models of adulthood, this article argues children may also begin to counter paradigms of gender and sexuality within unintended, subversive play at home and

Through my experience in the toy department of Wal-Mart I have learned that no toy is manufactured unintentionally but that each has a purpose and a targeted audience. This conclusion was made through my critical analysis of marketing, colour choices, layout, and cost in regards to the toys. As I strolled through the three aisles, sections of toys began to blend together as it was organized in an orderly manner; separated by colour choices and characteristics. As a result, it was made evidently clear which toys were being targeted to which specific sex. Moreover, from the flyer to the bright, over-the-top graphics, the marketing methods were very persuasive and convincing to children and parents alike. In addition, Wal-Mart used sale methods to draw customers to their products. These sales worked to promote the product to parents as well as reach families of different socio-economic backgrounds. However, despite their effort, the products within Wal-Mart do not achieve the reduction of the economic gap due to the separation of one product set, which increases overall cost of that whole product. In conclusion, Wal-Mart’s Toy Department worked to convince children and parents alike to need and want their product in addition to instilling societal gender stereotypes and sustaining economic inequalities.

Going into different stores, one can easily pick up on the major gender roles each store supports. Even the morals of an innocent toy store, such as KB Toys, is tainted by the gender-differentiating dolls for girls, and trucks for boys. Upon entering the store you can tell right away which aisles attract which kids. To the left there is pink fluffy bears, pink Barbie and friends toys, white teddy bears etc. To the right there is a less vibrant color setting, coordinating army green, black, and gray color schemes. I think it is apparent to anyone who enters these stores that the pink pretty isles are meant to attract little girls, and the dark green and gray isles are meant to attract boys. Upon the packages of toy trucks and guns, there are pictures of young boys playing with them and/or cartoon male figures controlling them. On the packaging of Barbie and her friends there are also other girls on the packaging. I was unable to pick up on a single female on the package of any toy truck or gun throughout the entire store. The

Inside Toyland, written by Christine L. Williams, is a look into toy stores and the race, class, and gender issues. Williams worked about six weeks at two toy stores, Diamond Toys and Toy Warehouse, long enough to be able to detect patterns in store operations and the interactions between the workers and the costumers. She wanted to attempt to describe and analyze the rules that govern giant toy stores. Her main goal was to understand how shopping was socially organized and how it might be transformed to enhance the lives of workers. During the twentieth century, toy stores became bigger and helped suburbanization and deregulation. Specialty toy stores existed but sold mainly to adults, not to children. Men used to be the workers at toy