Do Toy Manufacturers Have A Responsibility For End Gender Stereotypes For Children?

In the research done on “Sex Roles, Pink or Blue: Environmental Gender Stereotypes in the First Two Years of Life,” by Andree Pomerleau, Daniel Bolduc, Gerard Malcuit, and Louise Cossette at the University of Montreal stated that the physical environment of girls and boys will have an impact on the development of specific abilities and activities in children. In the research, three age groups were investigated and given types and colors of toys and have determined that boys prefer sports and large and small vehicles while girls had more dolls and fictional characters. The research proves that boys are more active and aggressive than girls. The research shows that as early as 18 months of age, children are already predisposed by sex stereotypes by their parents.

Toys play an important role in childhood development as children learn roles and skills from playing. As a result, the toys children are subjected to have an affect on which roles, interests, and skills are learned and practiced. Through Lego’s product Duplo, I will demonstrate the influence particular gendered toys have on children and their performance of traditional gender roles. Gender, which is a learned performance, is something society has been taught from a very early age and toy advertising has played a significant role in reinforcing the performance. One tradition that is reinforced and naturalized by society is the ideology of a male dominated society, representing strong characteristics of heterosexuality and masculinity; also known as hegemonic masculinity. Therefore, using Ideological Criticism, I will analyze how through the branding and design of Lego’s Duplo toys, children have been constructed to do gender differently, ultimately perpetuating and reinforcing hegemonic masculinity.

Gender stereotypes affect children substantially. From the baby boy in blue with trucks and action figures to the baby girl in pink with dolls and princesses, these roles and generalizations affect children’s personalities while they are still developing. Those guiltiest of stereotyping in children’s media are Disney, Nintendo and other video-game companies, and reality television. These influences are expansive, and they reach past elementary-age kids to teenagers. Stereotypes negatively impact children of all ages through these forms of media, and parents need to be aware of this.

Children learn as early as age two what it means to be a “boy” or a “girl” (Aina & Cameron). This is described as gender identity, a person’s sense of self as male or female. Gender stereotyping emerges hand in hand with the development of gender identity in Early Childhood (Halim). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes and activities of males and females. When babies are born they are either put in pink or blue, as they grow up they still maintain the same “gender” colors. As young children start to socialize, they are playing with either “girl” toys or “boy” toys. When they get older they

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

The media, society, and even human nature in itself affect children's decisions in some shape or form. While this can sometimes influence children in a positive way, it also limits children the ability to be free in decision making. In the article, “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls” the author, Katha Pollitt, emphasizes that gender roles and gender stereotypes in children are actually a product of parental influence and society’s influence. It is not children who

When you walk into the toy section of any store, you do not need a sign to indicate which section is the girls’ side and which section is the boys’ side. Aside from all the pink, purple, and other pastel colors that fill the shelves on the girls’ side, the glitter sticks out a lot as well. The boys’ toys however are mostly dark colors – blue, black, red, gray, or dark green. The colors typically used on either side are very stereotypical in themselves.

Girls and boys both grow up being socialized on what is normal and unusual for their gender. Toys are a prominent factor in this socialization, because they are typically presented for one gender and are unacceptable for the other. To assess how toys play a role in gender socialization, I made a trip to Toys “R” Us in College Station and was surprised by how the store was organized.

The sexualization in children’s toys does not stop at the commercials for them that are aired on TV. Around the 1980’s, products for children suddenly saw a stark divide in gender. The gender difference in toys is characterized by often harmful gender roles. Toys for boys are usually based on being macho, tough, and violent, while girl’s toys tend to focus on appearance, being pretty and attractive to boys. These toys are often highly structured, limiting creativity and are centered around adult themes. According to Levin and Kilbourne, when we give children these toys, “We’re letting the sexualized media and popular culture, not ourselves, control the lessons children will learn” (44). When a culture that treats sexuality in such harmful ways controls children’s experiences, it creates an artificial and harmful identity in young girls that focuses on sexiness, and an identity in boys that values violence and devalues kindness and nurturing.

In our society, there are norms of what is considered to be feminine and what is to be considered masculine, but how are these norms constructed? Through the use of toys, books, and clothing, children are socialized into their “appropriate” gender. These objects provide influence over behavior and appearance, showing boys and girls what is appropriate for each gender. After some investigation it was found that the toys, books, and clothing that children use not only foster the norms of gender behavior and appearance, but also construct gender roles in their young minds.

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.

and the activities they encourage. In one study parents were asked to sort toys into masculine,

In society people expect toys to describe how children should act. People expect girls to play with dolls, be interested in fashion and play indoors. Whereas for boys they are expected to play with action toys that suggests that they should be tough and aggressive. I argue that toys contributes to gender stereotyping girls and boys behavior in society. The main factors that contribute to gender stereotyping are colors, suggested behaviors and gender roles.

There are many ways that gender roles, stereotypes, and signifiers are reinforced in society. A big way this influences people is through being a consumer and shopping. Almost every store that carries toys will have different sections, colors, toy types, and areas for each gender. Take Target for example. When you walk into the toy section you can immediately see different colors and different themes per aisle you browse. Not all toy aisles are taken over by typical blue or pink colors. But, some areas are very much marketed to girls and other areas are marketed to boys. I decided to take a trip to Target to experience the differences first hand. What I found was not only aisles and areas aimed at each different gender but also toys marketed to boys or girls that influence, reinforce, or affect what society thinks each gender should be.

Children watch lots of television and can see what our society thinks gender specifics are, and now more than ever their toys are being made to fit theses strict image created by society. Our children are watching these things but we don’t exactly know how it is affecting them. We need to see why we put so much weight on gender. As a society we do not know how these gender specific toys are affecting the development of our children.