Easy Bake Ovens Research Paper

As a little girl an Easy-Bake Oven was at the top of my Christmas list for years; finally, after years of patiently waiting, there it was underneath my Christmas tree. The epitome of Christmas gifts for little girls: an Easy-Bake Oven. Not once did I think I was gifted this by my parents because they wanted me to learn how to become a homemaker. This is not the 1950’s. America has come so far from the ideology that all women belong in the kitchen; women are successful businesswomen and leaders in the workplace today. A woman’s place is not solely in the kitchen. Women can be mothers, homemakers and professional individuals outside of the home. Today we can see that feminists would argue that the easy-bake oven conditions

Further, certain toys seem to suggest that boys are valued higher in society than girls (Starr, 1999). The information appears to show that there may be more stereotyping with regard to toys offered to boys. It seems that most parents choose more masculine and gender-neutral toys for the boys such as, soldier action figures, wrestling kits, and karate fighters (Starr, 1999). These types of toys encourage competitive and aggressive behaviors, however; they are also more constructive, conductive to handling, and more reality based (Starr, 1999).

order to build a fire in the cloam oven. When it came time for cast iron

In the toy store, the Easy Bake ovens are located in the girls’ area. On the package of the Easy Bake oven is an image of a girl baking and a boy eating the cookies. This demonstrates gender roles as well as the expectations connected with each gender. In this circumstance, women are taught to do what they can to satisfy the men in their lives. Other toys that are comparatively similar to the Easy Bake ovens are the Polly Pocket houses and the crying baby dolls, which additionally teach young girls to adorn and furnish the house and take care of the babies. The boy section carry the toys for “little engineers” and the Handy Manny doll, teaching boys that they should utilize their minds to construct and build. Talking about constructing and

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.

Weekends for many mean buying some steaks and getting the barbecue grill ready for a relaxed time in the backyard, while you make some juicy steaks. If you have kids coming over to watch the big game tonight, then getting some French fries ready for them would not be a bad idea either. Are you planning to make some crispy chicken wings or have pizza or sub sandwiches for a quick and enjoyable party with family or friends? Then having an oven would be a great help to you.

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

Toaster ovens do not take as long as a conventional oven to heat. Below is a list of cooking temperatures and the approximate amount of time a toaster oven takes to reach that temperature:

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.

If it is a boy they will buy blue clothes and picture him as a football player. In both “The Boy” and “Barbie Doll” the authors address the role and appearance of females through imagery, describing them in a way that fits the social stereotype but pushes the comfort level.

In "Why Boys Don't Play with Dolls" by Katha Pollit states that the NOW or The National Organizational for Women was founded twenty-eight years ago, yet the boy’s still likes trucks and the girl’s plays with dolls. Despite major advances toward the achievement of equality for women, stereotypes are still clearly and purposefully keep going through the messages adults send to children about gender roles.  Society stressed that girls are not supposed to be big, strong and powerful, and that boys should not be weak, petite and play with such things as dolls or girly toys. Pollit analyzes why boys don’t play with dolls and how women trying to fit the “American ideal”. Most fathers do not want their boys to play with dolls because they feel that

According to Cooley’s “The Looking Glass Self”, the degree of personal insecurity one displays in social situations is determined by how they believe others think of them. In other words, how we see ourselves, according to Cooley, does not come from who we really are but rather how we believe other people see us. There are three steps to Cooley’s claim: first, we imagine how others see us. Second, we imagine how others are judging us. Lastly, we react accordingly. The gendered commodification of children toys sets the stage by giving children at a very young age preset judgements of how their supposed to act in society. While toys aimed at little boys mostly include darker colors of blues, blacks, reds, and involve some sort of action or superhero,

Gender norms today have become a big part of our society as they are present in our every day life from advertisements, clothes, to the way we are supposed to act, and even in toys. In order to appeal to a certain customer, advertisements use many gender norms that apply to customers. One of the most impactful gender norms that I find to be is in the kid’s toys because I believe that it’s teaching these kids about how to act. Kids ranging from very early ages know what types of toys they should play with and what toys they aren’t supposed to play with. For example, little boys would play with cars and action figures while on the other hand girls would play with dolls and a tea party set. Many of the toys for girls have been shaped to show them that are supposed to be more friendly and kind. These toys have made it so that there are certain way’s little girls should act and also what things they should like.

In today’s society, there is often a misconception among women and men and the roles they are expected to follow through with. Although there has been advances in the way women are treated, it is unfortunately still an unbalanced dynamic in our society. From an early age, women are often persuaded, even if subconsciously, to follow a certain pathway in life. They are most often associated with staying home, keeping the house clean, cooking, baking, and raising children. Certain mediums that girls are exposed to tend to sway them towards these specific wants and aspirations. The way in which certain products are presented to little girls create an image they feel like they need to master. Men, on the other hand, are taught something completely different. They are regularly habituated with more masculine and self-reliant tasks. From an early age, they are automatically seen as people that deserve to be educated and use their smart, resourceful assets to contribute to society. They are without a doubt going to get a job and become a father and husband that provides for his family. In most situations, even if the woman has a job, men are the main “bread-winner.” Going along with this belief, the products boys are often marketed portray the idea of strength and independence. Whether it is a toy or a book, men are more often than not characterized as the heroic, more capable gender. There are many cases in which different mediums exhibit the ideas of men being the superior