Gender Mutual Toys Book Review

In the article “Gender-Neutral Toy Sections Are Good For Boys, Too” written by Megan Condis, Condis goes over the recent incident with Target removing gender specific toy aisles. People claim that it will help girls more considering that most of the girls toys are labeled with gender while the boys toys stand as a “default”. In her argument she states that although it will benefit girls from making them have to think they have to stick to only “girl” toys, it will benefit boys because they can now break that idea that they have to play with “boy” toys. I completely agree with Condis in her argument and fully believe that the gender specific toys affect boys just as much, if not more.

The article by Robb is written effectively making it easy to read and understand. However, She did not sum up the article with an effective conclusion however leaving the article seemingly unfinished. Equal rights between genders are becoming evermore prevalent in recent times, therefore writing about the negative impact of gender-specific toys is appropriate

Gender is the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female of male. “Are Gendered Toys Bad for Boys and Girls?” is the question asked with in the podcast. So in this essay it will discuss the opinion in the podcast vs. the fact of the sociological perspective in the book.

Should toys stores separate toys by gender? All toys should not be marketed as a boy or girl toy. In the article Are gender toys harming childhood development it says, “All toys are neutral genders. What is not is not neutral is the way toys are marketed.” When they say this it means that that all toys can be played with a boy or a girl but the way stores market the toys they usually say Boys or Girls. According to the passage called Are gender toys harming childhood it say,”If you take a truck and show a girl playing with the truck, that girl would most likely play with it and see it as a girl’s toy” This means that some toys are not only for boys but that if you someone other than yourself playing with a toy you would probably go with the

Gender roles in toys are overwhelmingly obvious. The breakdown has not changed in so many years that we all comply with and follow without question. Taking a trip to the local Toys R Us store showed me just how obvious the line was drawn for the sexes, showing a specific division of the two. The stores layout clearly establishes the line between girl’s toys and boys toys. There are very few isles that will intermingle within the sexes. For this project I selected the following age groups; infant, preschool and school age with a focus on girls toys.

However another huge exposure occurs through religion and workplaces, repeating this exposures from this agent’s, lead to people to create a false sense in their self, acknowledging that everything depends on their gender and not on a socially constructed role. Studies have also shown that a young age parents supply their male children with toys such as toy guns, cars and superhero, which are obviously a meaning of aggression. Although female children are given mostly dolls such as barbies dealing with dressing them up or playing with kitchen tools. Racing your children this way are most likely to play with appropriate gender toys even if a toy is available for all genders. “As life goes on, men try to overpass women in professions such as

In the future, I would like to see gender equality in terms of toys, clothes and other things. It is important that children have choices to learn, to play, to dress and other choices they preferred. Parents or any adults may allow children what the girls and boys do and not to be afraid to give this opportunity. For example, the book states that boys tend to dominate block play than girls. We should give some opportunity for girls to play with these blocks to experience mathematical concepts. On the other hand, boys should try dramatic play too in order for them to try variety of emotions and domestic relations. Moreover, we should not label all the things, such as these activities and materials are for boys and for girls only. Let them explore

The fond memories of childhood are often associated with a favourite toy. When one reminisces on a certain time of their life, toys are amongst the most prominent things that come to mind, as they evoke a strong symbolic image of early childhood. Although toys play a significant role in a child’s life, they have also been criticized for reproducing gender stereotypes. Boys and girls often have different toys that affect the development of their gender orientation during their younger years (Blakemore & Centres, 2005). The toys that parents choose to buy influences the way that children socialize and play with themselves, their peers, parents and family. Toys provide a gendered experience in which girls are often secluded to playing with dolls, kitchen sets and doll houses that

Gender roles have influenced our society our whole lives, without us realizing it. They determine the way in which we, as members of society, behave among others and what is deemed socially acceptable and what is not, all based on our gender. From the moment children take their first breaths, they are exposed to the gender roles society has set. This is all part of a social construction to categorize the two genders into believing that they should act in a particular matter, using toys as an advertising method. If the baby is a female, parents will opt to dress her in pink or purple, classifying the child as “girly”. However, if the child is male, parents will often opt for blue and green, avoiding pink in order to confirm the masculine gender by society’s standards. Even as kids, a girl will automatically head to the pink side of the toy store, just as a boy would head to the blue section due to their pre-exposed view of society.

For this assignment, I utilized the Toy’s R Us website to see how toys influence gender roles. I could not personally visit a Toy’s R Us, but recalling my memory from past visits and utilizing the website, I was able to see clearly the specific gender roles that are assigned to certain toys.

Mattel designs and manufactures toys that are treasured by boys and girls all around the world. They believe in the influence of play and the power it has on children to grow and learn. This paper will look at who was responsible for Mattel initiating the recall of its toys, whether Mattel acted in an ethical, responsible manner in regards to the safety of their toys, and also look at ways society can protect children from harmful toys.

It makes complete sense, from a business perspective, that emphasis is placed on the safety and security of children. After all, without kids, who is the Toys”R”Us customer? However, many would argue that the corporation has an ethical responsibility toward all of its stakeholders, equally. One stakeholder that has taken a back seat to the generosity of Toys”R”Us is the environment.

Everyone can remember their favorite toys as a child. From Cabbage Patch Kids to Hot Wheels to Legos, one can reminisce fondly about sitting on the floor and playing with one of these. However, depending on sex, a specific child may have found themselves playing with specific toys. For girls, things like baby dolls, Barbies, or dress-up kits are quite popular. Boys can be found playing with action figures and Nerf guns. This is where a problem is to be seen. Toys for children have actually had a quite short history of being gender-typed. Yes, it wasn’t alway like this. In fact, most children’s toys were marketed to both sexes and only recently has gender-typing toys become a fad. To see why this is a problem, one should explore the history of gender-typing in the toy industry, understand why it is a negative thing for today’s youth, and try to synthesize a possible solution to this problem in society.

According to the textbook, emphasized femininity is “an adaptation to the fact that men, in general, have more power and resources than women,” entailing subordinate duties such as “feminized, unpaid work in the home for their husband[s] and children” (Wade, L. & Ferree, M. M., 2015, p. 152). In the toy world, this idea manifests as kitchen playsets and dolls being advertised for girls – activities that clearly run parallel to duties of the stay-at-home mom (cooking/cleaning, childcare). This can be seen on any toy website, such as ToysRUs.com, underneath toy categories binarily deemed “Boys’ Toys” or “Girls’ Toys”. Emphatic sameness is another idea expressed in the textbook—the idea that “some women try to be “just one of the guys”” (Wade, L. & Ferree, M. M., 2015, p. 153)—but this is seldom encouraged in toy advertisement. When girls are encouraged to perform similarly to boys, though, there are still “female” expectations imposed (such as less harmful, pink or purple guns marketed towards

I found this section quite interesting, actually. It really opened my eyes to how the different genders are raised and taught to be. From kindergarten, girls are praised for being quiet, cooperative, and submissive whereas boys are expected to be loud and superior. Girls are encouraged to play with toys that are more feminine like dolls, kitchen sets, and art sets while boys are encouraged to play with blocks and weapons such as balls, toy guns, and swords. It’s even been observed that even when the boys play with the more feminine toys, they play with them differently than the girls do by pulling the heads off of dolls or using toy silverware as swords during play sword fights. It’s even been seen that they would use the dolls in “damsels in distress” situations. Now these facts aren’t saying that girls don’t participate in the occasional game of kickball or the play fights or that the boys don’t play house or color, because that does happen. But more often than not, you will observe the normal gender activities being portrayed.