Influences Of Gender Typing And Stereotypes

Strolling through a local toy store, the Barbie section is noticeably the most prominent, attention grabbing section of the entire store. With bright pink packaging and bubbly cartoon depictions of the smiling doll with the aid of big, swoopy, cursive lettering, the Barbie boxes match the stereotypical idea of femininity. It is almost inevitable that any little girl in the store will be drawn to the doll. These characteristics of Barbie’s packaging already set a preset for the doll’s propaganda. The bright color choices and feminine font creates the assumption that the dolls are solely meant for girls and that women are expected to accept pink as the color of their gender. Already, with just the packaging, children are affected because they learn that pink is meant for girls. Because Barbie is such a huge brand and she is everywhere all over the world, a universal assumption has been made that Barbie dolls are meant for girls. This then leads into the next issue Barbie creates for little girls.

Subliminal and direct messages of gender-role stereotyping can be found in advertisements for children’s toys, television cartoons, foods, and many other items that are marketed towards young children. Specifically, children in the age ranges of six to ten years old. For example, McDonald’s Restaurant has a new Happy Meal commercial that runs often on television. Actually, it is a set of commercials advertising Cuties, a brand of mandarin oranges, as a healthier alternative in their McDonald’s Happy Meal. In one commercial, there are two young boys and an adult male sitting in a kitchen playing with Hot Wheels and in the commercial the boys begins discussing calculations, centripetal force, and making ramps as they calculate the force needed

The splitting of products into two genders stemmed from fiscally conscious businesses; those who had two products to sell to different people made more money than those who sold only gender neutral clothing, razors, and drinks. In modern times, almost everything in the media and in advertisements is biased based on gender. Ads for fragrance are no longer equitable; they are for cologne and perfume separately. As the businesses made money, a latent consequence arose. Those who grew in the days of binary gender products and segregated items became socialized to fit what was advertised. Boys targeted by monster truck commercials became conditioned to believe that they could only play with monster trucks and should compete with their friend’s monster trucks. Girls became conditioned to believe that dollhouses and horses were the only toy for them. These influences from the media have affected gender socialization, relationships, and expectations throughout the life course of almost every American.

Advertising regularly uses gender roles to promote products. Gender-role stereotyping has been a prominent subject in advertising and throughout the media. It is the concept that gender stereotypes influence and reinforce stereotypical values in society, which can lead to negative consequences, particularly for men. As for advertising effectiveness, research shows that stereotypes can be supportive or detrimental, depending on several factors, such as the gender attitudes of the audience.

Children are highly influential in their younger years and advertisements can change how they view themselves. Take for instance how toys are marketed towards little girls. Most often they tell how feminine and desirable they’ll be if they buy the product in question. Even with how much gender stereotyping has declined, the products being sold to girls are almost exclusively feminine. From dolls, cooking, or princess attire, they still teach young girls that they have to meet traditional womanly roles. They’ll tell them they have to be little princesses that anything remotely boyish is wrong. Unknowingly this can influence children in greater ways than could be imagined. It tells them that if they don’t fit the specific mold they’re being sold they won’t be liked by others. This is often the reason young girls find themselves deterred from pursuing careers in STEM and becoming self conscious about their bodies. Another common stereotype for advertisements marketed towards girls is that they’re always weaker than boys and should leave hard work to them. One toy company is working to break this mold by promoting a line of toys for girls where their female mascot isn’t just interested in being fashionable and pretty. GoldieBlox Inc. desires to keep young girls interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math claiming that in these industries where men dominate, girls lose interest in these subjects

Unconsciously, we have all been affected or can relate to the effects of gender role stereotyping. From the day we were born, we are labeled as either boy or girl. Although, society has changed its norm in gender roles, many of our traditions have not. In the gender stereotype, we commonly relate a boy with the color blue, and a girl with the color pink. Gender roles have been instilled in us from past generations, due to the way that society was. Gender labeling is still influenced today through children’s toys, where toys are designed differently according to each gender. Through media, society persuades into the ideology of how gender role should be considered acceptable or not.

Preschool children toys start to really draw a deep line between boy and girl toys. The first toy I found was the Baby Alive. This pink package certainly shows their target audience as female. Hasbro provides three races of these babies, Hispanic, Caucasian and African American. This toy line is marketing to all the little girls that want to be a mommy already. The research of Becky Francis (2010) in “Gender, Toys and Learning” describe the effect of toys towards a child’s development by gender bias, she shows that girls are given more nurturing toys . The Baby Alive doll shows this bias. These toys are specifically marketed to girls of all races to learn how to take care of a child.

Toy commercials have been airing of TV for a long period of time and now most commercials will have a specific target audience in which the manufacturers are trying to market the toy to. The pattern of language in which these companies use, differ between when the target audience of the commercial is for girls or if the target audience are boys. Such use of this language rely on old stereotypes that have been established in society. For example, one common stereotype for a girl is enjoying to play house and with dolls, while boys like to build models of aircrafts and such. Although these stereotypes may apply to certain children, many children feel restricted upon which toys are acceptable for them to be playing with. These children often feel

Taking a specific look at girl stereotypes, the toys targeted towards them are packaged in pink and are dominated by sexualized brands like Bratz, Barbie or the Disney Princesses, or makeup and hairstyle” (p. 36). Yet at the same time, they vehemently deny that toys are instrumental in the formation of gender differences, claiming that their intentions are to “maximize sales and profits, not to rear children” (Cross 1997, p. 231). Its inevitable that these overtly sexualized toys wouldn’t influence the girls at an impressionable age. Female-only commercials have repeatedly been found to make up the smallest percentage of children’s commercials (Johnson and Young 2002)

In today’s retail world, a trip into any store that sells toys will show two noticeably separated realms of toys that include pink lanes consisting of dolls, domestic toys, and beauty kits and blue lanes packed with action figures, construction sets, and cars (Sweet, 2013). This reinforces the reliance of gender-marketing in today’s toy industry that distinguishes between what it means to a be a boy or a girl. From birth, children are immediately absorbed into this world of gender-specific products that shape their identities and beliefs of others due to the messages from marketers (Sweet, 2013). Through socialization, children begin to figure out the benefits of remaining within the status quo of gender and the repercussions of moving beyond them. In this paper, I will take on a perspective that draws upon both cognitive development theories and feminist ideologies. In particular, Bandura’s social learning theory will be helpful in examining how children learn about their gender through

As we grow as a society we only can hope our children can adapt to the toys they play with. Companies like Mattel over the years have received well-deserved scrutiny for their Barbie brand of toys. The recent make over to the Barbie line may harm Barbie’s image as a brand when mothers think of their childhood they of the classic Barbie look. Barbie’s make over which includes four different body shapes, seven different skin colors, twenty-two eye colors, and twenty-four hairstyles they also have optional accessories such as laptops and I pads. Although Mattel’s evolution of the Barbie has progressed over the coming year their plans still need to be further planned out because they are not actually fixing their problem of gender objectifying.

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.

The toy industry is a booming retail market in the United States, 2016 alone made a whopping 20.36 billion dollars (“Annual U.S. Sales” n.p.). These toys range from action figures, arts and crafts, dolls, puzzles, and building sets. More often than not, toys are appealing to a child based on what he or she likes to do, but as a nation, a stereotype has been set in place regarding what toys a boy or girl should be playing with. People usually associated Barbie dolls and princesses with girls and superheroes and Legos with boys. Gender plays a huge role in this industry, it consistently markets toys to either boys or girls. In recent years, the toy industry has been emphasizing gender separation and influencing stereotypical norms but this seems

American culture continues to reinforce gender stereotypes, especially when marketing to children by segregating toy and bedding sections into “boys” and “girls” sections. This segregation is detrimental to the way that children develop their view of gender roles and equality. In the article titled "Target Will Stop Labeling Toys for Boys or for Girls. Good," author Rebecca Hains examines the decision by Target to eliminate gender specific labels for their toy and bedding items (Hains). It is extraordinarily clear that eliminating gender specific labels on toys and bedding items will absolutely make an impact on what toys children choose to play with and in the way that they perceive gender. Target’s decision will impact toy choices and gender

Specifically looking at girl stereotypes, toys targeted towards them are packaged in pink, purple and other bright colors of the rainbow. The most popular toys in this demographic are brands like Bratz, Barbie, or Disney Princesses. These dolls can push boundaries on how suggestive their marketing can get. Bratz dolls are usually dressed in skimpy clothing and adorn heavy makeup. Midge and Baby is a controversial Barbie that was pregnant with a baby to promote the idea of family planning. Yet at the same time, they deny that toys are instrumental in the formation of gender differences, claiming that their intentions are to “maximize sales and profits, not to rear children” (Cross 1997, p. 231). Inevitably, these overtly sexualized toys influence the girls at an impressionable age.