Socialization Is Like A Two Sided Coin

As stated in the textbook, gender socialization is the outcome of countless interactions, starting with those between parents and children. At the youngest ages, of course, parents have the dominant influence over this process. But as children age, their socialization continues under a variety of influences, including their own personalities and their interactions with siblings, peers, schools, and the wider culture. In adult life, socialization more often occurs in the other institutional arenas (page 167-168).

Envision yourself entering a toy department and noticing numerous diverse aisles. In one aisle, you encounter toys packaged in complementary and color triads colors that include building sets (such as “LEGO”, “LEGO Super Heroes”, and “Angry Birds”) and a wide selection of action figures—Spider Man, Transformers, The Dark Knight, Power Rangers, etc. In the next aisle, adjacent to the aisle with complementary and color triads colors, you find toys packaged in shades of pink and purple. These toys range from “Hello Kitty” dolls to “Barbie Dream” house play sets. Inside a toy department, such as Toys R Us, it is extremely difficult to retrieve a toy that is not marketed explicitly or subtly by gender. If toys were marketed only according to

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

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.

In the blog post Gender Bias in the Toy Aisles, the author discusses the issue of big-box stores’ gender gap in the toys they market to children, and the difficulty she encounters when trying to find toys for her sons that do not enforce gender bias. Her main point emphasizes the gender gap by pointing to the stylistic choices made by toy companies – girls’ toys are laden with pink and incite feelings of innocence, while boys’ toys are highly ruggedized, typically bearing camouflage or other male stereotypes such as flames. Finally, the author expresses her wish for the toy companies to stop enforcing gender biases to better equip children for their future. The author’s statement on the bias of toys is clearly well-supported.

When I went to the toy section at Target, I was not really thinking that I would find much of gender stereotype being shown at the store. However, I was surprised that was not the case. I have been to the toys/games section in the store a few times, but I have only paid attention to where all the family games such as board games and playing cards were. As such, I was astonished how blind I was when I first noticed that besides the Legos, the boy section and the girl section was separated by a pathway. I first scoured through the girls section, and not surprisingly, they were filled with dolls and toys with aesthetics included in the packages.

She backs up that statement by providing the static fact that in 1975, “less than 2% of toys were explicitly marketed to either boys or girls.” She dives deeper into how gender stereotypes and ‘gender norms’ are prevalent in present day society by explaining how marketing plays an influence on society, especially the children. According to the BBC documentary The Men Who Made Us Spend, children now are being targeted as mini consumers and that the average British child sees 10,000 adverts a year! Kessel also claims that advertisements on children’s channels are the “most explicitly gendered thing you’ve ever seen’ and that in the advertisements involving girls, the girls are seen “in a whirl of pink and high-pitched voices” whereas the advertisements involving boys, the boys are seen “[in a whirl of] blue with a backdrop of angry guitar music.” By evaluating how marketing influences children to gender stereotype, she was able to strengthen her argument.

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.

The gender based expectations are taught and the sometimes subtle, often overt lessons begin at a very young age. It starts with the color of the blanket a baby is wrapped up in, the toys bought for them to play with, and extends to the pretend play they engage in. So from the earliest ages of social awareness, society reinforces the ideals of masculine and feminine throughout life. Consequently, it is perfectly acceptable for a girl to put on a purple tutu and twirl about granting wishes to her stuffed animals, while it would be discouraged for a boy. He should be outside in the sandbox setting up his toy soldiers in a mock battle. In spite of the entrenched idea of gender, some mothers and fathers aspire to a more gender-neutral parenting style, that doesn’t restrict their child to specific societal ideals. However, the pressure to conform to the gender binary is ever-present and difficult to deconstruct. The boy that cries when he gets hit by a baseball is called a “sissy” and told to “man up” by his coach. The girl who tells her high school counselor, she wants to take auto

Once a child is born, he or she learns to view the world based on the behaviors of others. The child’s primary caregivers, usually the parents, and others present in the child’s environment, such as siblings, peers, teachers, and even the media, contribute to the development of the child’s perception of himself, those around him, and society overall. This concept is called socialization. “The way we are, behave and think is the final product of socialization” and it is through socialization that we “learn what is appropriate and improper for both genders” (Crespi, 2004). This concept of gender socialization leads to the inescapable

Our gender has an effect on every aspect of our lives, varying from how we view ourselves and other people to how we interact in social and civic life. It also impacts the way we set our goals in opportunity areas such as education, work, and recreation. Gender socialization starts at birth then manifests through family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Gender norms are automatically placed on us, where women should learn how to be nurturing, sensitive, emotional, passive, and always hold a man’s position higher than hers. On the other hand men should be overly confident, aggressive, dominant, and view women beneath them. This paper uses various readings to show how these gender norms are supported and challenged in today’s society.

Thinking back to the days of my youth, many of us are brought back to the nostalgic commercials of girls playing with Barbies, and boys playing with G.I. Joes. These are just two basic examples. Since before 1997, commercials have been molding our youth to try to portray the idea of having the “perfect image” for boys and girls.“Kline’s research in Canada showed that the themes of television advertisements for toys supported traditional gender expectations in terms of types of toys with a focus on battles, action, and domination for boys, and nurturing, glamour, and domesticity for girls,” (Auster, Carol). I feel like producers of such products should broaden their gendered horizons and produce toys and entertainment that will not offend individuals. The article goes on to state how there is no location on the site that is sectioned

In the article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,” the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to convince his audience that gender shapes how we behave and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. These rhetorical devices serve his larger goal of getting readers to reflect on how their childhoods formed their genders. “Maleness and femaleness seem “natural,” not the product of socialization.” (Devor 527) Throughout his article, he makes us wonder whether or not gender is recognized through socializing.

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 next model is the socialization model which says that gender is purely a creation of societal influences. According to this model, children and adolescents learn everything about gender roles from various social influences, including their parents, the media, and by their peer groups. Based on the roles of genders portrayed through these sources, children construct views of what normative behaviors for males and females looks like, and behave accordingly. In Dowd’s article, “What’s a Modern Girl to Do,” the author had two choices about how to behave based on what she learned from various socialization sources.