Targeting Gender Labels : Target Has Strayed Gender Based Toy Labels

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

This not only discourages gender roles stereotyping but provides variety. The positive impact is that it gives the children equal opportunity to play with all of the toys and make their own choices as to which they

Target is representative of gendered spaces, because Target has many regions within itself that cater to a specific sex. This makes Target a gendered space, because a gendered space is a space in which it is only appropriate for one sex to occupy. An example of a gendered space in Target would be the feminine care aisle, because all the products in that aisle are for females. This makes the feminine care aisle a gendered space, because most people find it inappropriate or weird for males to occupy the feminine care aisle. In American culture, people believe that it is only appropriate for females to occupy the feminine care aisle.

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 store in which I completed my observation was Target. Target’s general layout made it easy to decipher the section designated for boys and the section designated for girls. While Target did not specifically label the aisles by gender, it was not difficult to decipher where the toys for each gender were located. The section designated for boys encompassed about three aisles consisting of various toys that would interest boys, while the section designated for girls encompassed three aisles as well. Target also consisted of about two aisles of gender-neutral toys. The kinds of toys offered for boys included guns, action figures, building sets, and cars. Types of toys offered for girls included dolls, stuffed animals, play kitchen sets, and

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

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.

An observation made by Claire shows that although some companies like Disney have recently removed gender labels on their costumes and Target removed them from toy aisles, they remain sharply divided by color and type just like much of the children's world.

1. I did my research on toys at Target. What I discovered was that mostly all gender-neutral toys have to do with educational toys and toys for children whose mindset does not see that’s a girl or boy toy. All the gender-neutral toys were colorful, but mostly used green, blue, yellow, and red colors, thus making targeting boys and girls. What I found in the masculine toy section was that mostly all the toys were blue, black, or dark colors. Lots of toys promoted violence like the Nerf guns and Power Ranger toys with their swords and killing the bad guys. They also promoted sports balls and cars only in the boy section when girls can play with these as well. What I found interesting is that they had Jake and the Neverland Pirates toys and

When you enter any store that has a children’s toy aisle, you automatically figure out which side is for boys and which side is for girls. On the girls’ side, you generally see lots of pink and purple, and glitter too. Blues and greens, as well as many other dark colors, fill the boy’s side of the aisle. The division of this aisle and the colors associated with male or female toys is known as the idea of gender-stereotyped toys.

Making toys that are for all genders is something that many stores and toy companies are still trying to adapt to. Many toy manufacturers are promoting gender-biased toys.Merchandisers still do not understand that it’s not just girls who want a female character as a toy. There should be more toy companies that should try to make toys that are not specific to one gender because not every girl wants a barbie for a toy and not every boy wants a car as a toy to play with. More toy manufacturers should not promote gender-biased toys and make toys for every gender because many kids have different interests. In the article “Asleep at the switch? “Force Awakens” heroine missing from toy line” explores the idea that the new movie of “Star

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

I actually stumbled upon an article before choosing my store. In article titled "Target to move away from gender-based signs," Target basically stated that it would be moving away from doing gender in departments where it was unnecessary(i.e., toys)(CNN.com, August 8, 2015). I have never been one to frequent a target, but according to your observations only small, or no changes at all have been made to this section of Target

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.

Going into different stores, one can easily pick up on the major gender roles each store supports. Even the morals of an innocent toy store, such as KB Toys, is tainted by the gender-differentiating dolls for girls, and trucks for boys. Upon entering the store you can tell right away which aisles attract which kids. To the left there is pink fluffy bears, pink Barbie and friends toys, white teddy bears etc. To the right there is a less vibrant color setting, coordinating army green, black, and gray color schemes. I think it is apparent to anyone who enters these stores that the pink pretty isles are meant to attract little girls, and the dark green and gray isles are meant to attract boys. Upon the packages of toy trucks and guns, there are pictures of young boys playing with them and/or cartoon male figures controlling them. On the packaging of Barbie and her friends there are also other girls on the packaging. I was unable to pick up on a single female on the package of any toy truck or gun throughout the entire store. The