Walmart Observation

When it comes to the social construction of gender, the way toy stores advertise their product play a huge role in the contribution. Sitting on the floor looking at the Walmart toy selection, I noticed a few things that I never really paid close attention to before. First, when did the colors pink and blue become a tool used as a gender binary? Second, why does it seem to be a pattern of the professions that the toy emulate in regards to each gender? Third, what does this all mean?

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

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

When I arrived, Athena was finishing her morning snack/breakfast. After a few minutes, she got up and stood in line to wash her hands. (gross motor skills) While waiting, she was standing very close to the other child in front of her. With the assistance of a teacher, Athena washed her hands and pulled out a paper towel from the dispenser. When she was done drying her hands, she walked over to an area with a lot of toys. She grabbed a stuffed animal. She then started crawling around the floor as she looked at the other toys. She found a pet carrier and proceeded to put the stuffed animal into the carrier. When she finished putting the stuffed animal in the carrier, she placed the carrier on a chair. She then looked around the toy

Throughout this course of study in Child Development 04, Observation & Assessment, I choose to be observed a child enrolled in a State Infant/Toddler Program School called Galen Clark Preschool, and the child will be presented as D. D is a 4 years old boy. The main idea of this portfolio is to observe and assess child D’s development and growth by using the measure of the DRDP. The DRDP (2015) focuses on the child’s behavior, knowledge, and skills. To capture a child’s behavior, the DRDP incorporates observation in natural settings. That’s the reason why I did my observation on D in a classroom’s setting for 3 hours a day and once a week with a total of 12 observations or 12 weeks. In addition, I collected five anecdotes each time I went

Should there be gender specific toy aisles lining the rows in stores? How much does this reassure the sociological idea of gender itself? Does putting restrictions on kids’ toy decisions effect them in a negative way? Research has shown that it is natural for kids to want to experiment with different toys and identities. Pushing kids into a box of what they can, or cannot play limits their true potential and imagination.

I visited a Toys “R” Us and looked at the various toys arranged by gender. There was a clear delineation between aisles of toys geared towards males, and aisles of toys geared towards females. In addition, there were some areas of the store in which toys appeared more gender neutral.

Stroll through the toy aisle in any store. Adjust your eyes to the colors, patterns, and themes associated with the products available in the “girl” and “boy” departments. These stereotypical standards of pink and blue are as strictly contrasting as black and white. The problems presented in the restrictions and societal ideals of modern day womanhood are not limited to those born female. The channels of femininity are structured to both provide identity for those with breasts, wearing bows, and Barbie dolls, but also as a contrast to the qualities associated with the opposite gender. Clothes, hair lengths, toys and games are superficial signs of gender identity, but are often readily accepted by children absorbing the lay of the land as it presented to them. If a young boy identifies himself as being a girl, playing with Barbie’s instead of trucks and trains is complex and not accepted. The young boy feels a sense of excitement a thrill that he can

In conclusion, the toy store observation allowed me the chance to look at toys designed for each gender and neutral toys. I observed how socialization affects gender attitudes, values, and behaviors. This paper also gave me the opportunity to look at the gender roles these toys promoted, as well as helped me to learn new things. Through this assignment, new questions were raised, however, I also gained knowledge.

I remember getting excited when I received a toy doll that came with diapers and accessories to care for when I turned 4. I was the only child at the time but somehow I knew how to care for the inanimate object, maybe from TV shows or from seeing how the women around me cared for their child. The toy section was almost like the equivalent to heaven for kids, walking down the girls’ toy section I was surrounded by toys imitating kitchen objects, there were many versions of baby dolls and the color pink flooded the isle, whether it were pink dresses or the pink vacuum cleaner. On the other side of the isle I saw soccer balls, Lego blocks and toy cars targeted for boys. Growing up, I realized the toy industry that targets the stereotypes of a gender was a sample of the gender roles that are expected to be followed in some cultures; and clearly the representation of a woman is one that does domestic work and has concern over their appearance.

In a store typically dolls and easy bake ovens, as well as dress up toys can be found in the ‘girls’ toy section. Whereas in the boy’s toy section you can find Legos and super hero action figures in this section. Symbolizing that boys should be making things to support their job as the “bread-winner” with Legos in families. Boys toys demonstrate how boys should look up to masculine, strong, powerful men through super hero action figures. This states that they should be perilous to pain, emotional and physical, supporting the “toughen up” outlook. These action figures also give boys unrealistic views on their bodies, that they should be muscular and broad in order to be seen as a man. Contrasting this, girls are given easy bake ovens in order

On the above date and time I was conducting an area check of Walmart on foot.

As women take on more prominent roles in the business world and men take on bigger roles in homes, gender roles are being pushed more and more. Gender divisions do not just exist in toys, but in nearly every children’s product. At an early age, children are pushed to the gender norms of society. These distinctions are made known at an early age and have long term effects on these kids. Children are learning at an early age how they are supposed to dress, act and are even told what they are supposed to like. (Miller 2015)

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

When walking into the girl isles of the toy store, the type of toys completely changed. When walking in the isles I noticed that the colors obviously changed to pink and purple. The type of toys in these isles completely contrasted the toys meant for the boys. Toys meant for girls usually comprised of barbie dolls, flowers, and many color books of princesses. Most toys in this section suggested tea parties and playing house. Many of the toys also promoted little girls to wear aprons and to bake cookies and other meals for fun. One of the interesting things about this isle however were how they had more "Life size" toys than the boys. The life size toys were usually barbie dolls where they could dress up the toy in the girls actual clothing to see what the barbie doll would look like. Another thing that I noticed was that most of the toys were very similar to one another because the girl isles comprised of different types of dolls rather than