Walmart And Its Effects On Children

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?

Further, certain toys seem to suggest that boys are valued higher in society than girls (Starr, 1999). The information appears to show that there may be more stereotyping with regard to toys offered to boys. It seems that most parents choose more masculine and gender-neutral toys for the boys such as, soldier action figures, wrestling kits, and karate fighters (Starr, 1999). These types of toys encourage competitive and aggressive behaviors, however; they are also more constructive, conductive to handling, and more reality based (Starr, 1999).

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

Toys play an important role in childhood development as children learn roles and skills from playing. As a result, the toys children are subjected to have an affect on which roles, interests, and skills are learned and practiced. Through Lego’s product Duplo, I will demonstrate the influence particular gendered toys have on children and their performance of traditional gender roles. Gender, which is a learned performance, is something society has been taught from a very early age and toy advertising has played a significant role in reinforcing the performance. One tradition that is reinforced and naturalized by society is the ideology of a male dominated society, representing strong characteristics of heterosexuality and masculinity; also known as hegemonic masculinity. Therefore, using Ideological Criticism, I will analyze how through the branding and design of Lego’s Duplo toys, children have been constructed to do gender differently, ultimately perpetuating and reinforcing hegemonic masculinity.

Walmart is the go-to shopping center for most Americans, but are they fully aware of the negative impact Walmart has caused America? Many people shop where they can find everything at once and is in a decent distance from their home, but most shoppers don’t realize what they are really purchasing or the truth about the stores they buy from. If more Americans knew what they were really getting out of their shopping trips at Walmart they probably wouldn’t come back. Walmart has a privative effect on America more than people realize. The people they hurt in the process of trying to “Save money” and “Live Better” are the backbone of the business, the products they sell might as well be used, and their crime rate escalates more and more, and

In a near by Walmart I analyzed some of the toys that were on the boy section. Most of the items that I saw had an influence of violence and/or job related roles that men are usually known to work in. For instance, the Nerf N-Strillee Elite Cross Bolt Blaster, is designed to make boys feel the experience of having a real crossbow which can be viewed as a violent toy. This item had two main colors, blue and orange, which usually signifies as

Toys have proven to be a valuable symbol of childhood innocence across generations, regardless of gender. The color of toys were changed to create a link between the toy and the interest of a particular gender (i.e. pink for girls, blue for boys). In Peggy Orenstein's Cinderella Ate My Daughter, she expresses the claim that color associations for juvenile playthings have reversed since pre-twentieth century. During the course of two interviews, Orenstein's claims prove to be, for the most part, supported despite a large difference of age between my interviewees.

I decided to do the second assignment. As I walked in to Target's store isles that have toys and games section for young children I noticed right away the division of color's for sections marketed to different genders. The first isle I walked into was full of vivid in bright pink and purple colors. The isle had toys most likely marketed to girls, since some of the toys consisted of dolls, princesses, small purses, kitchens, and babies. It never caught my attention how it's the packaging for such toys are full of pink color and how they stand out to show the toy. In addition, it's evident that such isle was intended to be just for toys who girls would be interested in because of the abundance of the pink color and how it's packaging it showed

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

In the past few decades, Lego has grown into one of the most prominent brands of children toys worldwide. Unfortunately, the success Lego continues to endure is accompanied by disapproval and accusations. The new Friends line of Lego has attracted criticism as some find it to be too gender specific and sexist. Despite the popularity of the Lego Friends sets, individuals found the sets to be offensive and discriminating towards females. The pink and purple colours with the fairy, princess or family figurines were said to be supposedly stereotyping girls. When compared to the boys Lego sets which incorporate themes such as super heroes, doctors and firefighters, the Friends line appears inferior.

The presence of huge alarming figures which includes star wars, Lego, Tonka, and power rangers will entice any child to the toy department in any store. All the toys on the shelves are assorted from the age of 9 months upward. The section for girls section in the store was model according to the boys section. All the aisles stuff is categorized in order for a child to quickly identify which trigger parents to make a purchase of the toys for their kids. The girls show different displays which comes in pink and yellow packaging and also an array of dolls, easy bake oven sets, clothing, hair, and nail and makeup accessories. There are also in the girls section a, Minnie Mouse, Large pictures of Dora the Explorer, and Loopy Hair which are accessible for children of all ages. There is no massive variety of toys on the shelves in my own generation the day I went to the store. I sense this reason was that our parents has taught us right from the begging never to rely on such, we were trained to make use of our inner sense rather relying on toys or other means of entertainment. We used our minds to critically, solve issues and to create fun activities. Reading during our own generation was

“Up Against Wal-Mart” by Karen Olsson, a senior editor at Texas Monthly and who’s article appeared in Mother Jones, introduces her article through the perspective of a Wal-Mart worker. She focuses on the negatives of Wal-Mart by telling the real life struggles of different Wal-Mart employees. “Progressive Wal-Mart. Really.” by Sebastian Mallaby, a columnist for the Washington Post, focuses his article on what Wal-Mart critics say and attempts to defend Wal-Mart by comparing Wal-Mart to other retailers. Even though Karen Olsson and Sebastian Mallaby both examine the negative effects of Wal-Mart, Olsson berates Wal-Mart’s unfair treatment towards employees and the unlivable wages that the world’s largest retailer provides while Mallaby

Toys also influenced children with gender roles. In our society, the typical expectations of men is to financial support the family, and for females it’s to cook, clean, and take care of the children. “Both wives and husbands tend to perceive this as a “fair” arrangement” (Zimmerman 30). To instill this idea in young minds, there are toys that influence these gender roles. Boys have toy tool sets, promoting hands on work. Girls on the other hand have cooking and cleaning toys such as the Easy Bake Oven or toy vacuums. Also “parents tend to encourage more gender-typed activities. One study found that household tasks differ along gender lines. American boys are more likely to mow the lawn, shovel snow, take our the garbage, and do the yard work, whereas girls tended to clean the house, wash dishes, cook, and baby-sit the younger children” (Newman 133). Girls also like to play “house” fostering wife and motherly qualities such as taking care of the family. These toys help with socialization making children believe and understand that these are the norms of our society. So in conclusion to toys, “Sex-specific toys foster different traits and skills in children and thereby serve to further segregate the two sexes into different patterns of social development. “Boys’ toys” encourage invention, exploration,

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