Toys and Gender Stereotypes

For a recent assignment I was looking for a newspaper or scholarly article dealing with race or gender issues. After a little bit of looking around I found the perfect one. The article "Lego my stereotypes! Blocks aimed at girls raise issues about gender and play" appeared in the Detroit Free Press on February 8th, 2012. In the introduction the author talks about the difficulties he was faced with when shopping for an appropriate Lego set for his daughter. Most of the kits left were geared more towards boys and there were hardly any gender-neutral ones at all. He continues to talk about Lego's newest line called "Lego Friends", which includes kits with slightly larger figures and themes historically more appealing to girls, such as a beauty salon, a cafe, and a bakery.

Lego, which started with mostly gender-neutral items, made the conscious decision to target boys when the company was struggling a few years ago. The introduction of this new line is supposed to recapture the girl's market. The new line has been received with mixed emotions though from scholars and customers; some are embracing the new items, while others criticize Lego for using too many gender stereotypes. The article finishes with a portrait of a Detroit family with three daughters, all Lego enthusiasts. The Jacobs' two older daughters like the more traditional sets, while the youngest of them is more girly and has taken a liking to the new "Lego Friends."

In my opinion this article is a great example illustrating gender stereotypes and companies telling parents what is appropriate for their boys and girls with the types of toys offered. It agrees completely with our class discussion that children receive and are supposed to play with different toys based on their gender and that colors are also gender specific. Girls should play with items that are pink and purple, while boys shouldn't touch these, as they are not 'manly' enough. With this new "Lego Friends" line, Lego emphasizes these stereotypes and pushes the parents to stay within them since not many want to give their boys a girly toy/play kit or give their delicate little girls a toy made for rough and tumble boys.

I think Lego could have taken a better approach to recapture this market segment, by promoting their kits in general as gender-neutral or making the new line less stereotypical. As a child I played with Legos a lot and I had all different kinds of kits. By making ones targeted specifically at females, it limits these young girls to those kits and makes it less appropriate to play with Star Wars or Harry Potter themed kits. Last time I checked though, neither one of those movie franchises only had male fans. Apparently though building them out of Legos, with black, brown, grey and generally dark colored parts, and subsequently playing with them - which might involve simulated fighting - is more appropriate for boys.

I believe parents should pick the kits based on their children's interests, not gender. If the girl likes Star Wars, get her a Star Wars themed kit. If she prefers puppies, get her the new "Lego Friends" puppy house. The same should hold true for boys, but our society still has a long way to go before 'girly' things are acceptable for boys. These decisions regarding toys should not be based on what is appropriate based on a child's gender, but on the child's interests and preferences. I think it's sad when children are forced to play with certain toys their parents pick out for them based on appropriateness. They should be able to figure out on their own what they like and enjoy without having stereotypes forced on them at such a young age.

Women and their rights over time

Watching Mona Lisa Smile all the inequalities women faced in the fifties and still today became apparent. Members of the female sex were not supposed to want a career or stay happily single; their only goal was to find a good husband and have kids, caring for them and making sure the house was clean and neat.

This made me think about the recent uprisings in the Arab world and the role women still play today in these societies. We have heard of women setting themselves on fire and die to get attention, men killing their wives for bearing a daughter and women in general having to be covered up from head to toe and not being allowed to leave the house without a male companion. Most women in these parts of the world never get asked whether they would like to attend a University or pursue a career; they are forced into arranged marriages and subsequently into the roles of housewife and mother;

While the male attitude in the fifties cannot be applauded, at least society changed and women have more choices and freedoms. One can only hope that the situation gets better for the millions of women still suppressed; It is shocking to read that in the 21st century women still die for no real reasons and have in no way the same rights as their male counterparts. While it might have been frowned upon in the fifties for a woman to be single and pursuing a career, women in the Arabic world today might die because they want to pursue a life society only deems appropriate for a man.

Doing something "manly"

For a class exercise we were supposed to complete a task usually reserved for the other gender. So I elected to open a few doors for my some fellow students, girls and guys. While mostly both genders simply responded with a 'thanks', some male students refused to go through the door. They would hold it and tell me to go ahead. Oh well, I can't help it if they can't accept a nice gesture.

On a different note and related to my earlier post I wanted to comment briefly on Shiloh Pitt's new haircut. People have left all kinds of negative comments on social media sites and celebrity sites about how this poor child will end up with gender issues, because she dresses like a boy and prefers a boys hair cut. I think it is slightly ridiculous that people don't let this poor child be. She has three brothers, two of them older, that she might idolize or she might just be a tomboy. I don't have any kids yet, but once I do I doubt I will be arguing much with my 5-year-old about a haircut. If it is not unhealthy and the child is happier, so be it. Also the shorter it is, the less maintenance it needs :) .

Letting children figure out who they are

In the article "Parental influence on children's socialization to gender roles" by Susan Witt a lot is talked about how parents influence their children from an early age on. They try to mold boys into being boys by putting them in a room painted all blue and only let them play with trucks, trains and toy soldiers. Girls on the other hand grow up in a pink colored room, where they are allowed to play with toy ovens and engage in frequent tea parties with their dolls. I think while it is clear that parents make all the decorating and toy decisions for their newborns, they should be more open to letting children pick out what they would like to play with once they get older and are able to voice their opinions and preferences. It is not the end of the world when a little girl elects to wear blue jeans over a pink dress and wants to play with a race car instead of her Barbie. I think it is vital for a child's development to be exposed to all kinds of environments and so boys should be able to help bake or cook without being made fun of and girls should be able to play ball with their dads or help outside. It is the parents' job to raise their kids with this mentality, but I think society as a whole needs to change and make it acceptable for people of a certain sex to participate in roles usually reserved for the other sex. Just because a two-year-old is not your typical boy or girl, it doesn't mean he or she will turn out gay or lesbian. Everyone is different and people and children especially change tastes all the time. I think it is only beneficial for their development if they are allowed to experiment and figure out who they are early on. It is better they do this early with the parents' supervision and guidance, than later when the relationship with their parents is ruined and they might feel alone and helpless.