After watching the provided YouTube clip I decided to go to Google Images and simply type in the phrases "boy toys" and "girl toys". Below are the first few items that popped up.
The little girl, Riley, from the clip was 100% correct- big company's make products specifically and 'only' for each gender. As she put it, big companies, ""trick the girls into buying the pink stuff". Because of the companies always making gendered packaging and colored products the toy market is NOT gender neutral. My when my younger girl cousin was around 4 she 'hated' the colors blue, brown, black, and green- she would tell my aunt that they were boy colors and that girls cannot play with things that color. This always bothered me because my aunt was not the girly-girl person that you would expect to have a daughter saying these things. This video reminded me that it seems to be more of a media and company influence that is affecting the current youth (at times more effective than those raising the youth). Not only is color a clear difference in terms of the boy side versus the girl side but the products being sold differ as well. Again, as Riley stated, "some girls like super heroes and some girls like princesses". However, in company minds girls are only to like pink princesses. The Google search that I did exemplifies the fact that. The girl products are almost all 'girl color'- pink. They include dolls and make-up, baby-doll care sets, and even cleaning supplies. Girls are taught at a young age that they are suppose to do the cleaning, care taking, and look 'pretty'. While on the boys Google search images include trucks, cars, building sets, tools, and superheroes. Toys are designed for enjoyment and even for constructive and dramatic life-skills play. Boys are allowed to build, break, and create while girls are essentially practicing for what gender boxes dictate as their future lives.
I agree with your point about how the line between girls and boys toys is drawn right from the colors down to the items themselves. As a child, you as an individual are extremely malleable to determine your character and attitudes when you grow up. With the media "tricking" girls to play with dolls and toys that are all about appearance, the media is perpetuating the female gender stereotype that you always have to care about your appearance. Whereas with guys, as you said, its all about building and violence––which is kind of interesting in itself.
ReplyDeleteI did the same exact thing- I typed "boys toys" and "girls toys" into Google, and got the same results. Also, I completely agree with you how the toy market is not gender neutral. The coloring of the packaging signifies which gender should buy which product. These companies are definitely exemplifying the female stereotype as well as the male stereotype.
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