Girl's Toys
If somebody was asked who they thought the toys and objects in the picture above belonged to, they would answer that the owner was most likely a young girl. Apart from a few exceptions, they would be correct. How would they know this answer based on a single photograph?
From the color to the textures to the use of each toy or object, it is quite obvious that most girl toys have certain characteristics. They all promote femininity, beauty, and certain gender roles. These gender roles include cooking, cleaning, other household chores, and taking care of babies, all of which can be seen in the three examples below.
From the color to the textures to the use of each toy or object, it is quite obvious that most girl toys have certain characteristics. They all promote femininity, beauty, and certain gender roles. These gender roles include cooking, cleaning, other household chores, and taking care of babies, all of which can be seen in the three examples below.
Popular Girl's Toys
Barbie
One of the most popular toy companies for girls all over the world is Barbie. Barbie has offered young girls dolls, dollhouses, and the accessories that go with them since 1959. Barbie has been very influential to young girls, affecting how they dress, and even how they act. Barbie has allowed girls to be creative and imaginative, deciding how to dress them, designing their homes, and choosing their adventures.
Unfortunately, controversy has surrounded Barbie. Many believe that these dolls promote an unrealistic body image to the young girls who own them. Some people take this to the extreme and develop Barbie Syndrome, causing them to change their physical appearance in order to resemble that body. This may include how they dress, act, and may even lead to plastic surgery.
Easy-Bake Oven
Easy-Bake Ovens are working toy ovens that come with cake mix and small pans. They are relatively safe and can be used by kids to bake desserts using the heat of a light bulb in early models, and a heating element in the newer models. The first easy bake oven was released in 1963, and by 1997 over 16 million ovens had been sold.
The Easy-Bake Oven is often sold in a pink color, as seen on the right, which would primarily appeal to young girls. This toy promotes learning to cook, and may inadvertently inscribe these types of gender roles into the young female users.
The Easy-Bake Oven is often sold in a pink color, as seen on the right, which would primarily appeal to young girls. This toy promotes learning to cook, and may inadvertently inscribe these types of gender roles into the young female users.
As one can see, a number of the popular toys available to young girls support the stereotypes and gender roles found in today's society. They reinforce the ideas behind these gender roles and may be more of an influence on development and behavior than we think.
Implications of Female Toy Differences
The picture to the right is a wordcloud, which contains the words that are most commonly used on the packaging of girl's toys. The larger the word, the more often they are used. As you can see, these words include love, mommy, babies, fashion, and style (just to mention a few). As you can imagine, these words describe toys which promote gender stereotypes such as the need to look good, taking care of children, and providing meals. On the other hand, boy's toys include the words battle, action, and mission. These promote imagination and creation. The wordcloud for the male toy packaging can be found on the homepage.
There have been a number of studies relating to the types of toys offered to boys and girls. These studies have found that boys are given a larger variety of toys, which encourage exploration, manipulation, invention, and construction. On the other hand, the toys available to girls do not offer these opportunities. Young girls are provided with toys that promote domestic activities and mothering behaviors. Due to these differences, it is believed that child development of mental and social skills is related to the kinds of activities that their toys reinforce (Miller, 474).
The toys marketed towards young boys seem to promote creativity through building things, and manipulating moving parts. Many parents and companies are worried that girls are not being allowed to develop creativity and other similar traits. New companies such as GoldieBlox have emerged in order to provide girls with toys which promote creativity and other skills that their current toys are unable to provide.
The toys marketed towards young boys seem to promote creativity through building things, and manipulating moving parts. Many parents and companies are worried that girls are not being allowed to develop creativity and other similar traits. New companies such as GoldieBlox have emerged in order to provide girls with toys which promote creativity and other skills that their current toys are unable to provide.
Links to Sources:
http://www.barbiecollector.com/collection/barbie-basics-collection-001
http://www.allure.com/celebrity-trends/style-timeline/2009/Barbie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy-Bake_Oven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie
Miller, Cynthia L. "Qualitative Differences Among Gender-Stereotyped Toys: Implications for Cognitive and Social Development in Girls and Boys" Sex Roles, 16.9; pg473-487. May 1, 1987. (full text here)
http://www.barbiecollector.com/collection/barbie-basics-collection-001
http://www.allure.com/celebrity-trends/style-timeline/2009/Barbie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy-Bake_Oven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie
Miller, Cynthia L. "Qualitative Differences Among Gender-Stereotyped Toys: Implications for Cognitive and Social Development in Girls and Boys" Sex Roles, 16.9; pg473-487. May 1, 1987. (full text here)