Gender and Toys

Growing up, I personally never cared for Barbie’s, dolls and all that other girlie stuff that girls are supposed to play with when they are little. I grew up amongst boys, so I was out in the streets playing roller hockey or football till my mother drug me inside. I guess you can say I was a tomboy, which I will proudly admit. But I will also admit that I had a cabbage patch doll that I had at my side at all times, although he wasn’t a doll. He was my friend. So when I start to think about genders and the toys that they play with, it comes down to the cliché phrase of “boys play with trucks, and girls play with dolls”. This particular statement is unfortunately very true in today’s society. If a toddler boy begins to play with dolls, his parents snatch it away and give him a truck or something boyish, thinking that if they continue to let their son play with the doll, he would grow up to be more feminine than manly. Same goes for girls. If they grow up being rough with boys, then people automatically assume that the girls are going to grow up and be masculine, which obviously isn’t true. I grew up very feminine but still love sports.
When it comes to advertising these toys to children, the advertising companies are increasingly targeting young children for many reasons. Two of the most important reasons are the money that the kids spend on toys themselves, and the influence they have on their parents to spend money. The advertisements that they use to catch the children vary depending on whether they are selling girls products or boys. The commercials for boys typically tend to be darker in color, outside or doing something rough, and are loud. The boys in the commercials are talking louder than usual to show that they are having fun with that particular product. Most boy commercials are selling trucks, cars, sports equipment, G.I. Joes, etc. Now girls’ commercials on the other hand tend to be more quiet, less rough, and bright in color. The girls are always happy and energetic playing with the product. This is probably because girls need to be happy-go-lucky all the time. If they see a commercial where girls are very happy and excited to be playing with a toy, then of course they are going to cry to their mommies until they get that particular toy. That is why it is marketing genius to market products to children.
Looking past the advertising and getting down to the toy itself, I believe that it has some influence over the child as it grows, but not as much as some people think. Take me for instance. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up playing with boy toys and playing boy games. I obviously grew up to be a girlie woman, I like makeup and perfume and cooking. So just because I grew up playing with boy toys doesn’t necessarily mean that I will grow up and not be feminine. The same goes true for boys. It is a little harder to swallow though, seeing a young boy playing with dolls and such. But just because he is playing Barbie’s with his sister doesn’t mean that he is going to grow in to a big wimp. The toy does however, influence the way children play. Toys that are for boys are made for rough-housing where girls toys are made to usually play inside. This shows boys that they are allowed to be rough and crazy where as girls need to play nicely inside.
Some of my favorite toys growing up was my cabbage patch doll, my rollerblades, all of my sports equipment and of course my easy bake oven. Yes even though I played with boys, I still loved my easy-bake oven!

The Alpha Male

There are many benefits that boys and men have for simply being men. Thhey get paid more, have a better chance at becoming an professional athlete, and of course don’t have the pleasure of giving birth. All of these are common benefits of being male, but one that seems to slip beneath the cracks, is the fact that they have the tough man attitude that can create a double standard for men. When they put on the well known “tough guise” they are rewarded. They are not necessarily rewarded in material possessions, but in an ego boost. Most men love to be seen as the big man on campus or the alpha male. It makes them feel powerful and gives them the sense of being needed, because they posses what they think others don’t. These men are typically seen as strong, rugged and manly. Sometimes this guise is effective, say when someone is depending on the man to be strong, not only physically, but emotionally as well to help them through something. But there is also a time when this behavior is harmful and self-destructive. For example, when you are in a serious relationship with someone, you need to have a connection on a higher level than just physically. This is when emotions come into play. If you are dating a man who has been taught that showing emotions makes you weak, then you can not connect on the level that you need to, thus the relationship is not going to be successful. It is harmful to both parties involved because feelings and emotions are damaged.
I believe that many people associate the concept of “gender issues” with “women’s issues” because they have the false perception that that women are the only ones with gender issues, when in fact, men have just as many issues with gender as their female counter parts. This misconception makes it very difficult for many men and women to understand the nature of men and why they act the way they do. They are the way they are because they were raised thinking that if they showed emotions in front of people, they were weak. They were taught to be tough, play sports, and know everything there is to know about everything. Women know that most of this isn’t true, at all. But men feel the need to be right all the time; it comes along with the alpha male attitude. They know all, thus they are the best.
With this being said, there are many effects this “myth” has on the male gender. Being raised the way most men were raised, men have learned that in order to achieve greatness they must strive to reach our culture’s ideal size of physicality and strength. Some of the emotional effects of this would be that men learn to suppress their emotions and keep out people that could potentially cause their emotions to resurface, making them deal with things they do not wish to. There are also health effects that come with this, and that has to do with the use of steroids. Men have turned to the use of steroids in order to reach this standard of beauty that society has set today. Steroid abuse can lead to serious damage to your body and sometimes even death. There is a huge relationship between steroid use and the cultural ideals of male strength. I believe that one of the reasons why this relationship is so strong is because the media inspires the cultural ideal that men need to look like Hulk Hogan. The male population is very susceptible to the media influence because it is so prevalent in today’s society. Chiseled bodies and the perfect tan are in every advertisement that is available to the population. This is what men see day in and day out, how could they not be affected by these images and strive for the standard of masculinity that has been set in our society.