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!