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From: Natalie
This photo shows examples of the highly gendered toys in modern toy stores. The sharp contrast between the brightly colored packaging and the beige background represents the appeal to children and the normality of them. The toys stereotypically geared towards young boys are in the front with bright “masculine” colors including varying shades of blue, black, and red, following the gender schemas (or codes) that boys are represented in darker colors (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood 2). The toys stereotypically geared towards girls, however, are in the background with packaging that has lighter colors including white, teal, pink, and purple, following the gender schema that girls are represented by soft pastels (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood 2). Gender schemas are guidelines for how people should organize the world around them, they not only influence children’s appearance and behavior, but also how they interact with people of the opposite sex (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood 1). The composition of the toys combined with the slight blurring of the background toys shows how masculine schemas show boys as tough and assertive while girls are shown as soft and passive. Even the images on the packaging mirror this by showing the boys doing physical activities and one of the girls (in the toy vanity set) focusing on her appearance. Even in the packaging of the same toys there are clear gender specific elements. The “boy's” bowling set has a boy chucking the bowling ball at the pins from far away with the camera centering him in the shot. The “girl’s” bowling set in contrast, has unicorns instead of bowling pins and a rainbow ball instead of a standard bowling ball. The girl in the image is closer to the pins, shows a gentle underhand rolling motion and is not the center focus of the image. The combination of coloring, subject, and composition of the packaging reinforce how gendered play is taught to children. Boys are taught not only to be rough and assertive, but also that it is appropriate to be aggressive in play. Meanwhile, girls are taught to be gentle and considerate in play (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood 4). This kind of advertising promotes the segregation of play in children which then “allows and encourages girls and boys to develop separate social worlds... (The “Two Cultures” of Childhood 1)“ discouraging skills for interaction among all children. This dangerous polarization of culture then can carry on into adulthood, which promotes stereotypes and reinforces adult gender roles.
1 comment:
From: Nick
I like how thoroughly you thought through your picture. One aspect that drew my attention specifically was the choice to set a bland background to show how these are all toys, and essentially the same thing, objects intended for play. The juxtaposition of that message with the color coding and schemes intended to gender the toys and who they are marketed for brings to forefront the absurdity that is the unfortunate reality of how toys are marketed towards children. This idea of the absurd continues with the difference between the two inflatable bowling sets. The set meant “for the boys” has normal pins and ball while the one “for girls” has a rainbow-colored ball and unicorn pins as if that makes the subject any different in concept to the set meant “for boys.”
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