I took a picture of two girls. One is 7 years old and the other is 4 years old. In this picture you see one girl playing with a house set and the other girl playing with a barbie. If you notice in the background you see a football, cars, baseball and glove, but they girls insisted on playing with the "girl toys." Why is it that when I asked the four year old why she isn't playing with the football or the cars she says, "Because they are boy toys. I only play with girl toys." Parents are the ones who influence their kids and tell them what is appropriate and what is not. Most parents would feel uncomfortable watching their kids play with toys that are not gender appropriate for their son or daughter. When parents start steering their kids away from things that they think aren't appropriate it can negatively affect the child. Kids should be able to play with whatever toy they want and not have to worry about what is a girl toy and what is a boy toy, but since parents can be so strict on the situation the kids start to develop a sense of what they should and shouldn't be playing with. This picture gives a meaning of what gender socialization is. When children are influenced to play with only certain things it takes away from letting the child show who they truly are. The socialization takes over and shapes them into who they are. Should we blame the economy for portraying such an image to where little girls and boys are supposed to be playing with gender appropriate toys?
1 comment:
It almost seems as though both girls are staying away from the "boy" toys because they know the other will react negatively if they start playing with it. Being appropriately gender socialized not only plays a huge role with parents when they chose toys for the kids as she mentioned, but it also plays a huge role in social acceptance. Kids who play with toys that are not there sexes dubbed toy may be made fun of or ignored by the other kids.
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