A Toy’s Mission

From: Brandon

            When it comes to the world of toys, there are so many options to choose from based on different variations of sizes, shapes, and colors. Every time you walk through a store, you will see toys that draw your attention and make you think “my niece/nephew/son/daughter would love this.” When we buy that toy, we already have been persuaded to choose that certain item for that specific gender child. The companies that produce toys for children under the age of 18 use different criteria in deciding how to advertise for specific genders.

            In “The Two Cultures’ of Childhood,” Laurie Rudman writes “the more boys play with boys, and girls with girls, the more gender typed their play activities become… more rough-and-tumble play by boys, more doll play by girls;” (59). With that thought in mind, I figured what better place to take a photo than at ToysRUS which used to be the heaven of toys for me growing up but is soon to be history. I used a split collage of two photos to make it easier to contrast some major differences between male and female toy advertising. In the top photo, my sister’s friend is pretending to go to war with Batman while holding a nerf gun. As mentioned earlier, this portrays that rough and tumble play where the toys are focused fighting, racing, and being a hero. This is in contrast to the photo underneath which features my sister posing in the Barbie section. You are able to see how dolls represent future occupations that are generally associated with women, such as being a nurse or flight attendant. The advertisement of “you can be anything” promotes the idea that if you dress up, put on your makeup, and fix your hair to imitate a doll’s stereotype, then that can be your ticket to success.

            Advertisements use factors such as size, shape, and color to sell to specific gender children. In “The Two Cultures’ of Childhood,” Rudman states, “consistent with the general theme… boys’ toys are hard and sharp, whereas girls’ toys are soft and smooth (60). As you can see from the photo, boy toys are generally bulkier in packaging, sharper around the edges with cars and trucks, and are every other color except for pink. For the girl’s toys, Barbies and baby dolls are smaller, smoother, and full of pink. I decided to fade the photo’s color just a little with a filter to show that even with the fade, the pink still stands out for the girls’ section. I also chose to make the boy’s section larger in the collage to symbolize how much more space I noticed that their toys take up in the store even though the quantity of boy toys is less than girls merchandise. The frame for the collage I used was blue with designs because the color blue appeals to both boys and girls. Also, the designs are a huge attribute in getting kids to want items that glow or shine with glitter.

            All toys are not built and produced the same and that is due to the culture we live in. Merchandise being sold to children has an influence on their thoughts and perceptions even when we don’t suspect it. The toy companies not only are doing what is best for business but what they believe society wants in gender roles.

Works Cited

Rudman, Laurie A., et al. "The Two Cultures of Childhood." The Social Psychology of Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. The Guilford Press, 2015, 59-63.