From: Halaina
At a young age, children are
exposed to several different types of toys that encourage gender roles. In the
photo you can see some of the gender roles being enforced and how they differ
for the boys and the girls. The boy toys are hard, tough, and have darker
colors. These toys are intended to promote athleticism, strength, and use of
strategy. When you look at the girls side, the toys have lighter and brighter
colors. They also tend to be more soft and fluffy. Girls toys encourage beauty
and delicateness. These types of qualities reinforce stereotypes of what is
means to be masculine among boys and feminine among girls. In the article “The
Problem with Separate Toys for Boys and Girls” the author quotes Susan Linn.
She states, “Rigidly gendered toy marketing tells kids who they should be, how
they should behave, and what they should be interested in” (Hains). As a result,
gender stereotypes become engrained in a child’s attitude and interests as they
play.
In my
photograph, there are two distinct sides. The boys side on the left and the
girls side on the right. The two separate sides symbolize the binary view
according to gender. The two sides also symbolize the separate sphere ideology.
When walking into the toy section of a store, there is a girls section and a
boys section. You do not see a section that says “toys for boys and girls.”
This has a influence on a child’s understanding of society and the ideals that
society holds. This also encourages the separate sphere ideology in the sense
that boys and girls are different and they have different roles as people. The
intensity of the toys color is used to demonstrate how the effects of toys have
a severe impact on a child. The difference in a toys color demonstrates what is
a boy toy verses what is a girls toy. For children, this is an indicator of
what gender this toy belongs to and if they are permitted to play with the toy
or not. This allows the children to segregate themselves from the other gender
as well as interact differently from the other sex. Even though toys and other
influences impact how children act and view the world, children are not so
different. The element of symmetry between the two sides represents how
children are alike. Regardless of sex, children are innocent and full of life.
Boys and girls play, laugh, and eat like everyone else. The things that make
boys and girls so different are the socially constructed norms that they are
taught through different agents on socialization.
Sources:
Hains, Rebecca. The Problem with Separate Toys for
Girls and Boys. 25 February 2015. https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/02/27/the-problem-with-separate-toys-for-girls-and-boys/2uI7Qp0d3oYrTNj3cGkiEM/story.html
6 comments:
From Hannah F:
I really liked how you demonstrated the “Separate Sphere of Toys” in your photo and then explained it in your essay. Your photo clearly demonstrates how different boys and girls toys are and how they are segregated. I agree that the differences in these toys and how they are sold separately in stores controls which toy that the child will play with and what they will learn from it. This separation not only creates a barrier between boys in girls at a young age, being them playing with the same gender because they have the same toys, but it separates males and females later in life because of what they learn from the toys. For example, most boys toys have STEM learning qualities with them leading to jobs and girls toys are more focused toward motherhood and household duties which further segregates men and women in their roles later on in life. I also like how you mentioned that in a toy store there is no section for gender neutral toys. This reinforces the separation and how it is unaccepted for any boy or girl to play with the opposite gender’s toys.
From: Kacey
Your photo is great! It shows the difference between boy's and girl's. I really liked how you incorporated that in stores they section out one section for boys and one for girl's there is no in the middle section for boys and girls. They do happen to colorize boys and girl’s toys as well. As you mentioned in the article “The Problem with Separate Toys for Boys and Girls” the author quotes Susan Linn. She states, “Rigidly gendered toy marketing tells kids who they should be, how they should behave, and what they should be interested in” (Hains) That happens to be so correct. It put's in kids minds that they need to choose toy's that are pink because it’s a "girly" color and more darker and blue toys because its more masculine and boyish. This does create separation and girl's and boy's then think they can't play with each other's toys because it wouldn't fit in with society's expectation's. This shapes their minds into not wanting a girl to play with an action figure or a boy not wanting to play with a doll because it is in their minds not the right toy for them to play with. Society does play a big part in this because toy sections could put aisle and have both gender-neutral toys available as well as maybe have both boy's and girl's toys not so sectioned. This also shapes minds into thinking how their friends will react in social setting if a girl was playing with an action figure or a boy playing with the doll. They could get made fun of or teased even bullied only because boys and girls are taught there are certain acceptable toys to play with.
From Hannah: (revised one) *
I really liked how you demonstrated the “Separate Sphere of Toys” in your photo and then explained it in your essay. Your photo clearly demonstrates how different boys and girls toys are and how they are segregated. I agree that the differences in these toys and how they are sold separately in stores controls which toy that the child will play with and what they will learn from it. The gender norms are learned at such a young age through the differences in the toys and how they are marketed.This separation not only creates a barrier between boys in girls at a young age, being them playing with the same gender because they have the same toys, but it separates males and females later in life because of what they learn from the toys. For example, most boys toys have STEM learning qualities with them leading to jobs and girls toys are more focused toward motherhood and household duties which further segregates men and women in their roles later on in life. I also like how you mentioned that in a toy store there is no section for gender neutral toys. This reinforces the separation and how it is unaccepted for any boy or girl to play with the opposite gender’s toys. I like how you mentioned that the two sides in the photo are symmetrical to show that all children are the same in many ways and have the same potential to become anything, but yet we still make different toys for them and treat them differently.
From: Anelsa
I really loved how fluently you talked about how toys are marketed to boys and girls in the stores, I like how u separated the toys in your photo and then made the connection to how girl toys and boy toys are sectioned off in the store to make a clear distinction of what toy is appropriate for a girl to play with and what toy is appropriate for boy to play with. You also pointed out the specific color types and textures used to create each toy for boys and toys for girls which is really interesting. This shows how society consciously and subconsciously brain washes the minds of young kids from a very tender age, creating gender norms in their minds before they are even old enough to understand who they are. This type of gendering from a very young age promotes separation among young girls and boys so that they can see themselves as different from each other which leads them to always choose toys according to their gender. This subconsciously creates a feeling of guilt in a young girl’s mind if she wanted to play with a truck or guilt in young boy’s mind if he wanted to play with a pink haired doll because this would not be the norm of their gender.
From: Heather
From: Heather
Post a Comment