From: Jamilah
I chose to capture this photo because
it shows how different the boy and girl section is for the toy isle. The girl’s
section is heavily dominated by pink or light colors while the boy’s section is
overwhelmed with red and other dark colors. There are toys ranging from
transformers, action figures, Legos, and animal toys in the boy’s section while
there are barbie dolls, dresses, doll houses, baby dolls and teddy bears in the
girl’s section. In my photo I wanted to capture the contrast between the boy’s
and girl’s section, the different colors, the different toys, and the different
set up; I chose this photo to represent the difference between how the toys are
displayed and how they are marketed to the children. In commercials and other
media, girl toys are displayed as beautiful and attractive, popular girl toys
such as barbie are attractive and are generally presented with pink colors and
other feminine attributes.
It is the exact opposite for boys,
their toys are marketed as adventurous, gritty, and creative, popular toys such
as Legos allow young boys to be creative and ambitious, they typically come in
a broad range of colors but barely ever anything pink or girlish. The toys
themselves are created to pander to gender stereotypes that will attract the
genders they are marketing to. As a result of how these toys are marketed,
children pick up on these stereotypes and they begin to align with the
stereotypes (girls are seen as caretakers, nurturing, and into attractive
fashion while boys are seen as tough, gritty, and ambitious). In “The Two
Cultures of Childhood” the contrast between male and female toys is prominent
and not just with how they look but what they teach children. For instance,
“Action figures represent the toughest male fantasy figures (e.g., superheroes
and their arch enemies) or occupations (e.g., soldiers) and not other highly
male-dominated, but less tough, roles (e.g., engineers, senators, or computer
scientist)” (Rudman 61). However, girls do not share the same teachings or
influence but rather the opposite. Girls are encouraged to play with items that
teach them housework or domestic work like caretaking or cleaning, and toys
like barbie teach them about fashion and beauty. Barbie is an extremely popular
doll that has influence on many young girls, “Barbie and her legion of
imitators represent feminine ideals and encourage such activities as pretend
shopping, grooming, and accessorizing” (Rudman 61).
Lastly, after children learn
their gender roles and have toys targeted towards their gender from a young
age, gender specific preferences are established. Girls are associated with
pink and lighter colors while boys are associated with darker, more masculine
colors. Therefore, the toy section is divided into two major sections, the
boy’s section and the girl’s section. The girl’s section is largely dominated
by pink and by barbie, as shown in my picture. While the boy’s section is
largely dominated by red and by action figures, as also shown in my picture.
These isles are set up like this to attract children of a specific gender, the
display of the toys, the way they are marketed, and how they are presented to
the public are all means to establish gender norms and preferences in children.
It is all a way to manipulate and govern the way young children perceive life
and how they grow and develop as individuals. To conclude my point, children
are taught and influenced by toys and toy advertisements to be divided based on
their gender, that is why the toys are different, that is why the
advertisements are different, and that is why the toy sections are vastly
different in both color and product.
Work
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.
1 comment:
Because my children are in their late 20s, I had not spent much time in toy departments until my grandchildren were born. I was actually surprised that these departments continued to be so gender specific. Barbie, for example, does have choices now where a child can pick a female icon Barbie displayed and characterized by roles and status once considered exclusively as a male role. I was very excited to buy my granddaughter a Barbie dressed like a firefighter. In spite of these seemingly anomalies, the dolls continue to be in very female specific sections of the toy department. When I purchased a toddler basketball hoop and ball, I had to locate these in a section of the department that was very male gendered with the red and dark colors.
This photo does a great job of highlighting those department differences between toys targeted towards males and females. Rudman et al. (2015) discusses these differences with adjectives like "softer" and "hard and sharp" (p. 60). I think it is also important that your photo also shows the selection of toys in the boy section of the toy department are geared towards stimulating creativity and activity. Even gendered toys that seem similar, for example a humanized figure, are played with differently using specific language, created environments, mannerisms, and clothing. Male figures may be outfitted to protect and defend; ready for action. Female figures are groomed and posed doing activities such as shopping or nurturing (Rudman et al., 2015).
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.
Post a Comment