Two Cultures of Childhood

 From: Mahum

An object that many people brush off how deeply rooted codes of gender are or how much of an impact it has on children are toys. Colors such pink and purple are associated with femininity while green and blue are seen as masculine colors. These colors play a big theme on how toys are designed to target either young girls or young boys. As seen in the photos I have taken, toys for young boys do not have any color of pink on them while the toys for young girls are overwhelmingly pink. I utilized the creative technique of camera angle by having the camera angled upwards towards the toys, it’s meant to be seen through the perspective of a young child who is looking up towards these toys.

Children aren’t the ones who give toys the interpretation of being either feminine or masculine. Dolls aren’t seen as exclusively girly because young girls decided that they wanted it that way. Children have been influenced since they were young by which toys are meant for their gender. As mentioned in “The Two Culture of Childhood”, “Reactions to novel toys confirm that children do not merely learn by rote which toys are for boys, and which are for girls, but extract general qualities that distinguish masculine from feminine” (Rudman, 2015). Masculinity has a certain look to it that young boys would associate it with, such as darker colors and a rugged look. Femininity is associated with a soft look with bright colors.

Children are rarely seen playing with toys that are catered to the other gender. A young girl playing with cars and monster trucks is seen as strange and odd since there’s no femininity in such toys. This is also mentioned in “The Two Culture of Childhood”, “but children rarely play with toys associated with the other sex, which happens for less than 5% of children’s playtime (Fagot et al, 2000). Most likely, children have learned to avoid being seen playing with toys associated with the other gender” (Rudman, 2015). It’s very rare to see an intersection of toys with young children. A young boy playing with dolls would be seen as gay and vice versa in the case of a young girl playing with cars.

Toy cars have always been masculinized even in regard to actual careers that involve race cars. As seen in the film ‘Codes of Gender’, Danica Patrick is a profession racer, but she must partake in taking suggestive photos to ensure that her femininity is not taken away from her image as a woman that just happens a car driver. Being involved in racing has been gender coded to be masculine to the point that a woman cannot simply be involved in sports otherwise she will not be seen as a real woman. This shows that toys play a role in gender codes since cars are generally catered to young boys who later turn into men that are car enthusiasts.

 

 

 

Citations

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.

produced by the Media Education Foundation; written & directed by Sut Jhally. The Codes of Gender : Identity + Performance in Pop Culture. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 2009