To feel less than thrilled about pink mega bloks

[TeacupTempest]

that MIL has bought for DD 1st birthday?

I love my MIL. She is a star.
I also realise that many girls love pink.


I had just hoped to avoid the pinkification of my baby for a bit longer.

Surely normal mega bloks are gender less?

[MrsCantSayAnything]

Well that's up to you Bamboo....but it is an insidious trend that's only been around since the 80s. Before that, toys were primary colours in the main. Why? I wonder what happened to society that changed things? ANyone know?

[TheCraicDealer]

Personally I think it's a pretty clever marketing ploy by Megablocks manufacturers. How many people (especially of OP's MIL's generation) would see the primary colours set and think "No, that's a wee boy's toy"? Suddenly, when it's pink it's an "acceptable" gift for a girl.

The best thing would be the pink bricks being mixed in with the primary colours. But then how many picky boys would go "no, that's got pink in it! Yuck!"? As Madonna said, "to be a girl is degrading", which is what this pink backlash seems like sometimes. Personally I don't think pink or Disney or anything else is going to have a massive impact on kids' views on their role in society- it's how it's reinforced at home that matters more. I bet our grandmothers didn't have pink plastic shite coming out of their ears at six years old, and most of them would have felt very strongly that their place was as a mother and homemaker. Pink toys aren't going to somehow going to set back women's lib 70 years.

[tethersend]

This is the same MegaBlocks whose advert announces "And now for girls..." before showing the pink bricks.

Imagine if an advert said "And now for Women..."

[DamnBamboo]

They have adverts all the time though that perpetuate the myth that boys/men are crap at housework/aren't involved etc. This too is also shit.

[MrsCantSayAnything]

Argos 1976

[tethersend]

""to be a girl is degrading", which is what this pink backlash seems like sometimes."

Absolutely.

We are in danger of giving girls the message that pink = girly and girly = weak.

Why are toys/pastimes traditionally associated with boys seen as more worthy or interesting that those traditionally associated with girls? Because boys did them, plain and simple. It's not about encouraging girls to climb trees, it's about encouraging boys to make daisy chains.

[anothercuppaplease]

Thanks for that link. It is brilliant. I have that set of spirograph (I still have it, full, with all the bits).

[DamnBamboo]

I'm off to read. I am clearly being too literal about this. I have never considered any of this in this context before...

[thebody]

I love pink! Sorry but I do.. My dds though have always hated it.

Mega blocks are a fantastic toy, my 4 played with them for years, literally, just buy some primary colours and mix up so you have lots of interesting colours.

Your mil sounds lovely.

Btw good luck on telling your dd what to wear. Mine were interested in clothes from age 2 and had definite views, no pink, no frills and no 'fat' dresses( swingy)..

Now my boys,,, easy as!!

[tethersend]

Sorry, went off on a ranty tangent- this is why I find PinkStink's title very unhelpful. We should be encouraging boys to play with pink things, not encouraging girls to reject them.

Pink is seen as inferior because it's associated with girls. I don't think we change this by rejecting the colour.

[DamnBamboo]

I agree with you tether.

Personally, I don't consider pink inferior and I am puzzled that many do.

I have a range of different types and colours of toys in my house colour has never been a consideration when choosing them.

Perhaps it's time for powerful women to reclaim pink in some way and reinvent it

[MrsCantSayAnything]

It's fine to like pink! I like pink! But Tethers girls don't just want to make daisy chains and they need to know that it is ok not to want to pretend to iron either....but they can also play with aeroplanes and doctors sets....and boys who want a pram should be able to have one!

Pink is NOT inferior but it has been pushed out of context.

[MrsCantSayAnything]

No Tethers we don't need to encourage ANYONE to play with pink. We need to give children a balanced choice of colours for their toys. So they can choose which they want and have that...

[thebody]

Pink is powerful, think of fighting breast cancer.

All colours are beautiful and none should belong to either sex.

[aufaniae]

YANBU, pink megablocks would really annoy me. They would be a constant bugbear in my house, I'd hate them!

[thebody]

Can I add I actually don't know any girl who doesn't pretend iron, play kitchens, build Lego, ride bikes or super hero play.

I don't know any boys who also don't do all of these things.

I work as a RA in reception class and all the kids play with everything.

[MrsCantSayAnything]

Yes....so why are there no irons in the boys sections then thebody?? And why no prams? And why no superhero costumes in the "girls section"

And why HAVE sections??

[IHeartKingThistle]

Ds has them

[tethersend]

I ummed and ahhed about saying 'allow' rather than 'encourage' boys to play with pink things, MrsCant- but the way things have become so genderised (is that a word?), I do think we should encourage boys to play with pink, as I think that is how the colour will be reclaimed. But perhaps I should have said 'allow'.

[MrsCantSayAnything]

Has what? Irons? Did they come from the girls section?

[MrsCantSayAnything]

I think tethers there should simply be a re-think of how stores market. They don't need to dump pink...or blue....but just to stop sectioning the genders into different aisles.

They need a mix of colours and to allow the kids the freedom to choose a toy without fear of getting the wrong one. It would take years but eventually, there would be less gender bias.

[DamnBamboo]

Mrs most shops have sections for many different things, this is not peculiar to toy shops It is easier for the consumer to find what they want. So you will have a weapons/battle section, hairdressing section etc...

This is not odd.

[MrsCantSayAnything]

Yes Bamboo of course but vegetables are vegetables and go in one section...kitchenware in another...toys in another...except they DON'T...toys go in TWO sections.

We don't have "Men's Kitchen aids" or "Women's meat" do we ffs?

[tethersend]

On a pragmatic level, yes MrsCant- but on another level, we need to examine campaigns like PinkStinks and how they may inadvertently reinforce the gender divide.

I agree that any change will take at least a generation to embed.

[DamnBamboo]

Who cares what part of the shop it came from?. As long as he's not discouraged from owning one, which clearly he wasn't.

The biggest problem would be if mum or dad said you can't have pink, you're a boy, or you can't have a workbench you're a girl.

This is the biggest influence.