to be fucked off that stroes still feel the need to define toys by gender?

[GretaGip]

I've been wandering around all day looking for inspiration.

And it seems that within toy sales it's imperatiove to be prosciptive.

Surely one of the major retailers could realise that cupcakes and butterflies for grils and transport and dinosaurs for boys is just ouutdated and break free from the molud and then just sit back and wait for hoards of satisfued MNers to boost their sales.

AIBsimplistic?

Sigh.

Whatever next? Unisex clothing departments?

Op yabu and unrealistic.

How does it make it easier to find?

Surely it would be easier to find stuff if they label it by the toy type - LEGO, DOLLS, TRUCKS, PLAY DOH, SKATE BOARDS, ART SETS, DINOSAURS, etc.

Novel idea, no?

When they label it BOYS and GIRLS you have to wander around aimlessly, wondering which toys they deem to be suitable for girls, and which for boys...?

crazyhatlady why is it ok for these things to have been decided to be 'boy's toys' in the first place? Obviously we know we can but these things for boys, girls, animal, mineral, whever we want, but it's the message behind it that's offensive. These are for boys, those are for girls.

Whatever next? Unisex clothing departments?

Exactly that.

Unrealistic...?

Good Lord, I've heard it all now...

Interesting short article on the subject.

Clothing is different though - well, taking the dress vs trouser argument out of it - adult women and men tend to be different shapes and sizes. For kids, clothes are clothes though.

They arent doing this to cause segragation its because that is what sells to most.

We know it's all about getting people to spend more but it causes segregation.

not read thread sorry but I looked in the ELC catalogue the other day and was pleasantly surprised, There was a fair amount of segregation but I saw boys pushing prams and playing with toy kitchens.

I also read "I know a rhino" to the children and the child in that (not sure whether it's a boy or girl) spends most of the book in jeans, blue stripy t shirt and trainers, until they put on a huge pink frilly tutu - love it!!

It's about choice. Our kids should be able to freely choose the toys that they play with or the colours that they wear.

But they're not given a real choice, because what's on offer to them is very restricted according to their gender. I think it's unfair to expect young children to stand up against the pressures of marketing, their peers and society in general.

And, it's unrealistic to assert that the preferences our kids currently make is uninfluenced by those pressures.

He's her big brother surely?

What's wrong with unisex clothes? Shops in Sweden do it, you just have JEANS, DRESSES, TOPS and not "tops suitable for girls only". A 3-year old boy and girl are actually not built that differently that they need different jeans.

YANBU

Have to say i haven't actually came across a toy shop with 'boys toys/girls toys' signs. I was thinking of online shopping. My local tesco for example has 2 aisles of toys and there's no such signs, they're just mixed up.

It would be impossible to compartmentalize everything by type of toy, you'd have signs all over the place.

squoosh I don't really get why you find it so offensive? Yes there are girls that will like 'boys toys' and vice versa but in my experience the majority of girls do tend to like typical girls toys and majority of boys like 'typical' boys toys.
My ds is definitely into 'boys stuff' through his own choice (there's no male in the house so not been influenced in any way).

There is nothing wrong with boys and girls liking different things. considercasey No one is taking the 'choice' away, the toys are all there under one roof and you're free to buy whatever you like.

May I give a perspective as an 'elderly' mumsnetter? My childhood was the 40s and 50s when gender roles (after blurring somewhat in the war) reverted to very traditional lines. Yet I played with train sets and meccano and with toys of all colours. I was also dressed in all colours. My girls were born in the 60s and early 70s, so just before apparent gender equality really kicked in. Their baby, toddler and children's clothes were of all colours, nothing particularly pink or glittery. Likewise their toys. Yet now, as gender equality is (mostly) accepted and girls and women are doing things that would mostly have been unthinkable even 30 years ago (think being soldiers, playing rugby, leading countries) we are suddenly deluged in a sea of pink and blue and gender labelling.

I accept that by selling for girls and boys separately retailers potentially increase their markets. So it may be that simple.

However, I wonder if there is an underlying almost subconscious message/backlash going on i.e. a feeling that the more life has opened up for women the more is the urge to put them back in their little (pink) boxes.

Probably over-thinking this...

You're right, you don't get it crazyhatlady.

No YANBU

My girls love typical boy toys but would love them more if the branding wasn't so obviously boy targetted. They want lego technic but aren't fond of monster trucks etc. It's not just a simple matter of buying what you want - it would be nice if our dcs could choose freely rather that always have in the back of their minds the gender stereotypes imposed on them. The pink sparkles and blue monster trucks just reinforce this.

But hey if we want a world where girls don't think and boys don't care..........

Grimbletart, very interesting point. This week I was reading the Stepford Wives - a book written 40 years ago - which has a recent forward written by Chuck Palahniuk, stating basically that after all those years of women's liberation, we seem to have come full circle, "choice" reigns and women have started "Barbie -fying" themselves again. He summed up by saying we should be very afraid....

I lived with my grandparents as a child and spent a lot of time with my cousins as we were alll growing up. We had a cupboard with toys in, and the toys got handed down to one child after another. There was lots of lego and Fisher Price, and a farmyard, and soldiers and cars, and some dolls etc. I don't recall ever feeling that our toys were gender specific - in fact there were 4 girls before a boy came along. I bet the cupboard would look VERY different today.

OP, YAabsolutelyNBU!! And I'm actually surprised at how many people on here are telling you that you are, but that I guess is because you are asking some of the mainstream about the mainstream and that's why you are getting those answers. For most people I know it's not an issue, which is fine for them, I have no problem with them pinkifying or nourishing their offspring to their hearts content, what bugs me is that there are in toy shops whole isles of pink things for girls, and another of all colours, but highly masculine biased things for boys. What the freaking heck happened to all the Green, Red, blue Yellow things for girls. What if they hate pink?? My DD did, still does.

I don't agree that the manufacturers make what is in demand either. I think they make what they like and advertise it and then we THINk that is what we want, or more to the point our poor kids are bombarded with ads and they think it's what they want. (which is why we have an ad ban in this house.)

Bring back multicolour for girls for gods sake!

Oh, and is real struggle to buy girls PJ's that aren't some shade of pink or purple and covered in fecking princesses, Mini Mouse, Hello Kitty or Tatty Teddy. it's grim.