To think mumsnet are helping promote sexist attitudes

[YoniFoolsAndHorses]

Re "girl" and "boy" toys.

I am a 'Mumsnet panelist' and regularly fill in a load of little surveys. I have never win any of the £50 amazon prizes, but actually I have never minded that at all. I can do the little surveys easily on my phone in a few minutes, and I like to think that it's doing my bit to keep mumsnet getting bigger and better.

Until this afternoon.

Until I get a survey about toy cars and trucks to which I would only be elegible to answer if I had a son.

My daughter plays with similar cars and trucks. We know the make involved well. She has fantastic and reasoned opinions on the toys involved too (we tried the survey together - although I didn't submit it - I just answered the first question incorrectly and said she was a boy).

How can this possibly be right that mumsnet is allowing such sexist marketing to continue around 'girl' and 'boy' toys?

.

A leading brand such as Mumsnet with a large vocal following needs to worry very little about turning down money from companies touting sexist agendas. I am saddened to see them decide money is more important than discouraging sexism.

Clouds, the point is that the toy industry is very sexist and makes a lot of assumptions about girls and boys.

Very often, science toys will be put under a boys' sign in a store which is incredibly outdated and gives off messages to girls that science is for the other gender, as just one example. Then you wonder why there is such a shortage of girls entering science careers.

You'll often see kitchens, cleaning toys, nurse outfits only aimed at girls. Why? It's not the 1950s anymore.

It's pretty sad to see MN reinforcing these messages, even indirectly, when we really should be moving on from this. Lots of little girls like trucks too, it makes no sense.

Because cars and trucks require a penis to enjoy fancy, duh!

There is a very good diagram to help in these cases here

oddboots

There's no reason to conduct surveys among parents of boys specifically unless you're going to target marketing at them. Thereby suggesting that this is a toy for boys and reinforcing the gendering of toys at an early age.

Not good, MNHQ

Would you have partnered with a company that wanted to survey parents of white children only?

Why couldn't the manufacturer just have the first question asking what gender the child is, then they could filter the responses as they want afterwards. Simple, non?

I think it's a bit of a joke for Mumsnet to have Pink Stinks slogan on their home page and then by association imply that there are actually boys and girls toys.

Hmmm I have long thought MNhq has double standards when it suits.

The McDonalds advertising is just plain wrong(but makes a buck),ditto this.

You can complain all you like but they won't budge.

I looked at my inbox this afternoon and had the same as the OP.

If MN are fully insupport of the let toys be toys campaign then surely the questionnaire should have for parents with children.

The gender bias in the sampling stinks of the marketing that follows, that cars and trucks can only be for boys.

And so MNHQ help perpetuate the status quo rather than challenging it.

Poor show MNHQ this should and could have been dealt with better.

I believe HQ did a thread gathering opinions about McDonald's advertising and the vast majority of respondents were neutral.

Its not the same as that at all. Mumsnet have put their voice behind a very succesful "Let Toys Be Toys" campaign ... and then promote this "survey". It is poor form imvho.

I agree that the toy industry can be sexist in many ways, but I don't see the problem with asking a certain group of parents. That's not the same as actually labelling and displaying toys as for boys or girls.

I agree that toys shouldn't be marketed to a specific gender, but it's a fact that there are more boys than girls that will be interested in trucks and trains. That's a fact, whether people want to admit it or not.

Mumsnet hq could just as easily have taken a stand and turned down the clients request to only have parents of boys answer. I'm quite disappointed in their response in this thread that seems to be just trying to shift the blame. Poor show indeed.

I couldn't give a stuff- it's wrong.So wrong advertising like this aimed at kids will be gone eventually.

I find it double standards when a parenting site bangs on about bfing,complains re any formula advertising but willingly advertises food targeted at kids which has a far bigger impact on childhood (and adult) health in this country.

We can all choose apparently,well we can all choose formula or pink toys then.

Double standards,it's perfectly obvious tat standing up to junk food advertising aimed at kids isn't as cool,headline grabbing or money jeopardising as Pink Stinks etc,etc.

That's brilliant, OldBoots!

Olivia - I think you'll find that you've let us down, you've let Mumsnet down but most of all, you've let yourself down

Imagine if the survey asked only parents of "white British children" to give their opinion on certain toys.

What would MNs reaction be to that survey request? To turn it down flat? Maybe to insist that the phrasing be amended to make it inclusive before agreeing to facilitate it?

Then let's pretend that sexism matters as much as racism.

Why should the response be any different?

Given that (according to a poster on a related thread) the questionnaire asks whether the child is a boy or a girl, it looks very much like the request for "parents of boys" was simply based on the offensive assumption that "children who play with cars and trucks" = "boys".

If Mumsnet really thinks it has no role in challenging that kind of assumption, based on "that's what the client asked for," that is very disappointing.

I'm miffed that I never got this one, so I can't even grumble about it!

I don't see why MNHQ couldn't have insisted that parents of all children respond. The manufacturer might just have learnt that they're needlessly restricting the size of their target market. Or they might have learnt that girls who like cars and trucks will choose them regardless. What's the point in having customer surveys if they don't ask all the potential customers, though? If, for example, a meat supplier wanted a survey on public attitudes to meat eating, but specified that vegetarians should not participate, then the results wouldn't exactly be reliable.

I am glad I am not the only one to be miffed. But still very disappointed (perhaps more so now, with the official mumsnet response!)

I think the accusations of sexism here are misdirected. The company don't promote anything, they are trying to find out what the market will buy. If the general public bought these toys to any great extent for girls the company would survey girls. Blame the attitudes of the general public. I'd like to see any of those moaning on here try to start a business selling toys and then ignore the most profitable target demographics, the business would sink without trace.

But... how will the company find out whether girls are buying (or indeed would start to buy) these toys without surveying them?

By employing any of the many other market research techniques at their disposal other than sending online surveys to randomers on internet forums.

And it is 'Mumsnet'...

[Sally Bercow Face]

But why pay MN for "sending online surveys to randomers on internet forums" and then restrict your results like that?

That's why I'm wondering if it was actually a slip of the tongue, so to speak, to say boys instead of children.

If the market was predominantly white children whose parents bought an item, would it be ok to just put out an advert to survey white children? The only difference here is that's deemed acceptable to discriminate by gender.

It's all arse about tit. Or bollocks.

A bit of marketing advice, Tonka. Expand your market. But do it by going for those who would be interested in your product, not by what's in their pants. Why would you not want to know what all children think? Just think of all those truck girls whose pounds you are not attracting. Or what if loads of girls are already buying them. How will you know?

But, if you knee-jerk on this, MNHQ will cut off your route to this research-rich well if you pinkify the trucks. Because the glaringly obvious is needed to catch their eye and get a frowny emoticon. Fortunately, there are on the ball MNers who will keep them on their toes.

p.s. your metal trucks were miles better than the plastic ones.