To feel uncomfortable about gender representation in kids toys?

[stereeotype]

I was looking for a birthday gift and have to say the shopping made me feel...slightly uncomfortable on how badly the toy options played into gender stereotypes. I haven't looked for a kids present for years as I don't have children, but I think I'd be frustrated if I did!

I would go as far as to say I found it disturbing. There was relatively little of use in the 'pink' section and nothing but practical/technical learning material amongst the boys.

Now I appreciate you don't have to buy girls toys for girls and boys for boys - but a girl is likely going to assume she subconsciously wants the girls toys as there are pictures of girls all over the boxes so likely to veer towards those.

Also, why can't the girl section appear girly but the actual toy still be of use, not just a dolls head for hairdressing or a kitchen for cooking?

Can't believe it's 2021 and we are still dealing with this.

The labels are missing but toys are section off for boys and girls. The "boys" toys are challenging and interesting and the "girls" toys are unbelievably boring and sit pretty, very stereotypical, ie hoover, kitchen etc I have a son and daughter and we too only have toys from the "boys" section

That’s just as bad though. What’s wrong with a mix- as pp said hoovering and kitchens need to be normalised for boys as much as space jets and building does for girls.

You are teaching them that girls stuff is “bad” which is sexist in itself. Nothing wrong with it, and it teaches a different set of skills

Toys should be for both sexes- this is the problem.

Does anyone who is desperately trying to be “woke” ever stop to think maybe the girls like playing with things from the “girls” section and the boys like playing with things from the “boys” section.

I find it more depressing that there's a lot of parents who feel the need to promote silly gender stereotypes from the second their baby enters the world. It's everywhere from baby clothing, to toys, to how adults interact with young children based on whether the child is dressed in boy/girl coded outfits. It's not surprising that lots of girls grow up to be concerned with being passive, homely, and looking pretty when that's the diet the adults around them have given them from birth.

There's nothing wrong with make believe house toys, or play kitchens, or dolls, or lego, or any other toy.What's wrong is when a play kitchen has to come in two different colours aimed at whatever genitals a child has.

What I find frustrating is I have brought up my DC to play with whatever toys they like. Stuff in the 'girls' section is perfectly fine for boys and vice versa.

However now amongst the teens is a belief that if a boy likes something feminine then he can't be a boy and must be a girl instead!

Driving buttercup 'Boys' toys are challenging are they? The most popular toys that boys tend to want are action figures based on Star Wars or whatever Marvel/DC characters are trendy. Or Pokémon/Minecraft/Roblox figures. I expect this Christmas is will be a lot of the Among Us figures and toys that are asked for. Essentially 'dolls' really as in order to play with them it involves role play and acting out scenes. How is that more 'challenging' than a Barbie doll or Baby Annabel?

@Nomoreusernames1244 - I completely agree. Kids (of all sexes) like to copy what their parents do. So they love play kitchens and babies and prams etc.

As a toddler my DD played with a range of toys but now it is mainly baby dolls, Designafriend dolls and Barbies. And that is fine.

It's a money making thing rather than anything else. It just increases the chances of parents feeling like the need to buy two of one thing. So for example, we bought our dd a really girly looking pink bike, if we had a ds after her, we'd be much less likely to pass it down and would end up buying another bike... therefore more mone spent

My DS is only 1 but I’ve already had SO many occasions where people have made ridiculous comments about gender etc.

MIL commented that I need to start dressing him more “boyish” when he was about 6 weeks old. Apparently it was a “shame for him not to be dressed like a real wee boy” 🤔 He was wearing a white sleepsuits with little yellow ducks on 🤔🤣

The one that pissed me off was a couple of weeks ago when I took DS to a local Todders group and he was LOVING the wee prams and dolls. He was having the best time pushing the doll around in the pram and it was so cute! Then one of the ladies that run the group came over to me and commented “don’t worry, there’s always one bit that goes straight for the pink toys - he’ll grow out of it” 😐

Not sure if any of you are aware of yh basic economic principle of market demand. Do you really think that multi-million dollar companies like hasbro and Mattel or the Entertainer would continue to sell products if there was no demand?

A relative of dh came over to our house once with her ds....kids playing... suddenly I hear her screeching "nooooooooooooo". I panic and think one of the kids is doing something really dangerous when I hear her continue "don't touch it, it's for girls". Her ds was about to get on a pink trike in our garden

@Peaplant20

Yep it infuriates me. Why does everything have to be pink or blue??? I was looking for cups for my baby got when she starts drinking water, so many of them come in either pink or blue - why??? Why not orange or green or yellow? I can only presume the answer is so that you buy it all again if you have a second screen of the opposite gender but really who would do that? I can see why you’d buy new clothes but I wouldn’t be buying cups, if I have a boy in the future he’ll have to have a pink drinking cup. And yes I know boys can have pink cups and girls can have blue cups but the whole thing annoys me.

Exactly this - why is pink and blue still even a thing for children. It's old skool, boring and unsophisticated IMO.

The world has moved towards neutral colours in the modern day

I also just did kore shopping for another party I have and was once again disappointed in the clothing choice in next.

So many skirts and pink for girls, I don't like pink! It's a crap colour. Instead I had to go to three other before finding something suitable.

I also found it sad so many skirts for the girls - short ones, really short ones. Why oh why does a three year old need a mini skirt?

I think the message it sends to children them having separate pink cars construction etc is that girls shouldn't want or like the regular 'boy' coloured toys and stick to only the pink and the boys shouldnt pick any pink stuff becuase that is for 'girls'. I have friend who sons will never play with kitchen or dolls with prams because they are 'grils toys' what message is that sending out to the sons? Cooking anf looking after a baby is a girls job, which they could and might carry on into adulthood

@CaptainThe95thRifles

Just because the pink toy section isn't labelled for girls doesn't mean it isn't being actively marketed to perpetuate the stereotype. When all the images used for marketing are of girls playing with the pink doll, it doesn't matter that it's not being sold in the "girl" section - and vice versa. It's not hard to use mixed groups to advertise toys, and some manufacturers are doing better at this, but old stereotypes die hard.

As for "girls like the pink, stereotypically girly stuff", I just bloody despair

Exactly this. Agree completely.

Sorry for typos im dyslexic

Does anyone who is desperately trying to be “woke” ever stop to think maybe the girls like playing with things from the “girls” section and the boys like playing with things from the “boys” section.

I would like my daughters to grow up without thousands of subliminal hints from society that they should be "homemakers", cooking, cleaning, and doing all the childcare. If that's what "woke" is then I'm all for it.

Girls and boys like playing with toys from "their" section because that's what they're conditioned to do. Same thing that means almost no girls do physics or computer science degrees.

Girls and boys like playing with toys from "their" section because that's what they're conditioned to do. Same thing that means almost no girls do physics or computer science degrees.

Exactly, and all of the things from girls sections tend to lead to lower paid jobs, and playing homemaker or part time worker as adults, all these subliminal messages build up over a lifetime and become VERY problematic

If its woke to acknowledge and try and change this, then I'm happy to be part of the woke brigade!

Seeing 'woke' as somehow bad to me is completely baffling, times move on, things that were acceptable 50 years ago is no longer! Thats how we evolve , anyone has a problem with it is just the worse( im not sure the right adjective!)

Childrens experiences as children shape them to become adults. If gender stereotyping is there, they will continue the cycle,

But how does collecting Action Figures, Hot Wheels, Pokémon cards and building an imaginary world out of Lego Ninjago make boys want to do physics or computer science degrees? Most boys I know are pretty much all about Marvel/DC/Star Wars, football, skateboarding, manga and Minecraft. I can't see those type of toys and interests leading to 'stem' jobs/degrees more than Sylvanian Families, Barbie, craft sets and building an imaginary world out of Lego Disney Princess* would.

• typical 'boys' toys ** typical 'girls' toys

Im just thinking maybe if the pink and blue toys werent so obvious and its was normal for boys to play with dolls and play kitchens , there wouldn't be so many post from womrn, complaining their partners who are parents are being usless and refusing to look after their own children!

Whey don't we all just live in a big, neutral, fluid world where there are no opposites, everything is grey and boring. There's a reason there is day-night, positive-negative, hot-cold, boys-girls. Look around you! Look at nature. It won't work otherwise. There's got to be opposites. Stop fighting it. Go on, take it all apart and flame me. Have a field day with it all. This is so bloody boring 🥱

@PearsandPartridge

Whey don't we all just live in a big, neutral, fluid world where there are no opposites, everything is grey and boring. There's a reason there is day-night, positive-negative, hot-cold, boys-girls. Look around you! Look at nature. It won't work otherwise. There's got to be opposites. Stop fighting it. Go on, take it all apart and flame me. Have a field day with it all. This is so bloody boring 🥱

It's not about opposites, they are still girls and boys ! its very clearly about stereotyping and how bad stereotyping is and what it does in society

What if all toys were made in green only and no pictures of boys or girls allowed on the packaging. Would that sort it?

This is so bloody boring 🥱

Don't post on this thread then. Plenty of us don't find it "boring" or want to shut down discussion this way. Our world of gender stereotypes might suit you just fine but there's plenty of us that it doesn't.

@PearsandPartridge

Whey don't we all just live in a big, neutral, fluid world where there are no opposites, everything is grey and boring. There's a reason there is day-night, positive-negative, hot-cold, boys-girls. Look around you! Look at nature. It won't work otherwise. There's got to be opposites. Stop fighting it. Go on, take it all apart and flame me. Have a field day with it all. This is so bloody boring 🥱

I don't want "grey and boring", I want colours to be for everyone! I don't want "no opposites", I just want toys (and clothes) for KIDS! What is boring about that? Gender stereotypes are pervasive and horrible. You think it's fine though because "there's got to be opposites"?