Gender Neutral Toys

[thatstoast]

I'm thinking about christmas for my 2 year old. I want to get some playsets for imaginative play and have been looking at playmobil and happyland. I've managed to find one female doctor, everything else seems very 'traditional' in terms of sex/occupation.

The one that's annoyed me the most is the playground set:

www.elc.co.uk/playmobil-toys/playmobil-children%C2%B4s-playground/145149.html?cgid=5551#start=2

With two adult figures included, surely it makes sense to do one woman and one man?

Where can I buy toys that a bit more progressive?

You are opening yourself to accusations of being heteronormative. That could be a lesbian couple playing with their kids in the park.

Not sure you can tbh. To be honest I'm dubious about the creative play possibilities of such a play set anyway. Quite a defined scenario. We have duplo (you can get it with trains and people and cars and animals) and it's a bit 'girl characters wear pink, boys wear blue' but not too bad and can be mixed and matched more than happyland-esque stuff IMO.

Ah, that's interesting. They could well be lesbians. My preference for inclusion of a male and a female wasn't to make them a couple. It annoyed me because men seemed removed from child-rearing. This was also demonstrated in other playsets where teachers and nursery workers were female.

Looks like Duplo have a female fire-fighter so that's a start. Thanks.

WOW toys have very diverse playfigures. I'm pretty sure at least 2 of our firefighters are female. Though they also do horrid pink sets aimed at girls

Though they also do horrid pink sets aimed at girls

Or alternatively you could look at them and see them as pink sets aimed at children who like pink.

Playmobil 123 is better than Playmobil at that age I reckon.

This large farm set is indestructible and has a male and female farmer

www.pramworld.co.uk/6750-playmobil-large-farm?gclid=CN_HscLCsM8CFQ4z0wodv_UO3A#fo_c=743&fo_k=26d82cc0f9be48e620cf039b4235cbcf&fo_s=gplauk

Or alternatively you could look at them and see them as pink sets aimed at children who like pink

If only...

Our 'ToysRUs' catalogue (American chain store - is it in the UK?) has the pages divided into pink girls with girls cuddling dolls, and dark blue boys, with boys doing infinitely more interesting things.

So to put it in plain English, you do realise that pink stuff is actively aimed at girls, yes?

IKEA have lilabo figures that are nice and non gender specific

So to put it in plain English, you do realise that pink stuff is actively aimed at girls, yes?

I must have missed the rule that says you can't buy it or give it to a boy. Or that if a girl likes it , it automatically becomes horrid. Or that they check if you buy the blue toys that you are giving them to a boy.

Of course you can give it to a boy. But you said you could look at it and see it as having a gender neutral aim. I don't think gender neutrality is the aim or motivation of the manufacturers.

But you said you could look at it and see it as having a gender neutral aim

No I didn't. I said you could stop looking at and going along with the marketing of it as for girls.

Buy it if you and your child want it; don't buy it if you don't but sneering at " horrid pink sets for girls" is as blinkered as the shop deciding it's for girls.

I second the duplo. My son was just given an Arctic set. Just an igloo, two people, a husky and a whale. No pink, no weird gender roles. They have lots like this!

Duplo Zoo and Duplo Cafe in this house. No obvious gender stereotypes as far as I can see. Characters are also various skin tones which is a bonus.

Also remember that play characters don't have to be wearing dresses or have obvious breasts to be women.
When we got this great spaceship for 2yo ds we insisted that the astronauts were called Katie and Yasmin (female bodies are much better at withstanding long term space dwelling than male bodies so it makes sense that they are both women).

seconding the wow sets - the tow trick set includes a figure wearing orange overall wearing hair long in bunches and according to the blurb her name is Meena.

IKEA is definitely worth a look. Good value dolls, play kitchen stuff, toolkits, etc in gender neutral colours. They have a great little hammer and pegs set (not role play I realise).

For a two year old, why not get some really simple wooden toys where it is not possible to deduct which sex the persons are? (I see itlypocerka linked to a plastic toy set that is this)

My childhood memories are fuzzy, but I remember that with sufficiently neutral toys, I'd just pretend that they are whatever I want them to be at the moment.

I think wooden toys are the way to go. I've found these which are very simple.

www.babipur.co.uk/natural-wooden-toys/dolls-houses-people-furniture/grimms-12-rainbow-friends.html

Re this particular set I'd have assumed it was 2 mothers who were friends.

I can see where OP is coming from but growing up in a family without a father I'd much rather have had received a set which was 2 mummies rather than a traditional nuclear family set.