Gender specific toys

• jellybellynelly
• 2 years ago

IMO toys are toys. Thats about all. 

• daisy123
• 2 years ago

I don’t care one way or another how a company markets the toys they sell.

I DEEPLY disagree with parents indoctrinating their children to believe that there is a difference between boy toys and girl toys and what they should or should not choose to play with. TOYS ARE TOYS ARE TOYS. Period. 

Brainwashing a boy to think he’s not allowed to choose “pink” toys perpetuates toxic masculinity and it is SICK. Toxic masculinity has ruined and continues to ruin lives. And for what? 

• funnyfox
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: November 2008

youngbrokebride :  There is such a thing as gendered slime if you pay attention to advertising and commercials. So while you may consider it gender-less, marketing is playing a role into telling kids what “type” of slime belongs to each gender.

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There should be a think such as gender specific toys. It is sad to think that this way of thinking was born out of a marketing strategy created to sell more toys. I wish people would understand that toys are just that, toys; and playing with one type of toys don’t automatically turn you into x or y gender.

• skylar84
• 2 years ago

Not about toys specifically, but this is an interesting article on teh history of the colot pink and how it transitioned from non-gendered, to masculine, to feminine. 

A Brief History of the Color Pink in Fashion, from the 1700s to Today

Rigid gender lines are silly and unsustainable. 

• futuremrs2020
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: August 2018

I agree with you here, they’re toys- it’s not that big of a deal. But these days everyone is so sensitive to… everything. 

 

youngbrokebride :  

• youngbrokebride
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: April 2018

funnyfox :  I’m sure there is such a thing as gendered slime – I said my sister and her friends are not interested in gendered slime.  They like the most slimey looking slime which is a forest green or dark purple.  I’ve just personally never known a kid who was hung up on only playing with exclusively gendered toys.  If parents are pushing onto their kids that they can’t play with something because of their gender, that’s the parents bias, and I bet that bias wasn’t influenced by marketing. 

• princessandthepear
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: September 2016

I only have one child so far, a 1.5 year old son. So far he has self selected “boy toys.” He is obsessed with cars, trains and balls. Car was his fifth word and he probably plays with cars and says the word car 100 times a day. He rolls cars around all day long. 

He frequently spends time at my SILs house and he has no interest in the “girl toys” there. Her daughter has barbies, doll houses, etc. My son has never shown any interest in them. 

Toys are “gendered” because in general, boys prefer certain toys and girls prefer different toys. That doesn’t mean boys can’t play with dolls or girls with cars. But it makes sense for companies to market and “gender” toys towards the child most likely to play with that toy.

It’s the same thing as makeup commercials showing women or whiskey commercials showing men. Sure men can wear eyeliner and women drink whiskey- but they are marketing towards the masses. 

TLDR; I think the gendered toy debate is overrated. 

• buzzerbeater
• 2 years ago

Comparing marketing towards adults and children is not the same. Children are much more impressionable and susceptible and are learning from the media “I’m a boy so I SHOULD be playing with cars and SHOULDN’T be playing with dolls.” It’s some of the first steps in gender stereotyping and gender roles that play out in society. Kind of surprised to see some of the same bees who are so against gender stereotypes be complacent on this issue

• bethio
• 2 years ago

princessandthepear :  this this this!!! Well said. For my second birthday my parents gave me a wooden toy train because I was obsessed with trains, but for the most part I stuck to girly toys (except pink. I’ve never liked pink). My brothers got boy dressup clothes instead of dresses because they’re boys, and they survived and were happy. Adults make a much bigger kerfuffle over this than there needs to be.

Oh, and it makes shopping for toys a whole lot easier when they’re grouped by type, stereotypical or not. 🙄

• LilliV
• 2 years ago

soexcited123 :  it’s stupid – I let my daughter play with what she is interested in. Right now that is mostly blocks, trains/cars, the broom, and art projects. She also loves music and dancing so when she is old enough I’ll likely enroll her in ballet but I would do that for a boy who shows interest too. I also dress her in dinosaur t-shirts and dresses. I’m letting her explore her world without limitations. 

I have zero desire to try and pigeonhole my kid into gender roles. I want to discover WHO SHE IS not tell her who she should be. So long as she grows up happy, healthy, educated, and kind I will have done my job. 

• daisy123
• 2 years ago

princessandthepear :  Everything you state is correct, but that doesn’t change the fact that society shames boys for being interested in anything that the masses consider feminine. It’s sad that anyone considers the debate to be overrated because toxic masculinity can be incredibly harmful to children and we should all be working to put a stop to it. 

Yes this is a blanket statement and I stand by it. For every person who says they don’t perpetuate toxic masculinity, there are hundreds that do. Google the incident about the little boy who wore nail polish to school and was shamed for it and have a look at the comments on any of the write ups.  

• slomotion
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: City, State

My kid can play with whatever she wants. She can also wear whatever she wants. If I ever have a son he will be given then same freedom to choose things that interest him. 

• lifeisbeeutiful
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: January 2017

I don’t care. Kids end up playing with the boxes/packaging anyway.

• cyntist
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: September 2011

I like a meme that a friend of mine shared once: “Is this toy operated with the genetalia? If no – it is for either girls or boys. If yes – it is not for children.”

• cassandra7
• 2 years ago

• Wedding: August 1983

Clothes, too. Let the child be comfortable and happy. It doesn’t matter who wears blue or pink or sparkles or whatever.

It’s so sad to see infant girls, bald as eggs, with bows strapped around their heads to proclaim their femaleness to the world. Looks stupid. May well hurt. Their femaleness won’t matter to anyone for at least twelve years.