With Christmas right around the corner, new toys are being put on the market. One would think that the toys would become increasingly gender neutral, but nevertheless, toy companies create new ways to reinforce gender stereotypes. For example, the Lego company has created a new line of pastel colored legos especially for young girls called "Legos Friends." The set includes a bakery and hair salon, limiting play settings for a young girls imagination. A typical lego set for boys includes play settings that range from police stations to schools, or basically anything a typical town would have. What does this say about reinforced gender roles that are being imposed on young children? I believe it excludes women from the American dream, by implying that women must adhere to subservient roles in society in contrast to men.
hey Bianca, I agree with your statement of how toys aimed towards young girls direct women away from achieving the American Dream, by suggesting that women must, "adhere to subservient roles in society in contrast to men". Seeing this led me to go look at target.com for girls toys. I discovered two different toys that further back your argument. One toy was a "Play Circle Neat & Tidy Cleaning Set" that included a broom and dust pan,and the other was a full on kitchen and its utensils. I feel these two toys help strengthen your argument and the reinforcement of gender roles.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bianca's statement that children's toys still reinforce gender stereotypes. I also believe that children's toys have been racialized to represent the dominant racial group (whites). Although progress has been made to represent the African American race, as you can see from the middle "Lego friend", effort to represent other minorities such as Asians and Latino/Hispanics has been minimal. This racialization of toys reinforces the ideology that whites are dominant over the other races and therefore have more power. As a result of this racialization, children grow up ingrained with these beliefs and perpetuate that ideal.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree, child toys are based on gender and even when you go to target.com they have a section for "boy toys" and a section for "girl toys," there are very few toys that are for both genders. I feel that these toys are almost a guide to teach children the way males and females should behave in society which does "imply that women must adhere to subservient roles in society," like Bianca said. At first I didn't think about the racialization on toys, but I also agree with that because even with this specific toy, on the up-right corner they did attempt to show diversity, but the skin tones are definitely on lighter side, and one can argue that this suggest the lighter the skin tone the better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bianca's post as well, it is very interesting to see the way the media and market shape the perception of what is considered "boy like" or "girl like" in today's society. Looking at these toys, I made the impression that the view of the American Dream hasn't changed through a gender standpoint since the idea has been birthed. To further prove her argument, a variety of toys made especially for either girls or boys can be seen on toysrus.com, yet there are few that serve for both genders. America's current view of how women are perceived prove that the "American dream" is still geared towards men, and is represented through these toys.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Bianca's post, I agree with the idea of women being excluded from the American Dream ideology, and this also reminds me of the lecture on Typical American where Professor Wang states the idea of the self made man is marketed to only males and not accounting for females. The Lego set "includes a bakery and hair salon, limiting play settings for a young girls imagination." This marketing ploy seems as if it advocates that girls need to stay domesticated and have a fixation on their beauty where boys attain real jobs such as the policeman or fireman Lego sets. The American dream is still true in this modern day an age, where it is the dream of a man to be successful and the woman "adher[ing] to subservient roles in society in contrast to men."
ReplyDeleteExcellent! You're all brilliant. Great attention to racialization and how it ties into gendering!
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