Gender Roles Seen in Toys

Gender Roles and Toys By Shawna Robb English hundred and one Professor Solomon One room has pretty pink wallpaper with a princess border the other is blue with monster trucks on one-wall and sports pictures on a nonher. It is not hard to tell which room is young-bearing(prenominal) and which room is manful. Male and female atomic number 18 used in this instance to define sexualitys. Gender, unlike sex, is a universal guideline upon which individuals are placed. Gender refers to the socially constructed spots, sort, and activities that a particular(a) order of magnitude considers appropriate for men and women.When the pressure of sex activity stereotypes is open to take some say thither are prenatal influences that are sexual practice based. What is obvious is that sexual urge processs a signifi freightert role when it comes to the illuminations people contain for their tikeren and the way that flirt companies market them. Toys-R-Us is a United States based spielac t company who has been taken to t imply for marketing designs that reflect or arouse sexuality specific toys.It is harm that toy stores, like Toys-R-Us, understandably divides the toys by gender in stores and in toy advertisements because it give lessonses children how they are vatical to be in order to be accepted by society, promotes hard-hitting behavior for males and a passive attitude for females. Stereotypical son toys are things like action figures and toy cars. These are both active and aggressive, which is mannish representing how men are supposed to be in society. Girls toys are often ladys, dress up, and toys that mimic household duties. That is stereotypical because its saw young ladys are passive, not active.It is setting standards that little girls belong in the home for their proximo while boys get doctor kits or chemistry sets that give them high goals. Introducing children to these gender role ideas this early is shaping them for the rest of their lives . The worlds leading fast food franchise has an interest in the gender of its young customers. At McDonalds a very popular childs meal is the happy meal. When a Happy Meal is ordered the doer of all snip asks if the child is a boy or a girl. This lets the worker know what type of toy to put in with the meal.The McDonalds worker could ask if the customer demands a hot wheels or a mini Barbie just now instead they learn the gender of the customer and stereotypically provide the toy. Toy stores weaken their store by toys for girls and toys for boys. The girl isle has stereotypical girl color in like pink, purple, and yellow. All of these colors are decrepit when the boys section has colors like red, blues, black, brown and green. All of the boys colors are inconsolableer and less pretty. Just from that diligent look down the isle one evoke notice which is for girls versus boys. The dark colors are less southing and action oriented.The girl colors, are b right(a)ness level m aking them much more than than calm and subdued. This same pattern so-and-so be seen in advertisements on goggle box. Female directed commercials are light colors, with softer medication usually having lyrics that explain the toy and giving passive examples for what can be done with the toy. Boys commercials however have the subject matter that they are going to go out and do something active with the toy. The music for masculine toys is generally uplifting and motivating, which makes a boy excited to make up with the toy. Commercials cannot be avoided and they reach almost all boys and girls on a everyday basis.One interesting area in looking at the influences of toys and gender is the advertising of toys relative to levels of aggression. The television airwaves are filled with toy advertising. Is there a relationship between this advertising and levels of violence, does this relationship show a gender diverge? For example a parent might query if the purchase of boy orie nted toys for their child might increase the childs risk for becoming violent. The parent might also oddity if merely watching the advertisements themselves increase childrens risk for becoming violent.In 2001 Kilinger, Hamilton and Cantrell offered the observation that the use of commercials to sell childrens toy products could have a socialization impact on children similar to that of television programming. Banduras neighborly Learning Theory says, human behavior is transmitted, whether deliberately or inadvertently, by and large through exposure to social models(Bandura 1). When a child thinks that a behavior bequeath be punished versus rewarded alone instead is not flat acknowledged they forget perceive it as a reward. Children usually rest rewarded behavior to receive more praise.Television is seen as a tiptop tutor to Bandura, the child will model what they see on television, not knowing if it is good or bad. For those children whose parents are not good role models, the television becomes the behavioral role model. If violence and aggression is viewed on the television, it is more likely that children will engage in violent and aggressive behavior. trance television can model appropriate behavior, there is a wellspring-documented end for violence and aggression. Advertisements are difficult to avoid since they are interwoven in shows and they tend to emphasize violent and aggressive behavior (Kilinger 13).In the memorize by Kilinger, Hamilton and Cantrell they find childrens perceptions of aggressive content, stereotypic sex-role behavior, and appropriateness of television toy commercials(Kilinger, 11). The results of the study support the notion that there is a gender bias in terms of aggressive content and consequently aggression potential. The results did show that toys and the advertisements for them aimed toward boys were more aggressive than that of the toys that are gender neutral or aimed toward girls. The commercials shown were cl early sex role stereotyped.This is consistent with other research that has back up the idea that boys are more socialized toward aggression. Boys may be more desensitized to aggression as a result of gender stereotyped toy commercials as well as their toy selections in the past. Again, this is a moderateness for concern since commercials are unavoidable while watching television. While the furtherance of aggression is certainly an adequate reason to exercise great make out when it comes to toy and gender, it is not the only reason. Parents do support gender bias toys from the time the child is born.More often than not, a boy will receive toys that are focused towards boys and girls will receive stereotypical girl toys. The children do not go out and buy this themselves their parents will scatter out their toys until the child is already taught what they should like. Parents will come upon out they are having a boy or a girl then base everything around that detail, like the roo m color example, children and gratify clothes are also gender biased as well as their toys. When the girl is playing with girl toys she will be rewarded for the right interests, as would a boy playing with a boy toy.They will then continue this behavior to get their parents approval. If a father sees their son playing with a Barbie doll or asking to be a princess, their father might redirect them saying those are girl things urging them to play with a male biased toy. One thing Social Learning Theory has fabricated is that reinforcement and punishment is the means by which parents socialize children. The study named paternal Socialization of Young Childrens Play, done by Eisenberg, Wolchik, Hernandez and Pasternack, observed the parents involvement with enforcing gender stereotypes.This study found that parents do reward their children for same-sex toy play. It is not only the toy companies that enforce gender roles in toys the people raising the child are also obligated for tea ching stereotypical thinking. The idea that cross-sexed interests are wrong does come from society and children start learning this from the time they are born. (Eisenberg, Wolchik, Hernandez and Pasternack 1506). A thirteen-year-old Swedish boy, Hannes Psajd, intercommunicate out about the gender focused toys in Toys-R-Us. Hannes said that the 2008 Toys-R-Us Christmas catalog showed boys playing with different toys than girls do.The boy said that he and his sister always play with the same toys and there is nothing wrong with that. Psajd said that it sends the wrong message to girls, since they are playing with only passive toys. Hannes stated boys want to be princesses sometimes(Landes 1), demonstrating that this store does not only discriminate against girls. When the vociferation was looked into by a regulatory committee they stated that, Toys-R-Us discriminates based on gender and counteracts positive social behavior, lifestyles, and attitudes(1).This shows that children do r ecognize this riddle if it is brought to their attention. The problem of toys defining gender roles does not completely restrest with Toys-R-Us but is a societal problem. Society has created the gender roles we now have and these roles are often strict. While it will take time to make native changes in gender bias a starting point could be the creation of more gender-neutral toys. These toys would have to find their way into homes and that could be a function of the advertising that is currently part of the problem.Parents need to be educated to nurture more flexible gender roles and allow children to explore their interests, tear down if this interest violates stereotypical norms. Boys and girls should have equal opportunity to play with a doll or a monster truck. Children are taught gender roles from the time they are born, toys are one way that this is taught to them. In a toy store like Toys-R-Us, it is clear to see which isle is for boys and which one is for girls. The colo rs and stereotypical gender bias toys show the clear division in the store between feminine versus masculine toys.Television advertisements depict females as being passive while they promote aggressive behavior for males, this can lead to boys acting violently in the future. Parents sometimes scold children who play with cross-sex toys, which will teach the child not to repeat this behavior. Gender roles teach a child what they are supposed to be, feminine or masculine, and toys to play a part in enforcing these gender stereotypes. Works Cited Bandura, Albert. Psychological clay sculpture Conflicting Theories. Chicago Aldine Atherton, 1971. Print. Eisenberg, Nancy, Walchik, Sharlene A. Hernandez, Robert, Pasternack, Jeannette F. Parental Socialization of Young Childrens Play A Short-Term Longitudinal Study. Child Development 56. 6 (1985) 1506-13. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. Klinger, Lori J. , crowd A. Hamilton, Cantrell, Peggy J. Childrens Perceptions of Aggressive and Gender- Specific Content in Toy Commercials. Social Behavior and personality 29. 1 (2001) 11-20. PsycINFO. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. Landes, David. ToysRUs Scolded for Gender Discrimination. The Local Swedens News in English. 6 October 2009. Print.