Toys and Gender

So this week in class we talked about toys. I know, talking about toys in an AP English class sounds weird, but toys have a deeper meaning to them than I originally thought. Have you ever gone down the toy aisle in a store and noticed that Play-doh in the boys section is cheaper than Play-doh in the girl section? I believe this is because girls have a tendency to be more creative than boys between the ages of 3 and 10. Now I'm not saying that girls are more creative than boys all together, but at this age girls start getting into a habit of wanting to make things like little pies. The toy industry nowadays has changed to where it makes a lot of its toys more gender neutral, but there are still little differences that affect how girls and boys think that will ultimately lead them to be stereotypical men and women. For example, they could have two of the same toy but have one be in pink and purple and automatically it's a girl toy. It really grinds my gear that the toy industry is leading little boys and girls down a path that they might not even want to take.

All the blame doesn't belong to the toy industry either, but to the parents of these children as well. Parents often times lead their kids to believe a certain thing is better for them and not what their kid actually wants. For example, a little girl might be in a store and sees a remote control car that she really wants. Her mother tells her no because that's a boy toy. The little girl starts to whine to her mother. Her mother picks up a baby doll next to the toy car and says, "Here's a nice doll instead. This is what little girls play with. Trust me, I'm your mother and I know best." The little girl takes the doll trusting her mother and 25 years later she's married with a baby and takes care of her baby just like she did her baby doll. Does anybody else feel that when the little girl's mom gave her that baby doll she was preparing her for motherhood even though she was only a little kid? A lot of toys set kids up to be a certain type of person when they get older and children's parents enforce this idea when they force their child to play with certain toys. Parents limit their child's options when they take them down the aisle designated to their gender.

Ok, I know your probably tired of reading this but I just have one more thing to add and then my rant is over. In order for a person to become who they really are, they need to be free to make their own decisions about their toys; toys are a defining moment for a person, and gives you a glimpse into the future and tells you how a person will be when they get older.