Megan D:

Also look at http://www.novanatural.com/ for many gender neutral options.

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A Russell:

The sick thing is that it’s SO pervasive. I have 3 boys (9, 7, 4) and a girl (1).
My kids are homeschooled, we do not watch TV, so they have little exposure to this kind of thing, but the boys will not play with anything pink. “It’s a girl colour.” They do play a lot of gender-neutral things, and our toy kitchen gets a lot of use as a restaurant, but the dollhouse is dusty. I have had dolls in the house since day 1, but the boys rarely played with them. But my 18mo girl LOVES the dolls. She carries them around constantly.

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Bronwyn Reply:
November 24th, 2010 at 5:25 am

As a playgroup organizer I found a toy car from Target Australia reduced to clear which was about half its original value. I then decided to but it on the spot the money being tight. All the children play in it and love it a lot…it was the last one hence the discount and I had no choice of color…it is a horrid pink.

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Bronwyn:

Hi I have a 4 yo who LOVES Thomas the Tank, building and so on…her fav color is dark blue. I hope she stays this way, and I often offer her blue or pink(recently for a lucky dip) she got a car she loves…

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Dino:

Hi there, I noticed that in your breakdown of the toys r us ad, you put 0 “boys Playing w/ Non-traditional Gender Toys” and that the boy in the blue kitchen is a unisex toy. By the definition of your complaint a kitchen, (blue or otherwise) is a traditional gender toy. Putting a barbie in a blue dress (yes, she has blue dresses) does not make her a unisex toy. Now, is there anything wrong with a boy playing with a play kitchen? No. However, ask any child if they want to play dolls or bank robbers and I think you’ll find the answers are going to be MOSTLY oriented towards their gender (not all kids are alike, some boys want to play quietly and some girls want to be rambunctious). A friend of mine wanted to NOT get her boys “war toys” or anything “gender specific”, so she got them Lego blocks, a non-gender biased toy. The first thing her boys did with them? That’s right, fashioned guns and started play shooting each other, (and her little girl grew up to use them as well, she made a doll house out of them!) Even before there were toy magazines, children have been playing segregated games that they naturally enjoy. Children are smarter than you’re giving them credit for and can already tell the difference between a girl and a boy and they can tell that they like different things. Boys aren’t playing with dolls not because they think they’re not supposed to, but because that’s not what interests them. Girls mature faster than boys, they don’t want to run around like some hooligans, they want to play nice because they enjoy it and they have the capability to do so. Children have an amazing innocence that allows them to look past society and do what they do best, play and have fun. (Children also look towards their parents for clues about life, maybe mom should get on the floor and play some video games once in a while, or better yet, mom and dad play together!) If the toy companies didn’t offer the kids what they wanted in the way that they want it, they’d go out of business. Big companies like that don’t make things the way they are, they spend millions of millions of dollars to find out HOW things are RIGHT NOW and pander to that. Ask your child what they want for Christmas, have them circle things in the catalog. If your boy doesn’t want a dolly, don’t get him one! If your girl wants to play with a science set, amazing! Kids already know what they like. They have since time began and no one, not even you, is going to tell them otherwise.

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melissa Reply:
November 23rd, 2010 at 10:55 pm

I’m going to ignore the majority of your comment as had you read the previous 90 comments to yours, you’d see how erroneous your thoughts are.

I will address you comment about the coding of the kitchens: I considered all kitchen unisex, independent of color. All the catalogs showed boys and girls playing in kitchens, so that seemed to be a universal unisex item. I never said a toy kitchen was a tradional gendered toy, I said limiting girls toys to the kitchen (along with two other themes) and selling kitchens that have girl versions and boy version with very sexist differences is gender stratified.

What kinds of things do your kids play with?

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Dino Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:19 am

First, I find your foremost comment indecorous and audacious. How dare you accuse someone of specious THOUGHT in an open forum? I should curb my ideas because of things others have said before me? I don’t think so, I’m entitled to my opinions, same as you. However, in the spirit of thing I’ll move past it.

My kids? Blow torches and knives, the usual. It’s what happens when you grow up in a family of magicians and public performers, so not a good litmus for this discussion. However, the girls and boys play together with whatever they want. Girls still like things pink and frilly and boys like things blue and (what I would describe as) cold. And yes, there are plenty of “Gender specific” things they play with. Now girls are regularly playing with “boy” things and styles without regard or ridicule. The boys however, if seen doing “girly” things are immediately ostracized and not by the adults. I believe your view of this situation is licentious in that you seem to be placing blame for the social double standard on the toy companies when anthropologically the blame starts at home and later, the schoolyard. Toy companies pander to norms we (and our children) set up. Maybe you should look to yourself as a parent and a role model (and the social norms you adhere to) first and then move your attention to sources that are following YOUR example.

Now I remember growing up and the play kitchen was the standard for “gender specific girl toy.” I know you never mentioned it as a gender specific toy, that’s your problem, it is. That’s why I never got an easy bake oven as a kid (or any kind of play kitchen item, I understand an easy bake oven is not exactly a play kitchen). It has always been the go to standard for “gender specific girl toy.” There was a huge argument in the social science community back in the ’60s that if you get your girl a play kitchen she’ll grow up thinking she’s supposed to stay in the kitchen and become a waitress or stay at home mom! That idea had been brought back up in the ’80s. In fact, in the spirit of YOUR very crusade, toy companies started putting boys and girls in their magazines playing with kitchens to depict a diverse culture. That’s why Barbie became an astronaut and doctor instead of retaining her previous vocation of “flight attendant.” Calling a doll an action figure was the way to get boys to play with dolls!

You see, your concerns have been brought up before you.

I’d probably find your thesis more convincing, or at least somewhat reasonable, if you had done and noted some kind of research on the subject so you could have sighted precedent and backed your claims with something more than your local toy magazines. Happy Thanksgiving, unless you’re in Canada, then I’ve got the wrong day.

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Dino Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 1:22 am

P.S., you “where did pink come from” comment to Leonie GH could have used some research as well, sorry but the Nazi thing is way off base and could have easily been avoided with a little digging.

melissa Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 11:01 am

P.P.S. – For goodness sakes you are disagreeable. I actually have researched that topic. Why don’t you provide me with your own data for gender color assignment and we’ll see where we end up.

melissa Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 10:38 am

Feel free to explore more of the blog, and the Blog Roll page, where all the resources you crave are listed. I think you would really, REALLY, benefit from reading several of the books listed there. The post that has you so riled up was merely an organized tally of the observations I saw in three catalogs that arrived at my home, not an overall thesis on society, early childhood play, and parenting. Calm down, friend. I’m not removing all of the blame from parents or social norms, I am simply processing the messages being sold by the toy companies – media literacy.

By and large the gender stratification you protest as anthropologically based is more a creation by marketers than by nature.

Brandy:

Love Love!!! This i was an only girl growing up in a all male home mother wasnt around and the toys i played with were definitely not girly all except my barbies my dad would buy toys that were unisex so we could all enjoy them rather than just me or my two older brothers Ex: board games, skates/ skateboards Video games such as mario brothers… when i take my kids to the store i give them the chance to decide what they really want regardless of what it is last year my son got a kitchen set for Christmas he loves it along with what he calls his baby’s (stuffed animals) you definitely hit this spot on keep up the good work and i cant wait to see what u have next!

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charlotte:

Consider yourself bloglined.

Also, I get toy ideas for my 2-year-old from the Michael Olaf catalog or look for Melissa and Doug wooden stuff–and I avoid the big box stores, purveyors of crap from China, like the plague. In fact, I mostly shop for toys at garage sales (recycle/ reuse and all that good stuff).

My daughter, by the way, is really into her Thomas the Train set at the moment. Much more than into her doll.
charlotte´s last blog ..Snakes on my plane

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melissa Reply:
November 24th, 2010 at 3:57 pm

Hi Charlotte -
Welcome! We love Melissa & Doug too. The wooden train set is the hot item at our house right now.

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Alex:

(I was linked to this off of tumblr, very interesting and thought provoking.)

I must admit though, I winced seeing the Monster High girl dolls right next to grotesquely muscular adult male dolls. I’ve never actually seen male dolls made to resemble young men or teenagers that weren’t cast as comrades or boyfriends in a mostly-female product line. Admittedly from what I can tell those male dolls look like pro wrestler tie ins, but I guess there just wouldn’t be “action figures” whose interests were pursuing hobbies or making friends rather than shooting things and saving people.

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melissa Reply:
November 28th, 2010 at 9:26 pm

Alex -
Your comment totally has me chuckling. You make very good points, and many times the body images portrayed for boys isn’t much better than girls, just on the opposite end of the spectrum. The concept of using male figures as props in a woman’s world (ie: Barbie) isn’t great in my book. I think it does a disservice to the dynamic, intelligent, caring men we have in the world.

We all need superheroes, just maybe they don’t need to be so muscular that it looks as if they will squish the person they are saving.

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Michelle Funke:

I SO agree!!! That’s one of the reasons why I love Discovery Toys so much! Very little gender-bias (they *do* have some “girly” things, but very few). Plus, the kids are using their imaginations and LEARNING!

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2 pigtail shirts seem a lil piggy..:

I agree with pretty much everything said in this blog… the last picture should be the way all ads should be!
however, on the side bar of this, in the ad for the tshirt for the pigtails shirts… there are two shirts that made me scrunch up my nose.. the dr one: call me in the morning.. and the firefighter one: i look good in red.
both these shirts conjures up feelings that i would associate as “sexist” on levels. Drawing the attention to how a girl “looks” as being important and also, implying (yet again, like in so many media outlets) that girls are overtly, sexually available… not sure how those shirts are helping anything.

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melissa Reply:
December 4th, 2010 at 7:40 am

Thanks for that feedback, but I think you are missing the point. Pigtail Pals was created to offer empowering designs to girls with a play on words of the sexist and stereotyped messages they hear in childhood. So the fire fighter “Looking good in red…” while she climbs the ladder to lead a rescue with her truck in the background actually has nothing to do with her looks, it has to do with her actions. The pun is intended. It is redefining what that slogan could mean to a girl.

As for the doctor shirt, the slogan came from the old addage “Take two of these and call me in the morning” the trusted male family doctor would have told the mother during a housecall years ago. The face of medicine has changed since that time, which is why our trauma doctor stands confidentally in front of her ER and puts a new spin on the phrase.

If you follow the company and our work for a bit longer or in more depth, you’ll quickly see that we are against the constant sexualization and bombardment of sexual messaging the media sends girls (and women). We just do it with a little tongue in cheek sarcasm so we don’t lose our minds along the way.

You can read more about what Pigtail Pals is all about here: http://www.pigtailpals.com/whdoregime.html

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Kara:

I have 3 girls ages 4, 2.5. and 8 months. We try to be mindful in every plaything we purchase for our children. What message does it send? How well is it made? Is this something my child would truly enjoy?

Our playroom is painted yellow and has a big blue and green hanging cuddle swing. We have a train table equipped with plenty of wooden trains, cars, tracks, and buildings. We have primary colored wooden blocks, legos, linkin’ logs, and other building materials. We have a playstand adorned with a rainbow playsilk and a wooden kitchen underneath. We have dolls, faeires, and dress up clothes. We don’t buy things with characters on them. I think all of this helps to mix it up a bit. I LOVE that when I walk into our playroom it doesn’t scream GIRL or BOY!

My 4 year old has decided on her own that her favorite color is pink. I’m not sure if it’s because she loves princesses and fairies and the toys and books that feature them are usually pink or if she really just loves the color pink. My 2.5 year old’s favorite color… blue!

We love Nova Toys, Magic Cabin, and the like!

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melissa Reply:
December 5th, 2010 at 10:32 pm

Hi Kara -
Your playroom sounds awesome! I bet your girls have a blast

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Alexx:

When I was younger, in about 2000-2001, there was a line of barbie-esque dolls called Get Real Girls. They were snowboarders, skateboarders, soccer players, etc. They had a “passport” filled with visas from their world travels, and they came with a slight personality profile. I loved those dolls. They were “women’s empowerment” type… they weren’t all boob-a-rific, and they had normal, athletic figures.
I don’t know if they still make them, but I think I still have mine…

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em94:

this is fantastic! do you still have the catalogue from toys’r'us? im doing an english assignment on gender roles and would like to use this as a source. any chance you could provide me with the date and location it was distributed?
thanks

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melissa Reply:
February 19th, 2011 at 9:58 pm

Glad you liked the post, but I’m afraid I might not be able to be much help on your question. I cut up the catalogs to make the photos for the post, so I no longer have them. The catalogs would have been printed in early November, and distributed nationwide. The Toys R Us and Target catalogs arrived in our mail. The Walmart catalog was handed to us at the store. Sorry again that doesn’t really answer your questions.

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Alice:

Hello, I’m a college student, and I’m currently writing up a large paper on gender stereotyping and it’s effects on children as this years coursework. This site has some really interesting and valuable information relating to gender stereotyping in media and children’s advertising, so I was wondering, would it be okay for me to include some information and qoutes from the site in my coursework? I would of course reference and credit you for anything I use. If this was to be okay, I would be very grateful.

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melissa Reply:
July 8th, 2011 at 11:44 am

Hi Alice -
That would be fine, and feel free to email me with any questions (info@pigtailpals.com). Good luck with your project!

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Alice Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 3:58 am

Thank you!

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Tandis Shams Fard:

That is great that you refuse to give your children the wrong, misleading message. More parents should think that way, and then maybe we can progress when it comes to stopping these typical “gender roles”.

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Jacquie:

Love your post and analysis! My daughter was just looking at one of these catalogs the other day and said to me “I know where the toys are that I want – I just have to turn to the pink pages”. AHHHHH! So I nicely listened to her talk about the toys, told her that was great, and then handed her the Discovery Toy brochure and asked her to look at some of the blue pages in the catalog she had — and of course she found some really cool things on the other pages.

As parents, I think we just have to remember to try to keep some balance when presented with media images/advertising aimed at our kids.

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Stefanie:

I have two boys and a girl. I fully expected my daughter, the youngest, to be a tomboy because she had two older brothers to play with and got all their hand-me-downs. Plus, both of her parents buck a significant amount of the gender stereotypes. She’s a dramatic, flamboyantly feminine little diva- who loves math and writing and wants a skateboard for Christmas and is eagerly awaiting her eighth birthday when she will be able to take circus lessons. She’s awesome and fearless and ambitious and has ‘frenemies’ in primary school.

My middle child is a very logical-minded guy- who has random bouts of extreme silliness. He is far more introspective and cautious than either of his siblings and happily plays with legos for hours creating all kinds of amazing stuff. We lovingly call him our little old man, because he would much rather be left alone to do his own thing and gets rather grumbly when you try to engage him in something more rambunctious. He’s awesome and smart and determined and driven.

My eldest is… amazing. He’s brilliant and passionate, political and artistic. He does humanitarian work, and wears nail polish and eye make-up… to an all boys Catholic school. He is a staunch feminist (or ally if you are of the opinion that only women can be feminists), a vocal gay rights supporter, a caring friend and a not so great boyfriend (at 16 he has a short attention span for relationships… and pretty much everything else.)

In the nine years between my oldest and my youngest I’m finding that there has been a HUGE step backwards in terms of gendering toys. Boys and girls versions of classic board games are now available- sometimes to the exclusion of the original. Marvel Heroes Yahtzee? Disney Princess Checkers? WHY?!?!?

My daughter loves fashion dolls. Her current favorite is Monster High. I confess, I LOVE Monster High, despite the completely unrealistic body types and giant heads. For one thing, they are monsters (werewolves, vampires, zombies, etc) so, I can talk to her about how REAL people couldn’t possibly be shaped like that without being very ill (which got me an eyeroll and a ‘duh, their heads would snap off, Mom’ from my daughter). But beyond that, these dolls have personalities, and interests… and many of them specifically challenge their own sterotypes. Dracula’s daughter is a passionate vegetarian who loves animals and faints at the mere mention of blood. Her ‘diary’ talks about the challenges of making her ‘old school’ father see that she isn’t going through a phase and stop pushing her to be someone she’s not. Clawdeen is a jock- she’s a “Fearleader” but also on the track and basketball teams.. and she sings. Ghoulia is a slow moving zombie, but the smartest kid in the school. On top of that, the BOYS have personalities and interests. They aren’t just props for the girls. Deuce Gorgon is a popular jock, who LOVES to cook and is always experimenting in the kitchen. Holt Hyde is a DJ who loves to dance and has a temper. Claude Wolf is on several sports teams, but also has a perfect GPA because getting into a good college is important to him. So, while they talk about clothes and shoes and SQUEEEE BOYS! a lot, so do most teenaged girls who are trying to forge their own identities, and the doll series (which is admittedly based on a book and now has a tv series to support it) challenges quite a few stereotypes and gives a wide range of play personalities for my kids to experiment with.

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