Boys right, girls left Bashny.Net

In the shops of goods for children is most evident that toys are not divided on educational or developmental effects, and the principle of the color pink and for boys. And among the pink group is almost no intellectual toys or interesting gadgets.

Although gender specialties themselves is questionable, the facts do not argue — in different professional areas, the sex ratio is different. As in different departments or in specialized classes. This division starts already in the toy store, where the first question a consultant is: "pick up a Gift for a boy or a girl?".





"Handkerchiefs and glomeruli, mysteries and jellies..."

To conduct the experiment, not necessarily to go to the store. Try typing in Google "toys for girls" and enable the image search. At the forefront of things that are offered — a dozen toy kitchens, plastic boudoir table, doll houses, Princess castle, lots of rubber babies and a few soft toys. The predominant image color varies from pale pink to fuchsia. Occasionally there are other colors — mostly pastel.

Toys for boysthat the search engine provides on request, in the colour relation are more diverse. There are red, blue, green, yellow — basic bright colors without halftones and frills. Toys include lead and other machines, transformers and plastic blasters, caught constructors, radio controlled helicopter and even a telescope to observe the sky. Squandered a bit down, discover a Rubik's cube and 3D puzzle.





It turns out that girls like does not need spatial skills and the ability to design. They offer a limited set of interests, which boils down to copy the average media image of women.

The boys were a little bit more luck, because the classes that they recommend more diverse, and involve intellectual development. This situation allows them to assume that all "girly" — boring, stupid and worthy of contempt. Boys are hard to blame in this, since women's interests are reduced by toy manufacturers to puppet brushes for the hair.

What normal person would want to play with some plastic brushes, when there is a RC helicopter and the railroad?

However, in the men's collection too, there are limitations based on the denial of everything not man enough, for example, a toy household appliances. Designers — only transport and military subjects. Figures — only transformers, soldiers and superheroes. Pink, peach, purple color, any complex color — banned. Manufacturers like strive to supply material for the popular joke that a man sees only 7 colors (if suddenly more obviously something wrong, and in General, not a designer if he hour?..)

 

Life and career Barbie

Barbie doll is one of the most popular toys for girls worldwide. However, the company "Mattel" has repeatedly criticized the fact that the average promotes ideas about women. Typical Barbie not prone to introspection, says stupidities (it is possible to learn from games and magazines), manic affable and charming, not doing anything that requires stress, concentration or effort, and constantly "wanting" new outfits for all occasions. The desire of girls to dress Barbie is a gold mine for the manufacturer.

At the same time, "Mattel" regularly produces professional series of dolls in which Barbie appears that a yogi, a dancer, a stylist for animals. In addition to traditionally female professions are also some "more serious": an astronaut, a paleontologist, a police officer. The number of models in recent years — NASCAR racer and a specialist on high technology (this is the glasses in a pink frame and tiny laptop in tone). It would seem that these dolls are designed to give girls relevant examples of self-realization. However, they are likely to reflect the desire of the firm to please everyone and avoid attacks.

The essence of career ambition Barbie best expressed Linor Goralik in the book devoted to the cultural influence of this doll:

"About Barbie as a tool for vocational guidance may not be out of the question, what would "Mattel" have spoken. Nowhere, ever, does not tell us about the reasons for which Barbie chooses a particular career. We're normally not talking about talents or inclinations, which we must possess to perform certain professional duties, not describe the path which you must pass to obtain the appropriate skills. We do not talk about how the everyday work of the dentist, or paleontologist, or even editor of a fashion magazine. (...) So what about vocational guidance it is not the maximum we are talking about a conditional and very superficial stimulation of interest in a particular profession".





In short, conversations about the career example in this case seem to be cunning. More often the company offers the girls a Barbie doll (in the broad sense appropriate to her character interests and values), who is sitting in her Barbie house, surrounded by plastic interior items, clothes and puppies. Barbie as "life" the Barbie, held in a special ghetto, where boyish rudeness, and real experience, of course not. Instead of these boys, the world of Barbie includes Ken — idealized and emasculated man, who resembles a disney Prince helpless.

This separation affects the boys, noting their borders "forbidden territory". Social games based on emotion and communication, men are not allowed since childhood, profession and Barbie look to them as examples of exactly what to do, either as a complete sham (well, Barbie is a paratrooper).

 



 

Chromosome — the motor trade

A wide cross-section is always "the average temperature in the hospital", whereas pairs of people with common interests, aptitudes and cultural backgrounds much more common than just two men or women. But products division by gender is the easiest marketing ploy resorted to in order to reach a wider audience. Selling the way of future happiness, companies strive for maximum unification, the women's and men's images in advertising often seem clumsy and stereotypical.

However, over the last 50 years, people of any gender, there are new opportunities and ways to be realized.

Common sense dictates that to choose the things you need to considering quality, price, features, and how they personally fit you and your lifestyle. In theory any person is able to make an informed choice, guided by logic and not by the positioning of the product on the market, but to confront the symbolic power of labels "for men" or "women only" can be difficult.

X or Y chromosome are the engine of sales.





Toy problem is particularly acute because of their educational function, based on stereotypes, these stereotypes and lay. Gender education today is often understood as the learning clear roles based on sex. It does not take into account the needs and talents of every individual, because we are talking about an entire half of humanity at once.

Children who offer to play with only doll dishes can become engineers and programmers. Due to the original bias, fewer women in the IT industry, they pay less and they are less likely to occupy senior positions — it is hard to try to jump through the head and exert an extra effort ("actually, women can't code, but you are an extraordinary woman"). At the same time, the man who chooses to work in, say, the tutor or teacher creates distrust. This is due not only to low wages (presumably for men is more offensive), but that these professions are now traditionally considered female.





"The children so choose"

Making gender-specific toys, manufacturers refer to the fact that following the desires of the children, saying that boys want to play with toy cars. However, buyers of the toys are still parents who are easier to attract by standard methods. The result and the result of the same search queries, it becomes the opinion that it looks like a typical toy for boys because girls are not interested in computers.

Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher, authors of the book "Women in computing: opening the door to "men's club"" note that the girls are really doing less with computers, designers, chess — in short, everything that involves mechanical, spatial and logical skills. However, even in kindergarten, children are faced with very specific expectations of parents and teachers. Those already assume that boys and men must get pleasure from the technique, and girls — no.

Pull boys to the mechanics and electronics are much less instinctive than their desire to conform to social inquiry, which suggests that this desire must exist. A number of psychological studies, including the famous Asch experiment that proves how easily people submit to the majority opinion, even if your own senses are protesting. Whatever was discussed, we always subconsciously afraid to appear "not such". Besides, in some communities, a protest against traditional gender roles can be just as dangerous.

In another experiment, which is described in Jane Margolis and Alan Fisher, the subjects were asked to assess the reaction of the infant to stimuli like the devil jumping out of the box. While half of the participants said that child — male and half — female. Those who believed baby boy interpreted his reaction as anger, whereas the second group of observers has decided that the girl was scared. Thus, ideas about what you "really" want children, largely connected with the projections of the observer.





Whether its toys gender?

Here's the thing, regardless of gender, do you want all children (and adults) during the game:

• To move freely, do physical exercises. Frisbee, rackets, scooters, skipping ropes, rubber balls and swords... In short, everything it takes to run and jump. It is sometimes useful even openly to rage, not thinking about the appearance and preservation of clothing — even for such cases, it is convenient and not too valuable. That in former times boys and girls wore costumes that were exact copy of the adults ' clothes, including corsets and crinolines.
• To develop perseverance and fine motor skills. There will jigsaw puzzles, kits, needlework kits. Recently, the popular kids rubber braided bracelets, which are made from small colored rubber bands and serve as an ornament, a hobby and a way of socialization. These bracelets of silicone are reviving forgotten traditions "baubles" and "friendship bracelets".

• Unrestrained dream. Acting situations of adult life, or following the scenarios offered by manufacturers of toys — only a small and least important part of the game. The game does not have to based on a literal memetic principle. Spider-man's child is able to roll on a live dog, Barbie with all of her carefully coined politically correct biography — rename and declare an alien (otherwise, why does she have such a weird profile). In the world of men "LEGO" would be Godzilla. Plastic food does not have to cook on a plastic kitchen — you can throw it in a bag and go on an expedition to the Arctic circle. Or in the closet, looking for Narnia.

 

If you give the child a suitable stick, that is one that you can take a horse — she will have for him and head. And feet, and tail and mane, and even character. It will be his horse. If you give a rocking horse — it will put a hat and warm jacket and put you to read the book. Because all horse quality it is obvious, you need to come up with a new one, because to play means to dream.

Taffy, "Toys and children"

• To communicate with peers (younger, older). Cooperation with other children — separated, inspiration, socialization and project the future relations in collective. Do not disturb the natural distribution of roles. Often in a group where there are several girls and a boy, not prone to leadership, adults appoint captain of the team. Overall performance suffers, someone of girls are dying inclinations of the head, and the boy who would be a good artist or talented self-employed, suffer from what can not do what suits him better.
• Put yourself in the shoes of the characters. Such social games nazivayut acting ability, help to enhance emotional intelligence, to read and vosprizvodit intonation, gestures and facial expressions, are taught to consider different points of view and understand people better.

• Pump spatial imagination, logic, math skills. With constructors, educational toys, checkers and chess, children learn to argue and bring up willpower, which is very popular, not to throw the puzzle out the window with a cry of despair (let's face it, so do even some adults).
• To master the technology. On gadgets useful to watch as both a user and as a developer. The children of today will create solutions that will shape the world in a few decades. So it makes sense to pay attention not only to ready-controlled model, but also on the programmable robots of LEGO blocks and starter kits for Arduino development.
• Use things of different colors — bright and pale, fixed, and mixed, cold and warm. Otherwise, the world will resemble a town from the vintage TV show of the 50s in the movie "Pleasantville." Or social structure in the film "kin-DZA-DZA".
• Be inspired by stories about heroism and relationships. Exploits, confrontation, adventure, solidarity, romance, far wanderings, the conquest of space and great friendship — it all evokes emotion and gives the game meaningful.
• To learn to care about yourself. To understand life and to accept responsibility toys help depicting things of everyday life. External up it doesn't end: there are functional mini-version of vacuum cleaners, washing machines and fully working, although safe, tool sets. Some companies already produce gender-neutral catalogs of products in which boys and girls are shown with tools and items associated with cuisine and cleaning.

Also interesting: Life without toys

Week without toys: experiment one mom

 

Rigid gender roles in developed countries is gradually disappearing. We all learn, work, are fond of many different things, solve problems and generate ideas. However, the scope of children's products still remains very conservative, and the desire for separation of responsibilities using a toy iron for a boy is often perceived as an attack on the foundations.

Objective gender differences exist — like categories of products that are directly associated with the floor. However, as taught by the one picture, if the toy does not interact with the genitals, it is suitable for both boys and girls, and if interact is generally not a child's toy. As for the personal development, science and creativity, they sex have.published

 

Author: Alice Zagradska

 

P. S. And remember, only by changing their consumption — together we change the world! ©

Source: newtonew.com/discussions/gender-targeted-toys