I am the only woman in a house full of dirt and noise. We don’t have tea parties or wile away the hours quietly coloring. There’s not a Disney princess to be found here. Once in a while we make construction paper party hats and have a birthday party for Teddy. We do our share of art projects; my table bears the marks of glitter glue and stickers and paint and markers that weren’t washable after all. We concoct new stews and fancy meals in the toy kitchen. I have a borderline unhealthy affinity for play food. Seriously, have you seen the fantastic toy sushi? And don’t think that I don’t totally hog the toy grocery cart. But I digress…
Lately I have been having trouble finding appropriate toys for my boys. I’m a firm believer in the power of play. Sure, not everything must be educational and erudite in nature. There’s something to be said for just a good old fashioned knee slapping laughing good time with some Tupperware and wooden spoons. My sons had more fun with the ginormous cardboard box that the oversize bean bag came in than the bean bag itself. That box was a spaceship, gnome house, race car, sail boat, train car, animal shelter, treasure box, and umpteen other things before it collapsed on itself. That box was Imagination captured, yet not contained.
The toy aisles at big box retailers have proven to be a resounding disappointment. I’m not talking about the likes of the marvelous Tookie’s Toys that so sadly closed here, the last of the independent toy seller’s brigade. I mean the Targets and their ilk. No disrespect to Target. You know how much I love the bull’s eye. But if you wander the toy section you will see a clear gender delineation. The kitchen stuff is all pink and ruffly. Even presumably unisex things such as instruments and hand held games scream with cotton candy pink and rugged camouflage. The toys geared toward boys are so jacked up with testosterone that I find myself puffing out my chest in a show of manliness. My sons just might grow hair on their soft little bottoms by just being among all that testosterone. Everything is chock full of flames and neon and muscles and growls and fists and lasers and grime and snarls. Every action figure bears a grizzly grin or gritted teeth. Even the Legos, perhaps my favorite thing besides toy food, has disappointed me the most. Must every kit be movie merchandising? Enough with the Star Wars and Indiana Jones crap! Where are the boxes of Lego pieces that allow kids to engage their own imagination? Why are there teeny weeny toy guns in the kits made for five year olds? And why is there one lousy box of random pieces in a pink box on the bottom shelf, as if it were an after thought?
Meanwhile, the “girl” toys are bursting with unicorns and rainbows and sparkles and charms and toothy smiles and tulle and fluff. And pink. All that nauseating pink. The irony of the color of Pepto Bismol is not lost on me.
And why are Littlest Pet Shop toys targeted to girls in all their pink and frilly glory? I’m talkin’ to you, Hasbro. Deal happens to love those toys, and we don’t stop him from choosing them. These bug eyed little critters are great for pretend play for kids who love animals. Boy or girl. It’s a shame our society continues to drive girls to the care taking roles, while not providing the same nurturing lessons for boys.
The old adage “the more things change, the more they stay the same” seems fitting in these times. Here Lily Ledbetter has paved the way for equal pay. We are seeing more and more stay at home dads heading up families. A woman almost because President of the United States for cripe’s sake. Women, while facing a long, long journey ahead, have made great strides. Yet we as a society are forcefully shoving our children into gender traps. Yes, traps.
Girls’ toys should be pretty (and pink!) while boys’ should be rough and rugged. Let’s extrapolate this lesson into how children develop emotionally. Are we not telling our girls to just sit pretty and our boys to suck it up and be tough? How are we emotionally equipping our sons to express the crazy quilt of emotions that they feel? How are we teaching our daughters to stand up for themselves? If children do indeed learn through play, we are setting up a pretty poor, lopsided playground for their future.
Come on toy manufacturers and buyers, girls shouldn’t be relegated to the kitchen. And boys need more than dirt and noise.
Nicole says
I love this post cuz it is how I feel too!! Don’t get me started on all the pink clothes for girls too, my daughter looks beautiful in purple, teal, red, etc. Really, it is 2010!!
Susan Payton says
It’s hopeless the older they get. But Max still cuddles stuffed animals, then goes off and plays Power Rangers. When he was little I swore I’d encourage gender neutral toys. He could dress up in a tutu if he wanted. But people kept buying him rough and tumble toys because he’s a boy. It’s not fair. I completely agree with you; he’s 6 and if he’s even a little curious about Littlest Pet Shop it better be with his girl friend and there are no boys around. “You never saw me play with these, right??”
Tracy Bossinger says
So, so, true!! I have long told my boys (now 9 & almost 8) that there are no such thing as “boy toys” and “girl toys”… but I’m made to feel like a liar stepping foot into any toy area or store.
My youngest rationalizes his choices of pink (and so with you on the Pepto, by the way) as “it is just red mixed with white, and red is my favorite color” (thanks, color theory training), and he also loves the Littlest Pet Shop stuff – and now they have people to go with them, but guess what?? All Girls! I think it’s great when they show girls doing ‘vet’ stuff (hello, Barbie, etc.) – but where are the male vets (way more in real life than on store shelves). Same with chefs!
Sorry for the long rant – just wanted to let you know you’re not the only mom angsty about this stuff.
Tracy Bossinger says
oops… the sunglass face up there should be “almost 8″… apologies for all the parentheticals, also.
magpie says
I hate that. I walk through Target with my girl, and we have animated conversations about the toy segregation, and why it’s wrong. It’s not just the manufacturers and the buyers, it’s also the store managers who actually put the stuff on the shelves. The last time we had that conversation at Target, the girl was all fired up to write a letter to the company – which she never did. Must get on that.
Alan Smithee says
FTCC brought me here.
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