During most of my collegiate career, several professors have stated that gender roles are determined prior to the birthing process. As soon as the sex of the baby is discovered, the mother would begin purchasing nursery decorations, clothing, and toys based solely on color: blue for boys and pink for girls. I would even go on further to state that gender roles are determined before conception actually begins. According to Judith Lorber’s article, “The Social Construction of Gender”, “gender is constantly created and re-created out of human interaction, out of social life…”
I can think back to when I was younger, around elementary school age, telling my peers at the time that I wanted a “bunch” of kids and I already planned what they would …show more content…
The first thing I noticed as I began approaching the aisles was that there were two aisles painted pink, two aisles painted blue, and one aisle painted green and yellow. The pink aisles screamed femininity. They were filled with fashion dolls, gaudy purses, vacuum cleaners, kitchenette sets, pink feather boas, you name it. The aisles painted blue contained, action figures, swords, wrestling belts, hammers, construction hats, Nerf™ balls, basketballs, anything asserting toughness. The last aisle painted green and yellow was filled with toys targeted to learning, development and education such as leapfrog readers and interactive games. After these initial observations, I then began to examine each aisle …show more content…
Each Barbie ™ box had a different theme. “Barbie Fairytale Birthday Princess Doll”, “Barbie I Can Be™ Careers Cake Baker Doll”, and “Barbie Royal Bride Doll” were some of the themes that stuck out to me the most. Why aren’t there any “Dr. Barbie” or “Attorney Barbie” themes available? Is a cake baker or a bride the only career path young girls have to look forward to? Although I did see a box labeled “Barbie I Can Be™ Careers Detective Doll”, it is sadly overshadowed by the themed boxes listed above and they were also fully stocked in comparison to the other shelves. In the blue aisles one of the main things I noticed was that the majority of the toys available had something to do with fighting. The toy that stuck out the most to me was the “WWE Steel Cage Wrestling Action Figure & Accessories” set. This set in particular doesn’t just condone the violence that takes place in a WWE cage match, but it also encourages it. The main component of the WWE is one man brutally attacking another for profit and the entertainment of others. Is this what we should be teaching our young boys? Do they always have to be aggressive and display their feelings
I can think back to when I was younger, around elementary school age, telling my peers at the time that I wanted a “bunch” of kids and I already planned what they would …show more content…
The first thing I noticed as I began approaching the aisles was that there were two aisles painted pink, two aisles painted blue, and one aisle painted green and yellow. The pink aisles screamed femininity. They were filled with fashion dolls, gaudy purses, vacuum cleaners, kitchenette sets, pink feather boas, you name it. The aisles painted blue contained, action figures, swords, wrestling belts, hammers, construction hats, Nerf™ balls, basketballs, anything asserting toughness. The last aisle painted green and yellow was filled with toys targeted to learning, development and education such as leapfrog readers and interactive games. After these initial observations, I then began to examine each aisle …show more content…
Each Barbie ™ box had a different theme. “Barbie Fairytale Birthday Princess Doll”, “Barbie I Can Be™ Careers Cake Baker Doll”, and “Barbie Royal Bride Doll” were some of the themes that stuck out to me the most. Why aren’t there any “Dr. Barbie” or “Attorney Barbie” themes available? Is a cake baker or a bride the only career path young girls have to look forward to? Although I did see a box labeled “Barbie I Can Be™ Careers Detective Doll”, it is sadly overshadowed by the themed boxes listed above and they were also fully stocked in comparison to the other shelves. In the blue aisles one of the main things I noticed was that the majority of the toys available had something to do with fighting. The toy that stuck out the most to me was the “WWE Steel Cage Wrestling Action Figure & Accessories” set. This set in particular doesn’t just condone the violence that takes place in a WWE cage match, but it also encourages it. The main component of the WWE is one man brutally attacking another for profit and the entertainment of others. Is this what we should be teaching our young boys? Do they always have to be aggressive and display their feelings