Gender Marketing In Toys

Improved Essays
Leading companies and industries use visual aids to sell products and ideas. One of the products that use catchy and colorful advertisements are toys. Toys have been a main part of every culture as they have been a part of our early history. The type of toys manufactured for the children reflects what the society views as acceptable. These toys are to help children develop skills (social or educational) and teaches them about sexuality, gender and violence. Toy manufactures play an important role in influencing views of children as they voice and communicate the expectations of societal norms. But sometimes it’s hard to see how gender marketing in toys really effects the perspectives of the children that they take with them into adulthood. …show more content…
Girls are told and encouraged to play with toys centered around household chores and beauty (stoves, toy babies, toy hair salon/accessories etc.) while the boys have building blocks and action figures. The child in the photograph from the library of congress is taken while playing with a washing tub alone outside. The image is a black and white photo with the writing “Children Playing Adults” inked at the top left and the photographer’s name W.E Vilmer inked in the bottom. The effect of the photo being aged and black and white makes the atmosphere look drab and bleak even though it is a bright and sunny day. The artist attempts to capture the little girl enjoying a nice day and the photo shows what kids did to play and entertain themselves back in the 1900s. This image does not persuade or propaganda, anything but instead captures a moment in time that gives us a lot of information about the lifestyle in 1902. The candid image of the girl busily looking and scrubbing away in the tub shows one of the “toys” she had to play with. Everything in miniaturized to accommodate to the size of the girl, showing it was specifically designed as a toy. She has a mini table, mini washboard, mini tub and bucket and she even has a clothing line that is lowered to her height, so that she can practice hanging up the clothes to dry. But in the picture the cloths near …show more content…
The societal views are impressed on the children and mold and shape them in their occupational and familial role they are obligated to play in their future. These toys are used are tools to condition the kids and so it is important to be aware of the kind of toys the kids an exposed to. As kids develop a gender role identity, they tend to exaggerate and conform to gender-role stereotypes of the society. In this process toys act as stepping stones to prepare them for the real world and is an extension of their belief system. Even though the picture of the little girl just shows an aspect of her life almost a century ago, the idea and gender stereotypes have remained fairly consistent till now. As the issue of gender equality becomes more prevalent modern day, people insisted equality start from the toys because of the influence it can have in shaping malleable young

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The girl might learn that it is expected to use artificial products to be considered pretty 6. I believe that these toys for boys and girls are important to children’s socialization because they are teaching them what to except society wants in the future. When children cannot communicate verbally, toys become a great tool for planting seeds of how society wants them to function as a part of society. These toys enforce what societies views of how they should be brought up. For example, when a young boy gets hurt, society says not to cry and walk it off.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Thus, if a child does not have the opportunity to play with items such as toys, they have an increase chance of deviant behaviour and abnormal development (Goldstein, 2012). Overall, toys are one of the primary elements of a child’s growth. Therefore, this paper will be specifically…

    • 2056 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Within the field of Social Psychology, the most agreed upon age at which children form and begin to follow cultural stereotypes is age five (Psychology Today). Mattel Inc., the company that owns Barbie, starts marketing their dolls to children ages three and up. As more than a doll, as a role model and a representation of the ideal woman, Barbie’s form, perceived values, and lack of authenticity create a complicated paradox between celebrating diversity, perpetuating colonialism, and sexualizing the “primitive”. Barbie’s form and non-white females in United States capitalist society are both treated as silent, unimportant, demeaningly sexualized objects in the eyes of the patriarchy. Bell Hooks, in her 1992 essay “Eating the Other: Desire…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender roles and stereotypes have always been an issue in society, and they still are to this day. Although feminism and woman’s rights have come so far in the past years, there is still more progress to be made and the sexist labels do not only happen to women. Having gender stereotypes, that begin when we are young, creates the platform for many of these sexist issues that women, as well as men, are still facing. The article “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls” written by Katha Pollitt expresses the ideas of male and female stereotypes along with feminism.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Neutral Toys

    • 1551 Words
    • 6 Pages

    There have been quite a few scientific studies on young children playing with gender neutral toys and being raised without stereotypes. Many sociologist agree that children playing with gender neutral toys is actually very beneficial to their development. According to Dr. Stephanie Sweet, a sociologist and lecturer at the University of California, Davis, “Studies have found that gendered toys do shape children’s play preferences and styles. Because gendered toys limit the range of skills and attributes that both boys and girls can explore through play, they may prevent children from developing their full range of interests, preferences, and talents.”…

    • 1551 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If children’s toys were marketed based on racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, a major backlash would occur; however, companies have produced and marketed gender-differentiated toys to the masses for decades if not centuries. In the midst of the modern push toward gender equality, aisles are still separated by pink and blue, aggression and domesticity, heroes and princesses, and so forth. Finding a toy or activity for children not unambiguously targeted towards male or female children has grown increasingly difficult, and this trend poses a potential threat toward the gender equality so desired by the public today. In studies conducted to assess the impact of these gender-stereotyped toys and marketing, researchers and authors are finding…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Toys are a major component in young children’s lives. However, many toys are specifically designed based on the gender roles our society has enforced. For instance, girls are taught to believe that they are meant to become mothers, great house wives, and simply be feminine. This perception of girls has led many toy companies to produce and sell dolls, domestic items like kitchen appliances, and baking goods.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender And Toys

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The author of the article Gender, Toys and Learning is Becky Francis, who is a Professor of Education and Social Justice, as well as the author of many other academic journal articles and books. Francis’ research was funded by the Froebel Research Institute and published in the journal Oxford Review of Education in 2010. The study focused on the favourite toys and DVDs of children aged three to five. Francis aimed to investigate whether these leisure resources were gendered, and to analyse the ways they could directly educate a child, or develop their skills in a way that could relate to the school curriculum.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In stores the toys and clothing are separated by gender where one may find a Barbie doll for the little girls and a fake gun for the little boys. Young children start to notice these differences and their surrounding may help form the opinion of the clothing the children like and toys they choose to play with. If a young girl is seen playing with a racecar or superhero people tend to think that is strange and this is a problem with society, if that child wants to play with that car or superhero she should be allowed to and not discriminated against. According to the International study of children’s rights (Woodhead 2014:477)…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Advertising has been a popular source to communicate with masses in every aspect of our daily lives (Thurm, NJ 2001). The social world is reflected and recreated in a manipulated way by advertising (). It has been an effective tool to motivate people to buy the products and services through diverse visual associations. In some cases, sexual imagery is used to create a meaningful depiction for the associated message. But the halo effect of representing sexuality in advertisements especially for women has raised eyebrows in the field of both media and society.…

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Toys play an important role in gender socialization. Huge corporations, like Toy’s R US and Wal-Mart, have manipulated children into gender roles by exposing them to toys that act as social indicators of gender expectations. Gender socialization and Gender roles, are the processes by which individuals are taught how to socially behave in accordance with their assigned biological sex. The required behavior, individuals are expected to commit to, are set on societal norms dictating the types of behaviors that are desirable solely based on sex. Gender has been constructed by society in numerous ways.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history, children have been taught and influenced by the environment and by their parents. Brain chemistry and genes have also been a factor in what boys and girls do. “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls” Katha Pollitt wrote “Why Boys Don’t’ Play with Dolls” on October eighth, nineteen ninety-four while she examines and challenges parents and adults to not lessen the biological differences between boys and girls and what messages they are receiving (Pollitt 187). Some of the things that she coveys in her essay is that she looks at how children are raised, how women view sports, how Barbie affects women, the society views on women, theories, and how stereotypes affect children.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most children are exposed to ads and media multiple times on a daily basis. Seeing the ideas presented in these media forms over and over again has a big impact on how children’s social institutions are formed. In many ads and films targeted towards children there is strong gender differences. Boys are represented with the color blue and action, while girls are represented with pink, and have caring, supporting roles in most forms of media. Youth media impacts children’s understanding of their masculinity or femininity by placing stereotypes and gender roles in their heads that they are then pressured to abide by.…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Specific Toys Essay

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Project One: Research Investigation Work Skylar Foley Southern New Hampshire University Project One: Research Investigation Work The social science issue that I have chosen is “the influences of gender-specific toys on children.” There are a couple of reasons I have chosen this issue, one being that children are constantly learning, they are our future and we want to teach them that they have the freedom to choose for themselves. Another reason being that some parents truly believe that boys playing with Barbies and girls playing with G.I. Joes would turn them into becoming a homosexual. I’m a firm believer that homosexuality is not developed but the person is born homosexual.…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Social construction of gender is a popular topic in today 's society. The Feminist Agenda states, “A social construction is something that doesn 't exist independently in the "natural" world, but is instead an invention of society” (1). In other words, social construction of gender is formed by the ways in which we view and value gender roles. According to society, females are supposed to be interested in makeup, fashion, and colors, such as pink; however, men are expected to be into the gym, sports, and colors such as blue. Although these customs and rules do not exist, people all act as if they do because it 's in their nature from the time they have been born.…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays