A wander through toy world

I have fond memories of my collection of childhood toys - wooden blocks, Big Ted, My Little Pony, the Cindy doll my parents bought me (instead of the Barbie I REALLY wanted), Lego, railway tracks... And nowadays I enjoy sometimes escaping into the imaginary world with my four-year-old boy and his collection of treasured toys.  I read about the toys on offer for kids, I see kids playing with toys and the students I work with tell me about the toys that are and were important in their lives.  

There is a lot of writing about the highly gendered and also sexualised nature of many childhood toys these days, but on Friday I suddenly realised that I could count on one hand the number of times I have been in a toy store since entering adulthood.  Inspired by other writers, I decided it was time to hit the front-line. What was on offer for New Zealand children? Was it as bad as it was in the USA? (where much of the research I read comes from) And what are the 'good' options out there?

Armed with my camera, I entered our local toy store (one of a nationwide chain).  And thus began an hour of walking up and down every aisle, taking note and photographing the good, the bad and the plain downright ridiculous. 

Into 'GIRL ZONE'

Upon entering the store, the first thing I noticed was that there was an area labelled ‘Girl’s Zone’, but the only other zone to be labelled was 'Pre-school'. Is this because all the other toys in the store are designed for boys (the default ‘normal’), or is it that all the other toys are for both boys AND girls but this wee corner is for girls only?  

I headed over to investigate further and was nearly blinded by the pink-ness.

First up, the Barbie display...

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"Hmmm, who do I want to be today?"

I had high hopes for the Barbie 'I Can Be..." range. I recall as a child in the 1980s Barbie was a real 'girls can do anything' kinda gal, so I thought that surely by 2012, any remnants of that 1952 original passive doll would be well and truly banished. Unfortunately it seems that Barbie's career options in 2012 are very limited to what she can do whilst still wearing form-fitting lycra and/or heels. And the ubiquitous pink of course. There were five career options in the character dolls (see below) - I challenge anyone to find me any real-life professional woman whose wardrobe resembles any of these outfits?! And as someone who spent my teen years as a surf lifeguard, it sure as hell didn't resemble this Barbie scene. A friend was telling me recently that she had relented and had promised her daughter a Barbie as long as she could find one doing 'normal' things - such as snowboarder Barbie. There wasn't a snowboarder Barbie in this shop, but I can envisage her ensemble already...

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I can be... a Dentist!

I can be... a Baby Caregiver!

I can be... a Doctor!

I can be... a Pizza Chef!

I can be... a Lifeguard!

And if you wanted to simply give your exisiting Barbie a new career, you had six different outfits to choose from. As you would never guess the occupations from their outfits, let me label them top to bottom, left to right:

1. A fire fighter
2. A police officer
3. A  fire fighter
4. A pilot
5. A pilot
6. An ice skater (?)

In the UK Barbie has launched a 'Barbie I Can Be' careers resource portal for schools, including a new career-themed game and sports-themed lesson plans. The mind boggles! 

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Next to Barbie was the much criticised new line of Lego, designed especially for girls - the 'Friends' range. Their catch-phrase is "The Beauty of Building" - because we wouldn't want girls to forget for a moment that regardless of the activity, it always comes down to beauty, right?

Beauty store

Invention workshop

Pop star kit

Cafe set

Vet clinic

Anyone for Disney Princess paraphernalia?

I personally dislike this range from Lego. I dislike the emphasis on beauty and I hate that the 'Friends' range have totally different bodies to the 'standard' range - they have boobs and makeup. There is no way one of the 'Friends' would EVER want to play with a standard Lego boy or girl! It's problematic that in creating a specific 'girls' range, by default the rest of the Lego range becomes a 'boys' range, thus limiting girls' options. And the narrow range of activities and colours offered to the girls drives me nuts. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to indicate that girls have a natural inclination towards pastel colours. Lego is just playing into the pinkification of girl-world that serves to further the gender gap amongst children and thus increase the profits of those marketing things to children.

Next up was the Disney Princess Zone. In a moment of marketing genius, this line was released in 2000 and now there are now more than 25,000 Disney Princess items and many other companies have jumped on board to create Princess-mania in girl world.  Lyn Mikel Brown, co-author of Packaging Girlhood, is concerned by the the sheer dominance of princess culture: “When one thing is so dominant, then it’s no longer a choice; it’s a mandate, cannibalizing all other forms of play. There’s the illusion of more choices out there for girls, but if you look around, you’ll see their choices are steadily narrowing.” 

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Some of the Disney Princess range.

As I continued to wander round 'Girl's Zone' I found more and more pink washing, and more and more toys with come-hither eyes and sexy poses. What really struck me was how much some of these toys had changed since I was a girl. In my day 'My Little Pony' was a sweet chubby thing with demure eyes. Her latest incarnation is decidedly sexy, curvy and oh, those eyes.

A sexy little mermaid for preschool girls.

My Little Pony with her sexy come-hither eyes...

My Little Pony has certainly reached puberty since the 1980s, with those curves and provocative poses.

Finally, the epitome of success - a marriage proposal!

Strawberry shortcake.

There were a few brands in 'Girl's Zone' that really stood out in a positive way: 

Sylvanian Families. They avoid pinkwashing (making them less gendered and thus more available to boys and encouraging of cross-gender play).

A baby doll without makeup on that could easily be given to a boy or to a girl.

Anatomically correct dolls that actually look like real babies. Contrast these with 'Baby Bratz'!

Venturing out of 'Girl Zone', I headed towards the 'Pre-school' zone... 

I was pleased to see the gender-neutral 'preschooler' sign, although interested in the offerings as many of the toys in the 'Girl's Zone' were aimed at the pre-school age group. This section gave the impression of being very gender-neutral, but upon closer inspection, many of the toys revealed themselves to be playing into tired gender stereotypes:

The boy building with his tools, the girl with her tea set entertaining her guests.

Pink and flowery for girls, Thomas the train for boys.

Gender roles straight from the 1950s.

In the top two boxes the boy is the farmer, the girl drives a pink flowery convertible. In the lower boxes, the girl has a pink fluffy caravan and the boy drives a dump truck.

However, there were also some great non-gender-limiting options:

Playskool understands that boys and girls can practice walking on the same toys - no need to gender this.

A girl dressed up as a medical Doctor with no pinkification! (Thus 'allowing' both boys and girls to play with this set).

Points for Playdoh. All their packaging is gender-neutral and portrays both boys and girls in a variety of activities.

A boy and a girl playing together - an image that was very rare to see on toy packaging.

(No other 'zones' were labelled, so the following categories are ones that I have used)

Puzzles and games

Of all the different types of toys, I would have thought that this genre would have the least need to be gendered. Apparently not. I think the biggest issue with gendering things like this is that it strongly discourages cross-gender play. Unfortunately I feel that few four year old boys would want to play with the pinkified versions of these games. By then, for many boys the gender message has been well and truly absorbed.

Games: One pink, two blue. Party Party Party: "Pick up your handbag and race to the party!" Walk The Plank: "All the pirates race together to raid the treasure chest" What's The Time Me Wolf: "Race through the forest, but watch out for the hungry wolf! A fun strategy game"

Games: One green, one pink. On Safari: Three jungle friends to make and play. Pretty Ponies: "Three cute ponies to style and show".

Games: One pink, one blue. Little Mermaids: Sparkle and shimmer your way to the mermaid party". Pesky Pirates: "Fill your pirate chest with the most treasure".

A classic board game, that now apparently needs to be split between boys and girls.

Barbie Snakes & Ladders. Another classic board game, although this version should be more accurately called "Pearls and Bows". "Climb the bows! Slide down the pearls!"

Outdoor toys

Fishing rods: Transformers for your son, Barbie for your daughter.

Of all the genius marketing ideas throughout time, ensuring all bikes are obviously gendered has to be one of the best. Bike companies do all they can to ensure that parents have to fork out money for a new bike for each child of a different gender.

A WINNER from Little Tikes! Gender neutral packaging PLUS an image of a boy and a girl playing together!  

*calm down Rachel, keep in mind how ODD it is that this is so rare!*

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Building and Science Sets

These were located in the area I think a child would describe as the 'Boys' Zone' (although there were no actual signs to indicate this). Alongside these sets seemed to be an overwhelming collection of toys based around themes of fighting and violence.  As the mother of a little boy, I am disturbed by the messages these toys give him about what it means to be a man. I could not find a single toy in this area that depicted a boy or a man in a caring or nurturing role. Play is one way children learn about what it means to be an adult as they role-play with the toys provided to them. What are the consequences of raising a generation of boys whose understanding of manhood is based on ninjas, soldiers and Avengers?

Duplo for preschoolers. It comes in packaging that appears to be either for girls, boys and gender-neutral.

Meccano. Interesting to note the different contents of the packaging. What is it with pinkified things and flowery convertible cars?!

Lego display. This is their non-gendered display (as opposed to the 'Friends collection mentioned earlier). I can't help but think through the mere existence of the 'Friends' collection, if I was a little girl I would describe this Lego display as 'for boys'.

A clearly gendered display of science sets.

My little adventure into the toy store was both depressing and comforting. 

Depressing because of the overwhelming number of gender-limiting options out there. I imagined my four year old son Sol being let loose in that store to explore and admire the toys available to him. He would be confronted with SO MANY gender-limiting stereotypes. He would be presented with a very clear picture of what it is to be a girl, and what it is to be a boy. Both of these definitions are very narrow, and he would quickly realise it was high time he dumped all of his female friends.

I would label very few of the toys in this shop inherently "bad or "wrong", but it's the overwhelming message they present en masse, and also the stark reality of what is missing.  I managed to find three images of girls and boys playing together IN THE WHOLE STORE. Research shows that cross-gender play in childhood increases the likelihood of more healthy romantic relationships in the teen years, yet it seems that marketers are doing all they can to prevent this.  

Comforting because I realised that, if I searched hard enough I could find toys and games that were not gender-limiting. There are options out there for parents willing to take the time to find them. Some companies are still marketing their product to both genders, and although many had fallen into the highly-gendered trap, a number still offered a 'gender neutral' option alongside their gendered stuff. For this, I am heartened, and this quote comes to mind:  "Don't tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I'll tell you what they are." - James W. Frick 

Childhood lasts for such a precious short time, let's not shorten this further by placing limitations on who and what our children can be.  Let's not allow the financial motivations of toy companies have any part in how our children define themselves.  Let's give our children the time and the space to explore and experience their world without being limited to what pop culture dictates is "right" for their gender.