Gender Stereotypes In Toys

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Toy aisles are the wonderland of opportunities and possibilities for children from the ages of 2 through “you’re way too old to want to play with that”. These places are full of colors and characters and fun that nearly every child begs their parents to take them to look at all of the new stuff that they’ve probably seen advertised on television or that one of their friends recently got for a birthday or holiday. What these enthusiastic children are unable to see, is that those toys that so magically captivate their attention are really designed for, is to trap the children into gender stereotypes and longing.
As a child, I was unable to recognize the ways that toys were marketed to me as a female. I saw princess dolls from my favorite movies and instantly wanted them. Now that I’m older and educated on marketing strategy, I am able to recognize that children are being duped from all angles. I walked through toy aisles at Walmart and Target and I really focused on the way the toys themselves were posed and what messages they were sending to the children. I was absolutely shocked because the female dolls were so heavily …show more content…
I found a Barbie doll that was supposed to be a nurse and of course she was wearing a short skirt for it. Apparently medical coats are not appropriate for Barbie. Another Barbie I found was a chef, she too was wearing a short skirt and her hair was disgustingly laid above the frying pan. I was horrified, no plastic hairs in my food please. What I found was that most of the girls’ toys center on cooking and cleaning. There were Easy Bakes and Wish I Was vacuums and kitchens and cookware, and brooms, and buckets, and sponges. There was not a single toy marketed to boys that was related to chores. Those were all glorified and advertised to the little girls. Because apparently little girls think they want to be a maid when they grow

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