Boy Based Commercials
Rather than domesticity, commercials that feature boys contain violent images. For example, in the commercial for “Power Rangers Super Megaforce Double Battle Figures” there are images of ‘blasters’ and ‘swords’, with the Power Rangers fighting ‘evil’ (Bandai 2014). The voice in the commercial is male, and the intended audience for Power Ranger is clearly young boys. The voice says things like “fire your blaster and swing your sword,” as well as “you’re armed and ready!” (Bandai 2014). This is teaching the young boys who want these toys to be violent, and to destroy ‘evil’. There is another commercial that features many young men who are playing with Nerf guns. This commercial is for the “Nerf Zombie Strike Slingfire Blaster,” so the advertisement discusses things like its accuracy and its “quick load lever action” (Hasbro 2014). This is all encouraging of violence among boys. To go further, the commercial starts with a young man going up to his friends saying “Hey guys, look at this blaster” and with the friends telling him that it’s awesome (Hasbro 2014). This interaction shows boys that they will be accepted socially if they too have this blaster and have violent behavior, which can lead to them mimicking the violent behavior. ORGANIZATION OF TOY STORES AND WEBSITES The way that toy stores and toy store website organize their toys reinforce the belief that there are toys specifically for girls, and toys that are specifically for boys. This organization of toys helps to categorize toys based on gender, which then allows for the reinforcement of gender stereotypes, based on the toys that are found in each category, or section. Toy Store Organization Upon finding the toy section in Walmart I noticed two large signs hanging above the section. On the right, there was a sign that read “Boys,” while on the left, the sign read “Girls.” In doing this they restrict the toys located in each section to one gender or the other. There was no sign that read “Gender Neutral.” This means that a child’s choice of toys often reflects how the toy store has organized their toy section, and the gender that the child belongs to, which according to these stores can only be ‘boy’ or ‘girl’. The issue with this is that most children do not even realize that gender role stereotypes are being reproduced in toys (Weinraub, Clemens et al. 1984). Even when there are not giant signs hanging above toy sections it is obvious which section is being marketed to girls, and which is being marketed to boys, because a ‘girl’ section is mainly pink, and other pastel colors, while a ‘boy’ section has dark colors like blue and black. When looking into these two separate sections the toys being sold in them were exactly what one would expect. In the ‘girl’ section, at Target, there were Barbies, baby dolls, Disney princesses and other Disney products, a small …show more content…
One reason this may be is because “[boys] are less likely to cross gender lines than girls” (Auster & Mansbach 2012, 375). However, in some cases this can lead to a patriarchal like reproduction in gender neutral toys. For example, at Target, the “Melissa and Doug” brand has several gender neutral toys. Among them there are six dress up outfits with a picture of a little boy and a little girl wearing the outfits to signify their gender neutrality. If it wasn’t for the picture of the little girl wearing the outfits as well it would seem that they were just dress up clothes for little boys. This is because the outfits offered were a doctor, head chef, firefighter, police chief, pirate, and construction worker, which are all typically male dominated. While it is nice that girls are being shown that they can do these things, it is hard not to notice that there is no stereotypical female outfit available to boys, like a nurse. It seems as if girls are expected to want to be like men because they are in some way superior, according to the patriarchal society we live in. Gender neutral toys hold the answer to avoiding gender stereotypes in toys, but in order for that to be truly effective the toys must not lean toward one
Rather than domesticity, commercials that feature boys contain violent images. For example, in the commercial for “Power Rangers Super Megaforce Double Battle Figures” there are images of ‘blasters’ and ‘swords’, with the Power Rangers fighting ‘evil’ (Bandai 2014). The voice in the commercial is male, and the intended audience for Power Ranger is clearly young boys. The voice says things like “fire your blaster and swing your sword,” as well as “you’re armed and ready!” (Bandai 2014). This is teaching the young boys who want these toys to be violent, and to destroy ‘evil’. There is another commercial that features many young men who are playing with Nerf guns. This commercial is for the “Nerf Zombie Strike Slingfire Blaster,” so the advertisement discusses things like its accuracy and its “quick load lever action” (Hasbro 2014). This is all encouraging of violence among boys. To go further, the commercial starts with a young man going up to his friends saying “Hey guys, look at this blaster” and with the friends telling him that it’s awesome (Hasbro 2014). This interaction shows boys that they will be accepted socially if they too have this blaster and have violent behavior, which can lead to them mimicking the violent behavior. ORGANIZATION OF TOY STORES AND WEBSITES The way that toy stores and toy store website organize their toys reinforce the belief that there are toys specifically for girls, and toys that are specifically for boys. This organization of toys helps to categorize toys based on gender, which then allows for the reinforcement of gender stereotypes, based on the toys that are found in each category, or section. Toy Store Organization Upon finding the toy section in Walmart I noticed two large signs hanging above the section. On the right, there was a sign that read “Boys,” while on the left, the sign read “Girls.” In doing this they restrict the toys located in each section to one gender or the other. There was no sign that read “Gender Neutral.” This means that a child’s choice of toys often reflects how the toy store has organized their toy section, and the gender that the child belongs to, which according to these stores can only be ‘boy’ or ‘girl’. The issue with this is that most children do not even realize that gender role stereotypes are being reproduced in toys (Weinraub, Clemens et al. 1984). Even when there are not giant signs hanging above toy sections it is obvious which section is being marketed to girls, and which is being marketed to boys, because a ‘girl’ section is mainly pink, and other pastel colors, while a ‘boy’ section has dark colors like blue and black. When looking into these two separate sections the toys being sold in them were exactly what one would expect. In the ‘girl’ section, at Target, there were Barbies, baby dolls, Disney princesses and other Disney products, a small …show more content…
One reason this may be is because “[boys] are less likely to cross gender lines than girls” (Auster & Mansbach 2012, 375). However, in some cases this can lead to a patriarchal like reproduction in gender neutral toys. For example, at Target, the “Melissa and Doug” brand has several gender neutral toys. Among them there are six dress up outfits with a picture of a little boy and a little girl wearing the outfits to signify their gender neutrality. If it wasn’t for the picture of the little girl wearing the outfits as well it would seem that they were just dress up clothes for little boys. This is because the outfits offered were a doctor, head chef, firefighter, police chief, pirate, and construction worker, which are all typically male dominated. While it is nice that girls are being shown that they can do these things, it is hard not to notice that there is no stereotypical female outfit available to boys, like a nurse. It seems as if girls are expected to want to be like men because they are in some way superior, according to the patriarchal society we live in. Gender neutral toys hold the answer to avoiding gender stereotypes in toys, but in order for that to be truly effective the toys must not lean toward one