Sexism Toys
Do you ever notice how your child always picks toys by the gender? Do you ever notice how in commercial the toys are meant for a certain gender? For example, toy guns are for males/boys and dolls are for females/girls. These toys tell the children their place and what to play with. For example popular toys such as “My Sweet Home” doll set, “Baby Born” doll, “My Little Helper Stove," "2-in-1 Vacuum Set," and the popular "Elegant Tea Set," young girls learn that their roles take place at home. They learn that their duties are household chores and nurturing children. However, what the stores don’t tell these young girls is that they can be or do anything they want like go into the work world, or travel the world. The descriptions on many of the packages tell the child the importance of their "roles."
Young girls toys show that they must stay home and play quietly with themselves. On the other hand, boys learn that they can’t play with Barbie dolls or any type of dolls, they can’t dissent upon the society or they will be corrected by their parents or whoever is with them. Young boys tend to choose more masculine and gender-neutral toys. Most masculine toys encourage competitive and aggressive behavior, but are also more constructive. Some of these toys reflect negativity because they send a message that violence can solve problems. They learn that they must be strong and warrior like in order to be accepted a man. Some companies divide toys into a blue section for boys and a pink section for girls. But there are other companies that don’t have sexism occurring through children toys such as "Sesame Street," and "Fisher Price," they manufacture gender-neutral toys to children who are younger than four years of age. I have to agree that that an uneven message has been sent about young children in our society. I think parents should encourage cross gender and gender-neutral play in children at an early age to prevent the separation from girls playing with boy toys and boys playing with girl toys.
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