Boys' and Girls' Toys

A new Swedish toy catalogue has reversed the traditional gender...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:18:00 -0400

A new Swedish toy catalogue has reversed the traditional gender roles by showing Spiderman pushing a pram, and a young girl riding a toy racecar.

Kaj Wiberg is the CEO of the company behind the catalogue, “Leklust”, and claims that it is time to move forward from old-fashioned gender restrictions.

“Gender roles are an outdated thing,” he told Metro newspaper.

Becoming Me (Full Episode) (by itlmedia) Eight families with...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:20:22 -0400

Becoming Me (Full Episode) (by itlmedia)

Eight families with transgender and gender non-conforming children ranging in ages from 5 to 25 share their stories. With the healthy development of their children at stake, parents must confront binary perceptions of gender, widespread transphobia and controversial parenting decisions.

Why Are Parents Less Likely to Take Little Girls Outside to Play?

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:19:36 -0400

Why Are Parents Less Likely to Take Little Girls Outside to Play?:

Everyone knows the sex stereotypes: boys like to play sports; girls like to play house. These beliefs are so entrenched that even parents have bought in: new research shows that preschool girls are 16% less likely than boys their age to be taken outside by their parents to play. Nearly half of preschoolers don’t venture […]

Video

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:55:13 -0400

Word clouds representing the most common words in boys’...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:50:40 -0400

Word clouds representing the most common words in boys’ and girls’ toy advertisements, respectively. (from The Achilles Effect)

The Trouble With Bright Girls

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:36:00 -0400

The Trouble With Bright Girls:

An article about how the feedback that boys and girls receive from adults may affect the way they perceive their abilities throughout life. Girls are told that they are a certain way: i.e. “smart” or “good”, and believe those attributes to be fundamentally unchangeable (a passive, inborn trait). This causes them to give up more easily on hard tasks because they believe that they fundamentally aren’t good at them. For boys, the emphasis from adults is on effort (an active trait), i.e. “if you just concentrate/sit down, you could do this”, which leads boys to believe that they have the ability to do hard tasks, they just haven’t put their mind to it yet. Thus, the smarter the girl, the more she tends to be unrealistically hard on herself or suffer from self-doubt, while boys maintain assurance that they can achieve things.

Common Barbie bodies…

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:46:54 -0400

Common Barbie bodies…

Toys Receiving Makeovers: New, Improved, Sexy?

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:37:34 -0400

Toys Receiving Makeovers: New, Improved, Sexy?:

Toys for girls, the evolution from the 80s to today.

Pink Is for ...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:17:00 -0400

Pink Is for ...:

A photographic project uses the pink and blue belongings of children to highlight gender and culture.

The LEGO Boys Club - Lego & Gender Part 2 (by...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:16:50 -0500

The LEGO Boys Club - Lego & Gender Part 2 (by feministfrequency)

LEGO Friends - LEGO & Gender Part 1 (by feministfrequency)

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:16:45 -0500

LEGO Friends - LEGO & Gender Part 1 (by feministfrequency)

The “Gendering” of Our Kids’ Toys, and What We Can Do About It

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:57:00 -0500

The “Gendering” of Our Kids’ Toys, and What We Can Do About It:

An interesting article tracing the history of gender in toys. At the turn of the century, gender divisions in toys were practically nonexistent, becoming more evident toward the 60s, and then becoming less evident in the 70s. By the end of the 20th century, though, gender-neutral toys faded from popularity, and toys were marketed as more gender-specific.

(via Playing fair?) Good article on the Guardian that basically...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:35:08 -0500

(via Playing fair?)

Good article on the Guardian that basically supports my problem statement, outlining some of the main problems with toy marketing.

Photo

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:54:43 -0500

Gender in Baby Cards - 1960 (by UMProf) Once Upon a Time, the...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:53:46 -0500

Gender in Baby Cards - 1960 (by UMProf)

Once Upon a Time, the Color Blue Was Permissable for Baby Girls

Gee, Thanks: Marketing Science to Girls by Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:21:17 -0500

Gee, Thanks: Marketing Science to Girls by Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes:

Okay, what’s wrong with this picture? If you guessed the “boys science” and “girls science” thing, then yes — that is what this post is going to be about. Oh, educational toy manufacturers! When will you get it through your smarty-pants heads that getting girls to become interested in science does not have to entail convincing them that “their” science has to be “feminine”? It’s not even the pink, you guys. It’s the segregation. Who’s to say that girls don’t want to take part in “boy science”? My heart weeps for the girls who want to make slime and the boys who want to make crystals.

Study Number One--- Gender Stereotyping of Children's Toys: A Comparison of Parents and Nonparents

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:10:05 -0500

Study Number One--- Gender Stereotyping of Children's Toys: A Comparison of Parents and Nonparents:

In all instances, nonparents’ ratings were more gender stereotyped than parents. This suggests that while interactions between children and adults may not influence what toys are gender appropriate, these parent-child interactions may influence the flexibility of adult perception regarding the degree of gender appropriateness with less extreme emphasis on exclusive categorization of female and masculine toys.

HTML5 Gender Remixer

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:06:05 -0500

HTML5 Gender Remixer:

Audio/video mashup of various boy and girl toys. Nothing groundbreaking, but still fun.

Toy buying can expose children to racial, gender stereotypes, research shows

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:09:06 -0500

Toy buying can expose children to racial, gender stereotypes, research shows:

A short article about a sociologist’s observations of consumers/employees at one large and one small toy store. Not thorough enough on her research methods.

Project Statement as of 2.3.2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:28:17 -0500

Currently, toy advertising toward children is strongly divided into boy and girl toys, teaching only gender-specific skills which limits their full potential in adulthood. The goal of this project is to re-imagine toy categorization in the retail environment so it is based on valuable developmental skills for both genders, rather than on restricting gender stereotypes.