The GirlAlive Blog

Girls play with what now?

August 20, 2009 on 12:30 pm | In Computers and Web Stuff, Current Events, Life In General | 3 Comments

It is almost my niece and nephew’s second birthday. So the other day I was shopping for toys for
them online, and was greatly annoyed. Why are toys still sorted by boys’ toys and girls’ toys?

I noticed this a while ago when I was perusing the Argos catalog. In the boys’ section they have
cars, construction sets and science toys. In the girls’ section they have dolls and toy cash registers. Cause boys grow up to do the important jobs, and girls have babies and work at McDonalds. (To their credit, the online Argos catalog is not organized this way. Just the print catalog.)

At first I thought it was one of those backwards British things. Most of the girls here want to grow up to be “footballers wives” and have no self-worth or ambition. But this is not a UK phenomenon. It is a worldwide plague. I found the same shameful organizational system at American online stores.

Let’s look at Amazon.com. You can search or browse by types of toys or by price or by age, but look at the top of the page. Boys and girls. (Click on the pictures for a full-size image.)

Here’s the boys’ section. Construction sets, science toys, and action figures.

Here’s the girls’ section. Clothes, dolls, and arts and crafts, every last scrap of it pink.

I don’t have a problem with boys playing with cars and girls playing with dolls, if that’s what they choose to play with. The problem I have is when adults shove these preconcieved gender roles down a child’s throat before they get a chance to learn who they really are and what they really like to do. When I was a kid, I loved my cabbage patch kid, and I always wanted an EZ Bake Oven. But I also loved my microscope and legos and always wanted a rock tumbler. The boy and girl designations of toys bothered me when I was a kid 20+ years ago. Why is it still going on?

Thank you for indulging my rant. By the way, I had an awesome time with my cousins and they are now safely back home in the US.

Alana