Research_in_Action

Gender Roles Diana Clark PSY 101 April 2, 2012 Lisa Tobler Gender Roles The toy store I recently visited was Toys R Us, and it was interesting on how the stereotypical gender roles were right in front of my eyes because children only learn from what they are taught as infants. Toy stores are dividing, games, movies, and toys into two categories, boys, and girls. Through the dividing of toys by gender, boys learn “warrior-like” behavior, and the girls are taught to nurture. The toys that represent popularity in the toy store were “Spiderman” action figures, “The Care Bears,” “Legos,” and the “View master.” Girl’s toys stress physical beauty and appearance but boy’s toys focus on respect for boys physical abilities” (Campenni, 122). Toys are teaching and reinforcing differences socially through gender roles. Understanding what type of influence toys portray on our youngsters start with gender socialization. “Gender refers to the socio-cultural dimensions of being female or male” (Maccoby, 6). According to Soroka, “Human beings are not born with any pre-existing knowledge of, or orientation to, their world. What we come to feel about life and about ourselves, we learn through socialization, the social mechanisms through which gender development occurs.” In the hospital, when babies are born gender socialization is an encounter for the first time when the nurse places a “blue” or “pink” cap on his or her head. According to Bryjal, “By the time children are 3 to 4 years old, they have already formed an image of themselves as boy or girl” (Bryjal, 214). Bryjal and Soroka also claim, “Preparation for a future adult role often entails learning about activities that are appropriate for members of one’s sex. Learning to be an adult, thus, translates into learning to be a proper adult man or adult women” (Soroka, 215). Society sets the mold of a “proper” adult, through stereotypical, and gender views. I found that “Sesame Street,” and “Fisher Price,” manufacture toys for children younger than four that are neutral for genders. When I went into “Toys R Us” they divide the toys into a blue section for “boys,” and a “pink” section for girls. The store aisles contained color differences for boys and girls as well, “which the most popular girl color by 95% was pink, yellows, whites, lavender, pastels, and reds. Conversely, the boy’s aisles had an array of blue the most popular “boys” color by 95% as well, green, red, gray, black, and brown” (Our Survey). I saw that the female side of the store was bigger than the male side that stereotypes that women are materialistic and men are not. Little girls are more capable of purchasing dolls, sets of kitchen stuff, and beauty products. Boys purchase weapons, action figures, and vehicles that are fast. According to Estelle Campenni, “Boys have shown to prefer more vehicles, weapons, and spatial-temporal items while the girls request more dolls, domestic items, and musical instruments around the Christmas season” (Campenni, 122). Toys teach young girls that their role is in the home through toys like, “My Little Helper Stove,” “2-in-1 Vacuum Set,” and they learn the role of nurturing children through toys like, “Baby Alive,” and “My Sweet Home Doll.” The pictures on the packaging tell the child the importance of her “role.” The perfect example was on the box of “Baby Alive,” it said, “Without you, Baby Alive could not survive. Through your love and support Baby Alive can be just like you.” This type of message leads girls to believe that survival of a child can only happen with her providing love and care, stereotyping that a woman’s place is in the home to care for children. My biggest concern was toys that teach girls to obsess with their appearance for the acceptance in society. A statement proves it well, “Societies have produced idealized images of beauty as a means of identifying what they are not” (US News, 40). Mattel started this behavior when they invented “Barbie” that is partly responsible for the picture perfect “standard of beauty” girls learn. “With her leggy, busty figure and body measurements that would make it impossible for her to stand up in real life, “Barbie” is available in an assortment of races, colors, and professions, to appeal to any background” (Borger, 1). Through “Barbie’s” image, girls believe that perfection, beauty, and to be socially accepted she must be thin, big busted, and happy. There is even a “workout” tape to stay in shape, which puts messages in little girl’s minds that thin and only thin is acceptable. I saw toys such as, “Glamour Girl Set,” “Barbie Dress up Set,” “Manicure Mania,” “Super Hair Creations,” and “Scent Salon Boutique,” to gain image that personal appearance is acceptable in society. The last thing I saw in the “girl’s” section, of “Toys R Us,” were the games that include, “Girl Talk,” “Electronic Dream Phone,” “Barbie’s Virtual Make Over,” and “Dream Date Match Maker Service” that showed gender stereotyping. “The main difference between boys and girls games is that girl’s games do not challenge the mind, rather, they only expand on gender stereotypes. Games made for girls teach them to sit and play quietly, under the stereotype that girls are better at simple repetitive task” (Maccoby, 6). Educator, Jaclyn states “Young girls are not specifically encouraged to participate in active activities, and are encouraged to be careful” (Maccoby, 6). The toys are teaching young girls that their “roles” are to be inside the home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the young, all the while looking beautiful for those in the outside world. It is teaching girls that their gender role is not superior of the male. Society is suggesting that values of young boys are more highly than girls through toys on the market today. Campenni says, “Interestingly it appears that there may be more stereotyping regarding toys offered to boys. For their sons, parents tend to choose more masculine and gender-neutral toys, than female toys” (Campenni, 131). The boys section of “Toys R Us” had toys like “Small Soldiers Action Figures,” “Small Soldier Karate Fighters,” “Star Wars Double Take Death Kit,” and “WWF Ring Warriors Wrestling Kit,” that encourages aggressive behavior and compete against dominance of being masculine. “Masculine traits associated with these toys are aggressive, active, dominant, and competitive” (Campenni). Toys like this reflect a message that violence solves problems, which causes negative behavior when they are young. Boys learn through these types of toys to be active, assertive, and that association of violence and war are acceptable in society. They believe that being strong and “Warrior like” is the way to manhood. “These particular toys have become so popular due to the stereotype that all boys show more aggressive behavior than girls” (Swanson, 56). Psychologists have proven that approval from peers is based on these types of toys because it is “appropriate to their sex.” Boy’s toys prepare them for the “real world” jobs teaching him that physically, mentally, and stereotypically they will have higher paying employment. One example is, the “Electronic Rescue Center,” Police Communication System,” “Emergency Action Set,” “Police Helmet and Vest Set,” “My Carry Along Brief Case,” and “Fire Rescue Power Crane,” all teach young boys the importance of an occupation outside of the home, teaching boys that masculinity leads them to careers such as policemen, lawyers, fire fighter, and even doctors.” A popular masculine toy, “My Tool Kit” teaches boys coordination and problem-solving skills needed to survive in the outside world. Manufacturers make these boy’s toys under the stereotype that boys excel at task that require higher levels of cognition” (Developmental Psychology). The games and building sets for the boy’s encourage higher education and technical skills needed to be successful in dominating career fields. They were toys like, “The Erector Set,” “Challenge Building System,” “Deluxe Solar System Kit,” “X-Force Put Together Defense Station,” leading mentally to stimulation, and teaching problem-solving and coordination upon playing with these types of games. Boys are taught to explore and experiment through toys, and games leaving them to become socially accepted through these types of behaviors. Swanson opinion is these toys, “Promote active participation in the outside world, helping to establish a feel for our future world of science and technology” (Our Survey). Gender is based on stereotypical activities not allowing exploration of differences because society expects children to abide through their own gender-biased toys. Girls and boys show differences physically but as a young child, mentally they are the same concerning playing. Swanson says, “Before adolescence boys and girls are more alike than different in biology and attitudes” (Swanson, 1999). Society defines “appropriate” gender roles, which led to eliminating cross gender play. Cognitive and social skills play a part in the stereotyping of gender biased toys, making girls to have low self esteem and not achieve their highest goals. The boys may become overachievers and feel lose of self esteem if they are not “adequate”. In conclusion, toys teach, and reinforce stereotypical gender roles in society today. According to psychologist Swanson, “Boys are doctors, Girls are Nurses. Boys are football players, girls are cheer leaders. Boys invent things, girls use the things boys invent. Boys fix things, girls need things fixed. Boys are presidents, Girls are first ladies” (Swanson, 12). I believe that parents should encourage their children gender-neutral and cross-gender play at an early age to prevent the role of stereotyping. We all want our children to become successful adults and behave correctly in society but it starts at home with our teaching children that the differences cannot be biased. References Borger, Gloria. “Barbie’s Newest Values.” US News and World Report 1 Dec. 1997, 40 Bryjal, George J. and Micheal P. Soraka. Sociology: Cultural Diversity in a Changing World. Ed. Karen Hanson. City: Ally & Bacon, 1997. 209-245 Campenni, C. Estelle. “Gender Stereotyping of Children’s Toys: A Comparison of Parents and Nonparents”. Sex Roles. 40 (1999) Macoby and Jaclyn. “Gender .” Developmental Psychology. Vole:(1996) O’Brien M. and A.C. Huston. “Development of Sex Typed Play Behavior in Toddlers.” Developmental Psychology. 21 (1985) “Our Survey on Color and Toys. “Toys, Colors, and the Invisible Sexism. Internet. Swanson, Janese. “What’s the Differences'” Raising Healthy Daughters. Internet http://www.girltech.com 4/9/99