Now that I’m the mom of a one-year-old girl, I must admit that I see things differently. In the days B.C. (Before Carly), I’d analyze advertising because I’m just wired that way — it’s the English & journalism majors in me. But now, they take on even more meaning.
Take, for example, the new Toys ‘R Us “Our Biggest Toy Book Ever!” that came in the mail yesterday (with “up to $5000 in savings!” — over what I don’t know, but there it is).
This “book” is really 80 pages of junk mail with two staples through its middle. And, boy oh boy — and girl oh girl — is it full of stereotypes.
Background: Yes, I love to analyze. But I also like to point these things out to my students — these slightly subliminal things we do notice but don’t take any note of. For example, gender. This catalog would be a great study on how gender stereotypes are perpetuated in our young children.
The usual suspects are of course there — boys driving cars, girls playing house; boys’ backgrounds in blue, girls’ in pink (even the tabs on the sides of the pages). But there are more, subtle ones.
The kitchen/cooking scenes are my favorites (pages 54 & 55). On first glance, you see (WOW!) boys and girls playing together on pink-tabbed pages. However, look closer at the four set-ups.
1) In the Step 2 50’s Diner, two girls and a boy play. One girl is cooking, while the other girl sits at the booth with the boy.
2) In the Fisher-Price Grow With Me Kitchen, there are three kids — a little girl in the inset whipping up something yummy at the kitchen, just like her bigger-sized counterpart in the main image. The boy is on a phone holding a shopping cart with one hand.
3) The third scene, around the Little Tikes Deluxe Wooden Kitchen & Laundry Center, features two girls — one ironing and the other talking on a phone over a pot with a spoon sticking out of it.
4) The final set — Little Tikes Sizzle & Serve Kitchen with BBQ — has a girl and boy cooking up fun. The girl’s holding a plate with a plastic hot dog (in bun) and what looks like corn; the boy stands at the BBQ, spatula in hand.
See a pattern here? All the girls are doing very domestic things. The boys are doing things that are less domestic. The only one that may buck the trend is the little boy with the cell phone and the shopping cart. But, he’s not really behind the cart, merely holding it with one hand as he stands off to the side of it.
Did I mention that ALL the girls — six of them — are wearing something pink, while the three boys are each wearing red?
Boys seeing this know that it’s ok to play with the girls’ toys as long as they’re not really doing “mom” stuff like cooking or ironing. Sitting and eating is ok. Grilling is “man’s” work. And “I guess if I HAVE to go over to Wendy’s house for that play date I can be near the shopping cart, as long as it doesn’t look like I’m actually using it.”
Meanwhile, the girls know their “places” — behind the counter at the diner, in the kitchen, and in the laundry room.
Now, what if I was a girl who actually LIKED to build things? (In my day it was Tinkertoys, Legos, Lincoln Logs.) Nope, can’t do that, girls. At least not according to Toys R Us. Imaginarium’s Marble Mania Genius looks SO COOL — and a boy’s playing with it (page 15). Magnext’s iCoaster? For boys (page 21). Toys R Us even touts their “Largest Collection of Megal Bloks! [and] America’s Biggest K’Nex Selection!” (pages 22-23). Three boys are playing with them. Sorry, girls. “America’s Biggest Selection of LEGO!” on pages 24 & 25. One little boy plays alone. Star Wars, Super Heroes, TV/Movie Heroes — all tabbed blue for boys. It’s like that fort — No Girls Allowed. Stunt sets, robots (ROBOTS — how cool is that?!), and cars? Just for boys. Oh, and anything that runs on a track (including trains). Boys. Boys get the Razor scooters, too. Damn.
You may think I have it in for boys. Not really. I just like to play with trains, cars, trucks, and blocks. And scooters.
Damn.
Girls get such cool stuff though — pink editions of Scrabble, Ouija, Monopoly, UNO, Life, and Twister! They can even get a pink cash register and a pink ATM — because, really, all girls want to do is spend money, right? They, of course, get lots of doll houses and princess houses to choose from — all in various shades of pastel and (you guessed it) pink. Not to mention the baby dolls, ponies (with pink manes), and princesses. Talking nurseries. Barbie, Barbie, and Barbie. And everyone’s favorite: Bratz Magic Hair Color Torso (page 60) — ages 6 and up — complete with hair coloring, glitter, streaking tool, curling iron, and exposed navel. Project Runway design cards. Everything Hannah Montana (if there is a god, HM will be GONE by the time my Carly is 5). And a FREE High School Musical 3 Cheerleader Dress (with any HSM purchase of $40 or more).
Oh, to be a girl!
So let me get this straight — my daughter can’t be a superhero, but she can be a hair stylist for people with bad hair and worse fashion sense? She can’t build things, but she can color in other people’s designs? She can’t use a scooter, but she can play house with plastic babies? And if she wants to play a board game, it should be pink?
And her boy friends — friends who are boys — can’t like baby dolls because they’re too busy building the nursery? They can’t play a (pink) board game because they’re having too much fun riding scooters? And they can’t use the ATM (again, pink) because they’re trying to save the world from Darth Vader?
No fair.
I call bullshit.
I hope my Carly rides over that trampy-ass Bratz head with her Razor scooter on her way to play Star Wars with her boy AND girl friends who play red, blue, yellow, green UNO.
And there’s no way in hell she’s getting into a HSM cheerleader dress.
Free or not.
