Question

Gender in a Children’s Toy Store.

1) Can you detect a boys’ section and a girls’ section? How do you know?

2) How do the toys in the boys’ section and girls’ section differ? (Pay attention to number of toys, types of toys, content of the games, etc.)

3) How are the toys in the boys’ section and girls’ section similar?

What sorts of interactions with other children do the boys’ and girls’ toys encourage? (For example, competition or cooperation? Independence or dependence? Emotional intimacy or distance?)

4) Which toys (boys’, girls’, or both) are designed for active play? Which seem to encourage passive play?

5)For what sorts of adult roles do the boys’ and girls’ toys prepare children?

6) How might these kinds of toys influence boys’ sexual attitudes and behaviors?

7)How might these kinds of toys influence girls’ sexual attitudes and behaviors?

8)How do these observations relate to the social construction of gender?

Answer 1

• Throughout the world, boys and girls prefer to play with different types of toys. Boys typically like to play with cars and trucks, while girls typically choose to play with dolls.
• A traditional sociological explanation is that boys and girls are socialized and encouraged to play with different types of toys by their parents, peers, and the society.It is becoming less and less likely that “gender socialization” is the reason why boys and girls prefer different toys, and more and more likely that there are some genetic, hormonal, and other biological reasons for the observed gender differences in toy preference.
• Toys are also highly gendered. Boys and girls generally have different toys, and it is important to know how those toys impact their development.
• Boys have more spatial–temporal toys,e.g., shapesorting toys, clocks, magnets, outer-space toys; they also have more sports equipment. Girls’ have more more dolls, doll houses, and domestic items.
• Boys are more likely to have experiences with toys that are violent and aggressive and that involve competition, danger, risk, and excitement. Girls are also likely to have experiences that emphasize the importance of attractiveness and appearance. This is found especially in the case for strongly feminine toys.