Characteristics of Gendered toys

Characteristics of gendered toys?

            The toys found in this particular study show the characteristic of the toys being played with, and how children develop sex role stereotypes from gendered toys.  The toys children are playing with (that are gender typed), are telling the children what type of role they should be playing among society, and what’s expected of them. 

            The question is, are any of these gendered typed toys educational?  Are the strongly gendered toys optimal for development?  Do they serve a purpose, other than placing kids into categories by what’s considered female play and male play?  Also how are they different from one another, and what type of message do they send?

            The study that I choose used 26 different characteristics to describe the toys as either strongly masculine, moderately masculine, neutral, moderately feminine, and strongly feminine.  What was interesting about this study is some of the neutral toys also fell into the group of moderately masculine toys.  So another words the neutral toy was really, partly considered a boy toy.

            The study showed that boys have more opportunities to learn with the toys they play with.  Some of their toys are educational in the sense that they promote cognitive skills and intellectual skills.  Most of the boys’ toys come with directions for use, or require adult supervision.  Boys’ toys also develop physical skills and promote competition. Although these are positive characteristics of these toys, boys’ toys also promote violence and risky behavior.

            Most of the girls’ toys involved in the study showed that girls’ toys provide experiences that encourage nurturance and domesticity.  Girls are also taught about appearances and attractiveness through girl typed toys.

            The study showed more toys falling into the moderately masculine category providing experiences for physical, cognitive and artistic learning, and the strongly gendered typed toys were less supportive for optimal development. 

            This study only reinforces the stereotype that men should be strong, supportive, masculine (the top dog, or whatever you wish to call it), and women need to be concerned with taking care of a house, the kids, and the top dog all at the same time.  Strongly gendered girls toys (baby dolls and easy bake ovens) provide no experiences for future success in any field. While the strongly gendered boys toys (science kits and construction material) provide many avenues in which to venture.

           The video below reinforces the stereotypical characteristics found in the toys done in this study.

Blakemore, J., & Centers, R. E. (2005). Characteristics of boys' and girls' toys. Sex Roles, 53(9-10), 619-633. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-7729-0