In Depth
Consumers
Guys and dolls
Toy stereotypes are changing
Last Updated December 12, 2006
By Georgie Binks | CBC News
Jeff Renaud experienced a bit of a jolt one day while speaking with a friend.
"I told him I was buying cars for my son and asked him if he was going to give his daughter the same thing," the St. Thomas, Ont. parent recalled. "He replied he was giving her dolls. I was surprised because she loves playing with cars at my house."
At the same time, Renaud, whose son is three, admits "it wouldn't cross my mind to buy my son a doll. I bought him a workman's bench, but my wife bought him a shopping cart. At first, I thought it was weird and then I realized I do all of the grocery shopping."
The rest of the world may be changing when it comes to gender stereotypes, but in Toyland things move as slowly as a crawling baby doll with weak batteries.
Many parents want to break with tradition, but it's still a sea of pink and blue toys, and ads with girls hugging dolls and boys playing with trucks. Surf the Toys "R" Us website and you'll find a section for "Shop by Gender."
Wal-Mart scores higher: It presents its top 10 list of toys — still with dolls and trucks — with no reference to gender.
Patrizia Gentile, who teaches women's studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, finds the look of modern dolls more disturbing than who is playing with them: Take the very popular Bratz dolls, complete with large heads, scantily clad bodies and lots and lots of makeup.
"The Bratz dolls are quite problematic," she says. "They're doing the same thing Barbie did, but the bodies are much thinner and their heads are bigger. I'd be interested in seeing how it affects girls' body image in a few years."
To the credit of the manufacturers, the Bratz line includes a boy doll. Still, call it a doll and you'll be hard pressed to find a parent buying it for their son.
Stereotypes rooted in terminology
Renaud points out that many issues associated with toy stereotypes are rooted in terminology, rather than the design of the playthings themselves.
"I grew up with Star Wars action figures," Renaud said, "but aren't those just tiny dolls? Is an action figure not just a boy name for a doll?"
Jon Levy, co-founder of retailer Mastermind Toys in Canada, says things are starting to change in the toy industry, albeit slowly, as a result of increasing demand.
"People who consider themselves liberal and open-minded will try out toys that offer different play patterns," he says. "We, in turn, carry play kitchens that have less emphasis on pinks and fuchsias.
"We get a lot of requests for Lego for girls. Lego's really Lego for anybody, if you're a builder or a creator. Lego has brought out things for girls, but they haven't been popular enough keep in their regular line."
Deb Hawkes, mother of a son, 12, and a daughter, 5, in Mahone Bay, N.S., says she's "one of those anti-pink, anti-Barbie mothers. My daughter has as much Lego as my son does. She gets a lot of games, books and building toys."
On the other hand, Hawkes admits: "I never bought my son non-traditional toys, but rather building toys that would last."
Levy says that in his experience, younger kids tend to stick with traditional playthings, while older kids are comfortable playing with a variety of different toys. However, he adds: "In the older age group, parents aren't buying dolls for boys, but rather games that might be thought of as boys' games, for girls."
Electronic games a shared passion
Older boys and girls also share a passion for electronic games, but Gentile says they stereotype the genders.
"Girls are playing arcade-type games, where boys are drawn to games with guns and cannons. Definitions of masculinity and femininity are becoming more stark," she says.
"Even in the '60s and '70s that wasn't necessarily the case. I know Barbie and G.I Joe are supposed to be extremes of each other, but they're closer than games kids are playing now."
The Canadian Toy Testing Council's website urges parents not to limit children by providing only one type of toy or play. As well, it says, don't worry about buying the traditional. Mix it up. Give your kids different opportunities when purchasing gifts.
Renaud is philosophical about toy buying.
"Kids end up fighting over who gets to play with the toy first," he says, "I think half the time it doesn't matter if it's a car or a hammer or a doll. If the other one has it, then they want to play with it."
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