How is 2011 can we have these toys for girls?

[hotsauceman]

Ok. So i was killing time looking at the toy section at K-mart trying to think of what to get my nieces and nephews for there upcoming birthdays. I was in the girls section. I saw the typical fanfare(barbies,Baby doll and cooking toy etc.) When i saw a line of "Her first" toys. What i saw appalled me. "Her first Vacuum cleaner","Her first washer and dryer" and "her first refrigerator" all of them functional item from what i could see. I was just there speechless trying to process who came up with these idea and who would buy them for there daughters. I wrote in a paper awhile back about how toys are used to prepare kid for what is expected of them. And this just seems to prepare little girls for housework.

 

[Aidinthel]

What i saw appealed me.

Ordinarily I wouldn't bother correcting typos, but this is an important one. You mean "appalled", which the opposite of what you have.

OT: I agree. It's really sad that at least one toy company is apparently still stuck in the 50s. I'd generally like to think that we'd moved past that sort of thing.

 

[Woodsey]

I'd say the "Her First" part is the issue; but then that's not something the kids pick up on.

But, y'know, kids like playing with that stuff. Little girls especially. So... they're gonna sell it. I don't think me playing with Action Men (and definitely not any Barbies when I was 3... ahem) or toy guns reinforced anything particularly.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

...So? The name is stupid I guess, but little girls LIKE that stuff.What you play with as a little kid doesn't necessarily reflect who you'll be twenty years from then.

 

[Richardplex]

I'd say the "Her First" part is the issue; but then that's not something the kids pick up on.

But, y'know, kids like playing with that stuff. Little girls especially. So... they're gonna sell it. I don't think me playing with Action Men (and definitely not any Barbies when I was 3... ahem) or toy guns reinforced anything particularly.

Because action figures =/= dolls, right?

OT: it's up to the parents /kids to decide whether or not they want them. So I don't have any real issue with it, although it is on pretty grey territory on this.

 

[Woodsey]

I'd say the "Her First" part is the issue; but then that's not something the kids pick up on.

But, y'know, kids like playing with that stuff. Little girls especially. So... they're gonna sell it. I don't think me playing with Action Men (and definitely not any Barbies when I was 3... ahem) or toy guns reinforced anything particularly.

Because action figures =/= dolls, right?

OT: it's up to the parents /kids to decide whether or not they want them. So I don't have any real issue with it, although it is on pretty grey territory on this.

They're manly dolls! Manly I tells ya!

 

[hotsauceman]

I'd say the "Her First" part is the issue; but then that's not something the kids pick up on.

But, y'know, kids like playing with that stuff. Little girls especially. So... they're gonna sell it. I don't think me playing with Action Men (and definitely not any Barbies when I was 3... ahem) or toy guns reinforced anything particularly.

Its that fact that toys teach kids how they are expected to behave. Women in our society still(even if they have a full time job and our married) are still the ones who do a mjority of work in the house. There is this quote i wish i could remember who said it but it went like this "Men have wives,Women don't" Basically men(although it is changing) are not the ones who are expected to clean so much anymore. It is still a womens job petty much sadly

 

[Tiger Sora]

Well though they could certainly come up with much better toys for girls. It really hasn't changed any-bit on the male side either. 50+% of all toys made for males are fighting oriented. It's pretty set in stone for what toys are going to be made for kids of either gender, more leeway on the boys side though.

 

[Rubucopter]

I think that it has to do with the fact that learning has a lot to do with imitation and little girls, not always girls, want to be like their parents and that means cleaning and cooking.

 

[Apollo45]

I see no issues. Now go make me a sammich.

Seriously though, I'm not sure I see anything wrong with the products. Easy bake ovens are the shit, and I'm a guy. Plus I'd kill to have a functioning refrigerator in my room. That might just be me, but whatever. The vacuum might be a little much, but cooking stuff? Sounds fine to me. Only issue I'm seeing is in the name, with the "Her First", but what can you do? No use getting offended at something like that, just don't buy it.

On another note, they also need to make a "His First Brewery" set. I would totally buy that for my kids.

 

[Lonan]

Moral fibre is determined by the almighty dollar.
-Andrew Ryan

(Made up quote, please don't sue me 2K)

 

[SammiYin]

That's pretty funny actually.
Sorry I'm a terrible person, I wouldn't read too much into it man, children emulate their parents, and if a girl sees her mother using an oven she's going to want to as well? I don't know I'm not a child psychologist, but I imagine it's along those lines.

 

[debossman21]

well this is there world we live in, one massive patriarchy, even at birth

On another note, they also need to make a "His First Brewery" set. I would totally buy that for my kids.

forget my kids, im buying this for ME!

 

[hotsauceman]

Seriously though, I'm not sure I see anything wrong with the products. Easy bake ovens are the shit, and I'm a guy. Plus I'd kill to have a functioning refrigerator in my room. That might just be me, but whatever. The vacuum might be a little much, but cooking stuff? Sounds fine to me. Only issue I'm seeing is in the name, with the "Her First", but what can you do? No use getting offended at something like that, just don't buy it.

On another note, they also need to make a "His First Brewery" set. I would totally buy that for my kids.

Ok. So you find nothing wrong with buying your daughter A WASHER AND DRYER for play? And there is reason why to be offended. Gender issues as a whole is why nerd culture is not accepted as a whole in the mainstream culture and media and why some people get picked on.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

thats not as bad as: this shit [http://www.cracked.com/article_19288_8-weirdly-sexual-products-you-wont-believe-are-kids.html]
theres a stripper pole. for your possibly-8 year old daughter. i like to imagine the people buying these products are either arrested as suspected peadophiles.

 

[GrandmaFunk]

...I wrote in a paper awhile back about how toys are used to prepare kid for what is expected of them. And this just seems to prepare little girls for housework.

well, are you appalled because they're marketing these to girls, or because they aren't marketing them to boys as well?

personally i think the bigger issue is that if your kids think housework is fun, you should just get them to do the real thing =)

 

[Grabbin Keelz]

I overheard a co-worker talking about a breastfeeding baby doll for children...really?

 

[Oracle144]

I agree. That's downright awful. When I have kids, I'm just going to buy them toys that look fun, regardless of their gender and regardless of the gender that the toy is marketed for.

I'd say the "Her First" part is the issue; but then that's not something the kids pick up on.

But, y'know, kids like playing with that stuff. Little girls especially. So... they're gonna sell it. I don't think me playing with Action Men (and definitely not any Barbies when I was 3... ahem) or toy guns reinforced anything particularly.

It is absolutely something kids pick up on. Maybe they don't read the words "Her first". But they see the pink packaging, pastel tones, commercials, and the little girl on the box, and they know exactly who this toy is "supposed to be" for. It isn't necessarily going to make little girls want to do housework all their lives, but it IS going to send them the message that it's what women should do. That it's something they should aspire to. Consciously or not, it will affect them.

It affects boys too. And demonstrating that is a no brainer. You said it yourself. "Definitely not any Barbies". Why not? Well, because Barbies are unquestionably marketed towards girls. And girls toys tend to be kinda lame compared to boys toys, just because toy companies think that girls will only like stereotypical stuff.

It's not that toys necessarily determine what a person will be interested in as an adult. But toys DO perpetuate gender stereotypes better than pretty much anything else.

And no matter how much parents try to teach their kids that men and women are equal, and that they can be whatever they want when they grow up, they're going to get the opposite messages from society. Even if parents buy them an equal mix of girl and boy toys, they're going to end up with more of their own gender's toys. Largely because of relatives who don't know what to get them.

So OP, I'm sure it doesn't even need to be said, but please get your niece something cool. =P

 

[Sticky Squid]

What's wrong with that?
I would have loved a toy oven as a kid and I'm a guy.

 

[fletch_talon]

A man with a job is just doing what he's supposed to.
A woman with a job is an independant strong individual etc. etc.

A woman who works around the house, caring for the children and relying on the husband's income is a good wife and a caring mother.
A man who works around the house, caring for the children and relying on the wife's income is a lazy bastard who needs to get off his arse and get a job.

Or so society seems to tell us.

Toys probably can be an influence on a child's future, but not by much. I played with trucks and cars as a child, I have 0 interest in cars now (rather odd for a male my age). I also had a baby doll (omg a girl's toy) but have little interest in having children (at the moment).

Many young girls seem to enjoy playing with replica household items, its simply the way of things, whether its society's influence or some other factor. Many young boys (though I'd say fewer than girls) also enjoy playing with such toys, so in the end, this company is only hurting themselves by cutting their customer base in half.