Toys

When I was a child, my parents let me/encourage me to play with toys that interested me. They never said, "That's for boys, not girls. You're a girl." My grandmother used to get toys for me and my two cousins - she'd get the two younger girls dolls and me some kind of stuffed animal because she knew and understood I wasn't interested in dolls. I liked footballs and He-Man and GI Joe and Legos. Today, I was walking through Wal-Mart's toy section. Did you know that there are now products that have traditionally been stereotyped as "boy" toys being made in pink with flowers on them and sold in the section with the Barbies? Nerf makes dart guns that are smaller and have pink, floweredy darts. And Lego makes pink Lego sets of things like doll houses and kitchen sets. Are we really so gender-biased that we can't let girls play with regular Nerf products if they are interested? Can we not encourage girls who want to build to use Lego sets that are designed for robots and spaceships that come in the regular Lego section? And does all of this mean that if a boy wants to play with something pink that there is something wrong with him? Or if he wants the Barbie doll next to the pink Nerf gun - what then? I have a friend who is trying to rear her children free of gender bias. At home, they have no problems, but at school - what's being taught? What's being reinforced? Will the little boy who carries his toy cars in a pink purse be able to carry his purse to school in a few years? He is in ballet class and at age 3, this is fine. How long will he be able to continue in ballet without societal repurcussions? At least his parents are prepared and are supportive and are reinforcing his identity development appropriately at home. Creativity, learning, expression, and activity - those characteristics are what's important - not pink or blue.