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Gendered marketing for toys makes girls ‘passive princesses’

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Summary of story from Guardian May 9, doctor 2011

The gender-focused marketing of toys reinforces limiting gender stereotypes, remedy argues Kat Arney.

While there is some evidence that girls are naturally more drawn to dolls, malady and boys to cars and balls, Arney says the prevalent separation of toys into distinct boy/girl categories ‘is depriving girls of active toys and games that encourage the development of their spatial and analytical skills.’

And as girls are ‘pushed towards being passive princesses’, boys are correspondingly deprived of ‘opportunities for more social and imaginative play’.

  1. Kashan says:

    I completely agree here. When I was a kid my mom bought me a massive Barbie doll house and Barbies galore. I refused to play with them, I wanted to play with my brothers hot wheels instead. Thankfully my parents allowed me to do so. Some of my friends would call me a tom boy etc for having a preference to matchbox cars and lego and not being all “girly” but what does that mean? I loved my stuffed animal toys and dinky cars, I still love animals and real cars today. I had a male friend on the other hand that couldn’t get enough Barbie and he would come over and play with my otherwise disused doll house.

  2. Karen Whiteley says:

    As the article suggests, there is some evidence that girls are naturally more drawn to dolls and boys to cars and balls. However, as Cordelia Fine so amply demonstrated in her book Delusions of Gender, these studies are themselves influenced by existing gender stereotypes and as such are effectively worthless. Worth remembering when you read stuff like this.

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