The follies of today’s toys for girls and boys

Have you ever tried to buy toys for boys or girls who are under the age of 6 or 7? They haven’t changed much in the past few decades- even though the world has. Whilst the change in toys has been evolutionary- better designed and lighter toy cars and dolls that are more baby-like- the change in the world has been fundamental.

The vast majority of the toys available to young girls reinforce outmoded organized stereotypes. Toys for girls are plastic vacuum cleaners, irons, shopping trolleys and so on. And dolls, of course, that cry and other things. They wrongly imply that the role of women in society is not going to change much from one generation to the next- and that daughters will grow up to be housewives just like most of their mothers were.

I refuse to buy such stereotypical toys. Instead, I use the following selection criteria when choosing toys:

Educational- the child should learn something useful from the toy

Gender-neutral- Toys should not be overtly stereotypical- not so much in the color such as pink, but more in the function of the toy itself

Fun. Of course, children respond to the clever and unexpected features of a toy. And they learn most from fun and friendly toys

As such, I get toothbrushes with frog’s heads and suckers for sticking the brush to the bathroom tiles, I buy plastic mobile phones that play tunes when you press the buttons, and "Hello Kitty" branded calculators. I recently saw a toy supermarket complete with fake money, grocery items, conveyor bank, credit card swipe, scales and so on. You may think that food shopping is a female activity and I am reinforcing stereotypes, but I always do the food shopping myself, and enjoy it. Such "unorganized" toys are useful, practical and fun and emphasize the need to clean teeth, communicate, calculate, whilst making these activities colorful and fun to do.

In the twenty-first century, girls will have just as much opportunity to be all that they can be as the little boys playing with their toy cars and action men guns. These toys for boys will have to change too- they are the same sorts of things that my grandfather used to play with- toy cars encourage young boys to drive and race around, the toy soldiers and plastic guns encourage them to play war and so on. None of these activities will be very sustainable or important in the twenty-first century.

My advice to people buying presents for children is don’t perpetuate past follies- you have to look around, but you will find alternative gifts. And my advice to toy manufacturing companies is get with the unorganized world. Lets see some genuine innovation in the toy market- it will be good for everyone- parents, toy manufacturers and children. Lets see toys suited to the unorganized world- after all, it is today’s children who will run the future.

 

Author: Simon Buckingham

What do you think?

To make a comment to the author, send e-mail to simon@unorgan.com