The other day before my evening class I swung through a McDonald's drive-thru to grab a quick meal. I ordered a kids chicken nugget meal (because the regular meal is a ten piece and is more than I wanted) and the person taking my order asked if the happy meal was for a boy or a girl. I said it did not matter, and she asked me again "is it for a boy or girl?". Again I said that it did not matter. She told me my total and I drove around to the window to pay. When I did get my kids meal I looked inside and saw that I had received a Hello Kitty toy in the meal. I assume that I was given a "girl's toy" since I am a female. I think this because whenever I go to McDonald's I get a happy meal and I always say that the gender does not matter, yet I can not recall ever being given the "boy's toy".
This interaction reminded me of the part of the reading where the author saw the dad with the stroller on the train and initially could not tell the sex of the child, but as soon as the father put a baseball cap on the child the author said that she thought "Ah, a boy". But then that initial assumption was disrupted by seeing that the child also had pierced ears, flowers on their sneakers, and lace trimmed socks. The interaction reminded me of how the author goes on to discuss the social function of addressing gender roles to children almost immediately when they are born. This interaction seemed to me to be another example of how gender roles are reinforced by society. Though I do not know what the boy toy option was, I doubt it was a Hello Kitty bobble head figure dressed in pink.
The interaction made me wonder, why do toys have to be so gender segregated?
This is interesting to me personally because when I was a kid I had always wanted the "girl toy," and my mother never had any problem with that. I think that toys are gender segregated because its probably just an easier way to advertise. They breaking down the characteristics of a "boy" toy or a " girl" toy to so that its easier to market. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to sell a girls toys to a boys as well-so they stuck with what makes them money, which means having gender segregated products. Generally,people who are unfamiliar with concepts like these do not know what to think and it makes them uncomfortable,which it shouldn't, but that is probably why toys are gender segregated; They do not want to risk marketing products in a way that would make people uncomfortable and then therefore less willing to buy their products.
ReplyDeleteI believe toys are gender separated because its a way to set social norms on things in reference to gender. I myself as a child wanted the girl toys. They seemed more productive. They gave me options whereas for the boy toys I felt like it just influenced me to be wild and dirty and i didn't like that. I wanted to learn how to cook, decorate, hands on activity and for boys that wasn't available to me unless I was playing with Legos or something.
ReplyDeleteThat is funny to me because I had the same idea as a kid, just opposite. I hated girls toys, I thought they were so boring. I hated getting clothes and dolls for Christmas when my brother got a remote controlled race car. When I was younger I was in the girl scouts and hated it because all we did was arts and crafts. I wanted to be a boyscout so I could learn to shoot a bow and arrow, widdle wood with a knife, start a campfire, and go camping. Being out and working with my hands and learning skills like that was so much more appealing to me than making arts and crafts and playing dress up.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of the saying, if you want curly hair you just want straight hair, and if you have straight hair you just want curly hair.