Running Head: GENDER SENSITIVITY IN THE ADVERTISEMENT OF TOYS 1
GENDER SENSITIVITY IN THE ADVERTISEMENT OF TOYS 2
Gender Sensitivity in the Advertisement of Toys
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Gender Sensitivity in the Advertisement of Toys
The rise of feminist activists in the United States of America has led to the elimination of the gender-based toy advertisement. As such, this is a clear evidence that a diversity group may have a very critical impact on advertisements. The argument by these activists is that the toys lead to a social diversity in terms of male and female gender. According to these activists, toys should be toys and they should not have any other connotative meaning which is closely connected to gender inequalities. Basically, these toys are said to limit or inhibit the interests of the children since they are produced according to suitability. As such, there are toys which are suitable for girls and others which are suitable for boys. Arguably, women activists in the USA have clearly indicated the gender biasness brought about by toys and this has been the key to the end of these commercials.
It has been evidenced that the elimination of toy advertisements has been based on the equalities they bring. With one clarion call, these activists have achieved their goal though in phases. Basically, both boys and girls require a change to explore. In this case, they need these toys to learn. However, different stores which sell them are known to divide these toys in the basis gender. As it is known, action, technology as well as construction toys are primarily marketed to boys while those connected to social and aspects of craft are marketed to girls. This seems to bring an aspect of division and alienation between boys and girls.
The female activists in the USA were basically parents who were fighting for the aspect of gender equality in the toy market. The female activists grew from a thread of parenting site in Mums net and these brought different parents together .These female activists parents had been frustrated by the increased cases of gender related marketing and biasness in children promotion. As evidenced, none of this activist was being paid and their clarion call was based on the fact that the issue was relevant to the children and the global female society.
According to Katherine (2012), the toy market has been changing its shape. The growth of marketing has been quite influential in the contact of USA. In this country some regulations around television commercials to children were eliminated in the year 1994.This made toys to have some shows connected to them and this created a very strong connection between advertisement and the toy industry. As evidenced, the young children are very adaptive to aspects of gender stereotyping. This is done at different stages when these children are in their attempt of achieving gender identities.
The campaign by these activists was based on different notions. As such, it was argued that the gender based toys limit children’s interests. A key problem which is associated with these toys is that they limit the interests of children. The argument was that these toys create an aspect of gender stereotypes and this was a very serious social as well as an economic issue. The connection in this was that girl children were only allowed to utilize social toys. As such, an exposure to technological toys was limited and this was of quite an impact to their development. Arguably, girls should also be exposed to some constant messages and aspects of technology, science and also construction. Through this, a basis for their careers will be formed and the same will be used for them to improve. As such, toys are regarded so important for individual formation.
The key slogan which led to the end of these commercial by the female activists was ‘let toys be toys”. These activists highlighted that toys are a means of achieving fun by children, a basis of imagination and creativity and hence children should feel free when playing with these toys. Additionally children whether male or female should be free to choose the toys which interest them most.
The female activists in the USA highlighted the impact of shops on gender biasness. In their campaign, they argued that gender marketing which was specific to either boys or girls had grown quite prevalent. The argument was that popularity of making toy commercials gender neutral had increased. In this case, commercials showed boys playing with baby dolls –dolls which were previously sold to girls only. This was a very big contribution by the activists.
An emphasis was also made between pink and blue colored toys. As for these activists, male children preferred blue toys while female children preferred pink toys. Therefore, color was described as another aspect which contributed to gender inequalities and division between male and female children. The main call from these activists was to remove color related labels from these toys in an attempt to foster equity and eliminate gender based discrimination.
According to these female activists, gender specific toys had some varied negative implications on the lives of the children. These implications were evident in learning and attitudes even beyond the play grounds. As such, these activists encouraged for the use of toys free from gender lines. Girls were therefore recommended to play with masculine toys which are closely associated with large motor development as well as other spatial skills. On the other hand the feminine toys were associated with fine motor development and development of language. According to Cynthia (2010), an elimination of gender specific toys would lead to the creation of toys which foster for the development of both fine and large motor skills.
In the same sense, these activists argued that it was the high time that shops had to stop limiting children’s imagination and creativity. This was derived from the notion that different sellers impacted on the decision of the children by telling them what they needed to play with. There was a clarion call by the female activists that retailers and manufacturers needed to sought, divide and label the toys on the basis of themes and functions and not on the basis of gender. Additionally, these two groups of people had to let different children to decide on their own the toys they enjoyed the most. Basically, the female activists sought to end the gender discrimination from its stem and this stem was the manufacturers and the retailers. As it is known the basis of this discrimination starts at an early age when girls and boys are separated and given divided attention (Sears, 2012)
There was a general knowledge by these activists that boys were always stigmatized on trying to cross the gender line in terms of toys. The boys who seemed to choose female associated toys were described as embracing femininity and as it is known, femininity is associated with an aspect of subordination and weakness. In the context of the USA, the female activists had a specific goal and this was to strike an aspect of gender balance between n boys and girls and this was the basis for achieving equality for men and women at a larger context.
In bringing an end to these gender based toys, these activists presented different petitions to the manufacturers and the retailers while presenting the cries of their campaign. In this case, the campaign attracted different supporters. An extension of the same was done via social media and this was specifically through twitter and Facebook. A couple of retailers were convinced on the importance of creating an aspect of independence in toy selection and promised to make changes based on the same. Furthermore, some of the famous retailers such as the Entertainer and Boot have eliminated the gender based toys from their stores. Additionally Mark and Spenser also named a pledge of making all the toys in their stores inclusive.
The contribution of this campaign by the female activists in the USA has also been evidenced in Wal-Mart which is one of key retailers for toys. In the past couple of years, Wal-Mart and TOY R which are major toy companies have agreed to drop down their gender specific toys as well as their gender related marketing strategies (Cherney, 2006). This has been evidenced from blog post of the company’s website. The main target is to drop all the labeling which are gender biased on children’s beddings as well as the toy aisles. Additionally, the color labels have been eliminated explicitly and this has led to the removal of both blue and pink colors from the shelves.
A survey was conducted in 2013 in the toy shops to ascertain the level of reduction of the gender biased toys. This survey indicated that there was a reduction of these toys by almost 60%.Arguably, this was a milestone by these activists on eliminating gender inequalities brought about by toys. This survey was re-conducted in 2014 though the main focus was on the toy retailer websites. This report gave extra promising information on the reduction of these toys. As such, the reduction of these toys reduced to 46 %.In comparison with the 2013 survey, an improvement had been done in connection to the elimination of the gender based toys.
Generally, the female activists in the USA have had a great impact in the toy market. Their campaign against the sell and manufacture of the gender based toys was based on the aspect of inequalities between male and female children. As such, a common aim had grown among these feminists to enable their children to explore, create and innovate at the same rates regardless of their genders. Additionally, it was evident that the creation of inequalities and discrimination between the boys and girls formed a basis of social stratification in the society. As a result of their heated campaign against this vice, there has been a very great reduction of the gender based toys from the markets. Manufacturers have also limited their production of these toys and colors have been neutralized to fit for both boys and boys. Arguably, the effort of the female activists is the USA in bringing an end to the gender based toys has had an impact in the country as well as in the global society.
References
Cherney, Isabelle D., and Kamala London. “Gender-linked differences in the toys, television shows, computer games, and outdoor activities of 5-to 13-year-old children.” Sex Roles 54, no. 9-10 (2006): 717-726.
Cockburn, Cynthia. “Gender Relations as Causal in Militarization and War: A FEMINIST STANDPOINT 1.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 12, no. 2 (2010): 139-157.
Miller, Cynthia L. “Qualitative differences among gender-stereotyped toys: Implications for cognitive and social development in girls and boys.” Sex Roles 16, no. 9-10 (1987): 473-487.
Sears, James T. “The impact of culture and ideology on the construction of gender and sexual identities. Developing a critically based sexuality curriculum.” (2012): 139-56.
Weber, Katherine, and Rodney Custer. “Gender-based preferences toward technology education content, activities, and instructional methods.” Journal of Technology Education 16, no. 2 (2005).
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