Surely on these dates your children have received toys, and you may be wondering if they are sexist toys, These are the toys that reproduce the roles of men and women in society, but we cannot give the toy itself a category that it does not have as an object. If a girl plays with a doll, it can be considered a sexist toy, while the same doll in the hands of a boy is not.
The toy becomes an ideological instrument which the system uses, in this case patriarchal, to perpetuate itself. Toys, or to be even more precise, games generate values linked to the current or future society model. In this article we will talk about the consequences that the consumption of sexist toys can have.
Sexist toys in society
Toys They must respond to the interests of the boy or girl, not those of the adults around them. It is not intended to impose or prohibit a certain toy, but to offer new patterns of behavior between genders. It is important to reflect and promote a non-sexist education. This is also achieved through toys, offering the same possibilities to develop as people.
The reality is that, so far, the majority of the type of toys used by boys and girls does not have a casual difference, but rather they are the reflection of gender stereotypes. From the moment a toy is chosen, a process of gender discrimination is established.
Girls are usually given toys that deal with baby care, aesthetics and personal image, housework, etc. Children are given more construction games, action games, sports games, some even related to violence. A first reading leads us to think that girls get household toys, and children more to professional activities.
Some of the consequences of the stereotype model
Some of the direct consequences that these sexist toys have are that promote and maintain inequality and they replicate discrimination. There is a rejection of the male child who plays female roles, which is considered weak. Children with these toys internalize the value that these roles have for society.
The stereotypes eliminate spontaneous attitudes. If the child surrounds himself and is educated surrounded by very established gender stereotypes, he loses his capacity for spontaneity when it comes to playing. Some of your attitudes may end up being penalized.
Starting from the idea that play stimulates different capacities in childhood, if toys and games are limited, then the opportunities that develop with them will be limited. A child who plays to take care of a baby, to cook or to clean, will be accepting and preparing for future situations.
Advertising and sexist toys
Advertising has been one of the great guilty of maintaining the traditional roles between boys and girls. But advertising is not the only stimulus that children receive, they also receive those from school, friends, classmates, family, etc. Manufacturers know that by segmenting the market, they can sell twice as many more versions of the same toy. There will be construction toys for boys, and almost the same version, but in pink, for girls.
It is true that in recent years there has been a certain decline in sexist advertising, but sometimes it's a gimmick, more than an authentic way to change things. Having a male child appear in a doll advertisement does not solve the problem. Rarely is the child going to feel identified with that advertisement, with that toy, as if to ask for it as a gift.
Toys are not sexist, we are adults, or adults who maintain these stereotypes through them. When the boy or girl plays, they reproduce situations or personal experiences. That is why it is so important that the adults around them instill non-sexist role models in them. And there are important non-sexist toys, to reinforce that idea. We cannot talk about one thing and then establish gender roles in our children's play.