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Ashley Hutchinson

Professor Santiago

UWRT 1102

20 April 2017

Do Toys Impact Gender Roles?

Throughout history around the world we have seen gender roles being a prevalent part of

portraying to specific genders what their specific role is in society. Where do these ideas come

from? How are we convincing young children of their role in society? One way that children are

learning gender roles are through toys. Throughout the history of toys gender specific toys have

been marketed to young children and their parents, this idea of gender specific toys has been

created by the toy industry which has heavily impacted how children perceive their gender roles.

The toy industry appeared in the 1860s and 1870s in the United States, specifically

interlocking building blocks and windup toys came about during this time. Toys had their big

break after the Civil War with the appearance of factories. Toys during the mid-nineteenth

century were not viewed as opportunities for learning and brain development, more so as

distractions from daily tasks and chores. Diversity in the toy industry appeared around 1990, this

was due to boys being restrained from working longer and girls watching after younger siblings

decreased. During the industrial period toys mainly came from Europe and toys in North

America were straightforward. The industrial period also allowed for toys to be cheaper. The first

American Toy Fair trade show was held in New York City in 1903, toy manufacturers were

trying to make their mark on the growing population of the toy market. At the tip of this period

toys and entertainment focused on the home and family time. Families sang together, read, and
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played card games together. Younger children had toys that focused on role play. The first jigsaw

puzzle was created by John Spilsbury in 1767, Spilsbury created the first jigsaw puzzle to teach

geography but people began to create jigsaws for entertainment. During the 19th century girls in

the middle class began playing with wood or porcelain dolls. During this time period they also

played with doll houses, model shops and skipping ropes. Boys during this time began playing

with marbles, toy soldiers, toy trains as well as toy boats. Other toys that were popular during

this time were rocking horses, clockwork toys, and the jack-in-the-box. There were many simple

toys such as spinning tops that were popular during this time. Toys stayed consistent until the

twentieth century when many new toys were invented. Then during World War II toy factories

were turned into war production factories. This is when Legos became a popular toy (1950s),

other popular toys included Mr. Potato Head (1952), the skateboard (1958), and Barbie dolls

(1959).

The purpose of toys is not only for entertainment purposes but they can also contribute to

the physical, mental, social, and emotional development and learning of a child. Play has a

huge role in learning and growing. Starting at a young age babies use age appropriate toys such

as rattles, teething toys, and other colorful toys. This helps develops a babies developmental

skills this allows babies by the age of one to play with more advanced toys. The type of toys that

children are choosing or that are chosen for them, help them develop these different skills.

Research has shown that children have been directed towards certain toys based off their gender

(Becky). These types of toys allow girls to develop communication skills and emotional

literacy. The toys that are chosen for boys allow them to develop technical knowledge and

skills. Children are later able to understand that there are some toys that are for boys and toys

that are for girls. According to Becky research has stirred away from looking at role theory
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and focused on children learning their gender roles through play with gender typed toys. The

article she wrote magnifies not only gender specific toys, but how gender roles are impacted by

play with gender specific toys. This article goes into great detail about the disparities between

girls and boys and their toy choices. Many articles have lacked the depth of toy choice within

this age group and has not has not stressed the importance. Toy preference based on sex has been

seen in children younger than the age of two (Campenni#). Campenni goes deeper into the

appropriateness of toys were seen as attractive, creative, nurturing, and manipulable, toys for

boys were seen as competitive, aggressive, constructive, conducive to handling, encouraging

sociability, and reality based. These stereotypes of what is masculine and what is feminine has

been seen in behavior and personality of young children. Cognitive development of children is

also impacted by the play with masculine toys, could be paired with higher visual spatial ability.

Gender stereotyping of toys could also lead to an influence potential development of gender

schematic role identity in children. Gender schematic role identity could be the reason for the

differences in cognitive and social skills of girls and boys.

Children are learning gender roles at a young age portrayed to them through toys, but are

they picking these toys for themselves or are parents having an impact on what children are

playing with? Most research has shown that parents do in fact influence the toys that their

children are playing with. Parents before they buy toys have preconceived notions about the

perks of various toys, some parents are aware of these preconceived notions and some are

unaware that they are being influenced for them to create these biases. In the lecture done by

Linda Edington she explains how parents have discussed how they have a hard time buying a

doll or teddy bear for their sons. She also deliberates on how parents also struggle with buying

their daughters trucks or any other toy that is considered masculine. Edington states that gender
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specific toys are reinforcing childrens behavior which influences their gender expectations.

She also points out how this can lead to why we do not have many female scientists because

boys are getting toys that develop scientific skills. Edington creates this time in history of

certain parents stance on gender appropriate toys. Edington could have strengthened her

argument by including more research based information such as Campenni successfully does. In

Campennis article parents and nonparents were compared to examine differences in the use of

gender stereotyping to classify childrens toys(#). The research in this article showed that

feminine toys were stereotyped more often than masculine toys. Campenni also examined the

difference between mothers and fathers and what they thought was appropriate for children based

off their sex. This resulted that parents may be influenced by their interaction with children of

what is gender appropriate. Other research that Campenni discussed shows that gender specific

toys send implicit and explicit messages adults send to children and the gender role

development that emerges in children based on these messages. Children are heavily influenced

by their parents and research has shown that toys are stereotyped by parents which influences the

child and how they perceive their role. Campennis article thoroughly observes the differences in

parents and successfully breaks down the differences between mothers and fathers. Research

according to Campenni has also shown that parents will describe their female children based off

their appearance and describe their male children based off their physical abilities. Parental

gender stereotyping can be identified through dolls and domestic items in girls rooms and

various traditionally masculine items in boys rooms, this proposes that parents react to

daughters and sons differently and the treatment they receive based off their sex develops their

gender label. Even though parents are able to buy toys for their children that they see fit based

off their gender, there has been little evidence that has suggested that parents do not have a
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strong influence on the toys that children personally pick for themselves, but, are children able to

make gender specific toy choices for themselves?

According to Gender Stereotyping in Infancy researchers have observed children to

have gender specific toy preferences. These toy preferences not only impact their cognitive skills

but also influence their social worlds. This means that children will play with other children

who share common interests with them and comparable playing styles. Researchers are still

trying to pinpoint what may lead to toy preferences, this particular preference may be because of

the function and use of the toy. This theory or article does not examine the children that may play

with children of the other sex but are socially rejected or may not be socially rejected. The

second theory may be children choose gender specific toys because they are aware of particular

gender stereotypes, which leads them to choose gender specific toys because they are familiar

to them. The third suggestion is toy preferences may precede knowledge of gender stereotypes,

and result from social learning or biological factors, the idea of what is for boys and what is

for girls becomes incorporated into the cognitive component of the gender schema within the

first two years. Children may also be gaining knowledge about gender stereotypes from

commercials. Commercials are demonstrating to children of the same gender using gender

specific toys. This leads children to know what toys they are supposed to play with based off

their gender. These commercials also impact childrens color choices for toys as they begin to

think that pink is for girls and blue is for boys based off what is portrayed to them on the

television. There is also evidence of gendered advertising, there are big differences in toys that

are marketed to girls and toys that are marketed to boys. Toys that were marketed to boys

showed bold colors and featured character names and other product attributes that connoted

strength, power, and action. Ads for girls toys were depicted in soft pastel colors and featured
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character names and other product that signified passivity, triviality, and preoccupation with

fashion and physical attractiveness. Advertisements of toys on the internet can be seen to

illustrate gender roles and stereotypes, which children are able to identify (Texas State

University) Children begin to gender labels for themselves and others around the age of two and

a half but gender-typed activities and toy choices can be seen earlier than that. Once children are

able to recognize what their specific gender is supposed to play or interact with they begin to try

and influence their peers to believe the same. Once children are able to recognize their role in

society they begin to develop their idea of what other childrens role in society, which influences

gender communication. Gender communication is influenced by childrens gender role

interpretations. Gendered language is influence d by a childs comprehension of social

relationships. Toys can also influence play between children, the study conducted by Jeffrey

Trawick-Smith focused on how different toys could impact the play and interaction of children.

This was based on how these children interpreted what was gender appropriate. This study was

also conducted to see how differently boys and girls would respond to the same toy. The toys that

the children got to play with were chosen by teachers. These toys included duplo bricks and

rainbow people, which are gender neutral toys. The study concluded that both the boys and the

girls were able to play with each other and they responded the same way to the toys. This is due

to the fact that the toys that were chosen were gender neutral, there was not an idea of this toy is

for boys and this toy is for girls.

Many parents and nonparents have begun to realize the impact of gender specific toys

and using specific colors to target specific genders. Parents and others have begun to look at the

toy market and question whether or not they are aware of this problem. Researchers have gone to

toy companies and asked about this problem since many parents are concerned with the effects
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on their childs cognitive development. Researchers have found that various toy companies are

aware of toys being targeted to specific genders. The toy companys response has been that they

are responding to the market, as gender specific toys are in high demand. There is a strong

demand in the market for gender specific toys. What these companies have failed to realize is

that maybe these toys are in high demand because they are what has been familiar. When toys

first arose there were gender specific toys. Gender stereotyped toys that reinforce gender roles

have been common since the start of the toy industry and even though there is a growing concern

parents and nonparents are still finding it hard to steer away from gender stereotyped toys. The

toy industry is not the only thing influencing gender roles but fast food restaurants are

manipulating gender roles as well. In the lecture done by Linda Edington fast food companies

such as McDonalds advertise definite toys for boys and for girls. Parents or children are asked

whether they want a boy toy or a girl toy which reiterates specific roles. There are some toy

companies that are making an effort to appeal to parents that are concerned with this and are

making gender neutral toys. Gender neutral toys allow children to simply be creative without

reinforcing gender roles such as Barbie dolls or toy trucks. Gender neutral toys include PLAY-

DOH, wheeled toys, shape sorters and many more. Gender neutral toys and advertisements that

are not targeted towards a specific gender can help shift gender stigmas. Some parents are

against gender neutral toys because they do not want their children to be bullied for being

different, or playing with toys that are not for their gender. Some parents also do not want their

children to be seen as non-conforming so they by gender appropriate toys.

Toys not influence learning, gender communication, and gender roles but it also

influences language. This influence on language effects the way that children base their

interaction simply off how they perceive their role in society based off their gender. Girls are
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learning from a young age social role expectations of nurturance, dependence, and passivity.

Boys learn from a young age that social roles are parallel with traditional views of masculinity.

Gendered language has been researched, which is used to market to females and males.

Language has also been researched due to the fact that word choice has been used to portray men

as being a part of the dominant class and females as subordinate. The uses of language

echoes differences in social power. Researchers have been studying gendered language in many

different contexts, from formal and informal language between males and females. These studies

look at linguistic elements, including pronouns, imperatives, intensifier adverbs, and adjectives

(Owen). Reflected in the research is females tend to use personal pronouns and first-person

plural pronouns. Males tend to use second-person pronouns more often than females in a

conversation. The difference in the use of pronouns in males and females is due to the

reinforcement of traditional stereotypes, which in children can be seen to be reinforced by toys.

These influences of language not only impact the conversations between males and females but

also control what language is used to advertise toys to children. This also influences gender

branding to draw children to specific toys based off their gender. Language is another way that

gender specific ideas can control interactions between children of a different sex. Children of the

same sex are able to communicate easier and relate to each other because they feel that they have

a common interest. Children of the same sex are also building the same skill sets based of the

gender specific toys which communicates to them a relatability to others of the same sex.

Research has found that gender specific toys influence gender roles. Children use toys as

they are developing their cognitive skills, language, and personality traits. There are many

different ways that toys and the toy industry influence the ways that children perceive their

specific role in society. These toys that they are playing with on a regular basis as a form of
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entertainment, learning, communication, and interaction with others. Toys are communicating to

children everyday clear-cut life skills. For girls this may include nurturing skills and for boys

include scientific skills or even teaching aggressiveness. Gender-branding with designing the

toys, color-coding (such as using pink for girls and blue for boys), and language in advertisement

have shaped how girls and boys should think. Toys for girls have shown them that their focus

should be on physical appearance and an inability for independent thought or action(Owen).

Toys for boys have a more realistic real world approach. Messages sent to boys are more

dominant and in control. These messages and their impacts have caused the public to request the

toy industry to get rid of gender specific toys. The public (especially a lot of parents) is leaning

to more gender neutral toys. This has led to toy companies producing gender neutral toys and

revising the way that they advertise. Companies are also creating cross-gender toys so that toys

that were once advertised for one gender can now be used and advertised for the other gender

(Owen). Gender neutral toys have been successful to some extent but has not dominated the toy

market. Even though there have been efforts made by many concerned parents and nonparents

about gender specific toys there is still a huge market for toys that are gender specific. This huge

market could be due to children who are aware of these gender specific toys and choosing to play

with them, or it could be due to parents who are not aware or are aware of gender specific toys

that reinforce gender roles and are afraid to steer away from them. This could be due to the

parents knowledge or parents are being influenced by the media and are not aware of the impact

and are making these choices.

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Works Cited

Benson, Etienne. Toy Stories. Association for Psychological Science, 1 Dec. 2006. Accessed

15 Mar. 2017.

Campenni, C E. "Gender Stereotyping of Children's Toys: A Comparison of Parents and

Nonparents." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 40, 1999, pp. 121-138.

Francis, Becky. "Gender, Toys and Learning." Oxford Review of Education, vol. 36, no.3 2010,

pp.325-344.

Edington, Linda. Gender Communication. Films Media Group, 2006.

Industry Information. Industry Information, International Council of Toy Industries, 2013.

Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

Lambert, Tim. A Brief History of Toys. A History of Toys. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

Owen, Patricia R. The Language of Toys: Gendered Language in Toy Advertisements. Journal

of Research on Women and Gender, vol. 6, no. 67-80, 2016. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.

Serbin, Lisa, Diane Poulin-Dubois, Karen Colburne, Maya Sen, and Julie Eichstedt. "Gender

Stereotyping in Infancy: Visual Preferences for and Knowledge of Gender-Stereotyped

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Toys in the Second Year." International Journal of Behavioral Development, vol. 25.1,

2001, pp. 7-15. Print.

The History of the Toy Industry: Part I. Tech 4 Kids, 2015. Accessed 15 Mar. 2017.

Weinraub, M, LP Clemens, A Sockloff, T Ethridge, E Gracely, and B Myers. "The Development

of Sex Role Stereotypes in the Third Year: Relationships to Gender Labeling, Gender

Identity, Sex-Typed Toy Preference, and Family Characteristics." Child Development,

vol. 55.4, 1984, pp. 1493-503.