NWR: Gender neutral toys

krizzo17

I try to buy gender-neutral toys when I'm shopping for the kids in my life, specifically ones that don't have a "brand" associated with them. I'm not opposed to girls who like pink and barbies, or boys who like red and racecars, but I think those should be thinks kids have to ask for, not things that we get them specifically because of their gender. So today at Target I picked up 5 plastic jungle animals (lion, tiger, cheetah, elephant, and giraffe) and a jungle puzzle for my friend's daughter. When I got to the checkout, the clerk says "Aw, I bet you have a little boy!". So apparently now anything that isn't a pink doll with obscene proportions must be a "boys toy". I said "no, they're for my friends daughter," and she just gave me a blank stare...

 

JCbride2015

Ooooh that would drive me crazy.  The little girl I used to babysit really wanted a fire truck for her second birthday.  I love buying gender neutral toys.  If you don't already know of it, Hearth Song is a really great catalog for that kind of stuff.

emmyg65

It's ridiculous. I remember going to McDonald's as a kid and my brother would get a Hot Wheels that could roll and stuff and I got a Barbie that had plastic hair so you couldn't even comb it.

Senecaf

I have two kids and always try to go as gender neutral as possible. They are getting to the age now where they have preferences. As you said though, they ask for these things. I like the freedom of choice that gender neutral toys provide.


Not to say I will not buy my male child trucks or my girl dolls but as very small children I stuck with books, animals and musical toys. A lot of people love to buy gender specific toys, it might be more fun or something for them, so my kids had plenty of it..

HaileyDancingbear

I think being gender neutral is great as long as you also take into account what the kid wants.  If a little girl is playing with a barbie, I would want that to be because she saw the barbie and wanted it, not because she was taught that that was the toy she was supposed to like.  

I had toys from both gender roles when I was young, and I thank my parents for that.  I got to be girly with my disney princess dresses, and then I got to play with my pokemon and digimon XD

 I agree it sucks that people make such quick assumptions about gender when it comes to kids.  I don't think people realize how much kids take in from their environment and how much that shapes them.  To me it's harmful to push gender roles on a kid too much, just because the stereotypical "Gender roles" really suck :P Kids should always feel comfortable expressing themselves, and should never feel confined to fit a specific role.  

KatWAG

How old are the kids you are shopping for? Could you buy blocks? What about board games or DVDs?

pumpkinsandturkeys

We've started buying mainly 'educational' toys for our nieces and nephews. They get a lot of stuffed animals (for the really little ones), but also musical toys, art supplies, doctor/vet kits, and toys that help develop things like reason, logic, and fine motor skills. Most of the stuff comes in bright, primary colours, so they don't see it as girl or boy toys.

chibiyui

I played with dinosaurs as a kid (and barbie and my little pony) that cashier is ridic. I try to keep toys for my niece and nephew ungendered, unless there is something they really like (my niece loves to dress up, so she got some princess dresses and a doctors outfit)

StephJean83

My niece loves Minnie Mouse and Cars. My FH loves buying her Cars items, including an indoor tent.

That is stupid of the cashier.

HisGirlFriday13

That would piss me off. I bought my nephew a set of musical instruments (flutes, drum, xylophone) last Christmas, and as I was checking out, the clerk was like, "Oh, I see you must have a little girl in your family!"

I was like, 'Oh, I wasn't aware that musical talent was gender-specific and linked solely to the possession of two X-chromosomes. Clearly the Beatles, the Monkess, Jackson Browne, Garth Brookes, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and Elton John -- to name but a few -- are genetic aberrations."

She looked at me and just said, "oh....my bad."

I said, "Yes, your bad indeed."

smalfrie19

That would piss me off too! My good friends have a little girl and ALL her stuff (crib sheets/ exersaucer/ stroller etc) is jungle themed....

WinstonsGirl

We've decided to buy mainly stuff that is active/sportive or books for our niece and nephew.  Something that she can be active with mainly, as my nephew can't even crawl yet.  She's getting a bell for her bike, snowshoes and a hockey helmet stick and ball for Christmas.  The bell is pink with Disney princesses and the stick is a black Sydney Crosby.  Gender stereotypes are dumb

seshat303

That is crazy stupid!  I loved toy animals when I was little, and trains, and legos and my little ponies. Hell, i STILL love legos.  I'm waiting for my niece to be old enough for an awesome insect puzzle I saw--my sister and I are both entomology nerds and my nephew is afraid of bugs. My nephew is obsessed with cars so I'll gladly by him those kinds of toys, but he also loves play food and crafts so I try and mix it up.

doeydo

I did play with barbies as a child, but I also played with plastic and stuffed animals as I am sure most kids do.

KytchynWitche

And this is why I'm glad that I was the 16th grandchild, and the first of the second set so all my older cousins were done with their toys by the time I was born. I got a crapload of hand-me-downs, including dolls and dress-up stuff, but also army men, race cars, building blocks, a working microscope, a skateboard, rollerblades, and tons of books. Some of it was branded, most of it was not. No one ever thought it was weird, no one assumed I was a boy (not until much later, anyway). I wasn't even aware that some of my toys were "for boys" or "for girls" until I got to school and started having friends over.

Honestly, I think this image should be on the wall in the break room of every store that sells toys...

hellohkb

Ugh. I really hate how people think certain toys are for "girls" and certain toys are for "boys". I believe we should allow kids to play with whatever toy they want to and to hell with gender stereotypes.

lovesclimbing

Personally, I think Barbies should not be played with by anyone anywhere.  Those dolls are part of the reason there is such a major image problem with women and girls.  Barbies are not realistic.  NO ONE (except possibly Heidi Montag after her, what, 17 surgeries in one day?) is proportioned like a Barbie.  Girls grow up playing with these dolls and it ingrains in them, from a very young age, that beauty is like a Barbie - long legs, big boobs, tiny waist, etc.  

My mom wouldn't let us have them so we only played them when over at friends' houses.  We had American girl dolls which have bodies like a healthy normal young girl.

-steps off soap box.

krizzo17

lovesclimbing said:

Personally, I think Barbies should not be played with by anyone anywhere.  Those dolls are part of the reason there is such a major image problem with women and girls.  Barbies are not realistic.  NO ONE (except possibly Heidi Montag after her, what, 17 surgeries in one day?) is proportioned like a Barbie.  Girls grow up playing with these dolls and it ingrains in them, from a very young age, that beauty is like a Barbie - long legs, big boobs, tiny waist, etc.  

My mom wouldn't let us have them so we only played them when over at friends' houses.  We had American girl dolls which have bodies like a healthy normal young girl.

-steps off soap box.

Haha as a kid I used to refer to my "American Girl Doll Thighs" - they were (and are) rather large and muscular, but right before my groin they dip in so there's a tiny gap - just like the joints on those dolls.

tmclawchick

I picked up DS's toy kitchen last night and the cashier assumed it was for a girl. Psshhhh, I'm raising the next Gordon Ramsay, lady!

smalfrie19

tmclawchick said:

I picked up DS's toy kitchen last night and the cashier assumed it was for a girl. Psshhhh, I'm raising the next Gordon Ramsay, lady!

I know who's place I am crashing in 20 years!

RebeccaB88

I didn't have Barbies (my sister did...ugh) but I did have Fisher Price Little People (the old 1970s ones with no legs or arms). And, if you cut off my legs, I'm now shaped exactly like one of those. Not sure if that's better or worse than Barbie...

RebeccaB88

I didn't have Barbies (my sister did...ugh) but I did have Fisher Price Little People (the old 1970s ones with no legs or arms). And, if you cut off my legs, I'm now shaped exactly like one of those. Not sure if that's better or worse than Barbie...

chkmeowt

check out amightygirl.com for books, toys, etc for gender neutral or strong female characters.

seshat303

Eh, I don't have any issues with Barbies. I played with them a ton when I was little and it didn't give me any sort of complex.  I realized they were toys and about as true to life as MLPs are to real horses.  Those Bratz dolls just give me the willies though.

jdluvr06

The bratz dolls are kind of creepy. I like the Monster high dolls though. I was a weird kid and loved scary, spooky stuff but there wasn't a lot of it out there for kids then. Now there are tons of stuff.

Teddy917

emmyg65 said:

It's ridiculous. I remember going to McDonald's as a kid and my brother would get a Hot Wheels that could roll and stuff and I got a Barbie that had plastic hair so you couldn't even comb it.

I hated that. I usually wanted the boys toy, but was usually given the girls instead. My mother also didn't let me do any "boys" stuff and insisted I act like a little lady. I just learned how to change a tire last year.

krizzo17

I agree - I definitely loved barbies, but I had lots of "regular" toys too. Those bratz dolls are terrifying.

chibiyui

jdluvr06 said:

The bratz dolls are kind of creepy. I like the Monster high dolls though. I was a weird kid and loved scary, spooky stuff but there wasn't a lot of it out there for kids then. Now there are tons of stuff.

I might buy Monster High dolls to give to toy drives to live vicariously a bit.