As Christmas lurks around the corner, a day doesn’t go by that I don’t receive a toy catalog in the mail. My son grasps the catalog with excitement, turning the pages, he finds dolls, kitchens, pretend brooms and mops, tea sets and nursery items all of which he says will be “cute” for his little sister. Passing the pages filled with pink, he quickly finds dinosaurs, super heroes, action figures, toy cars and trucks. With excitement, he tells me that he could use each and every item on the pages depicting boys and “boyish” toys. He sees an “American Girl” catalog, looks through it picking out dolls and accessories for his sister. My husband and I definitely don’t designate toys for our son and daughter; however, through friends, relatives, magazines, books, and store propaganda my son has created schemas related to both girls and boys. My daughter, at 20 months loves to play cars, vicariously making the rumbling sound of the motor as she moves the cars around the floor. She loves to play with “guys” (action figures), jumping and tumbling them off imaginary buildings. As my son approaches his fifth birthday his understanding of gender stereotypes increase as he spends more time in school and in extracurricular activities. Heterosexism definitely permeates the world of young children. Store catalogs and television shows showcase heterosexual couples. The absence of same-sex couples portrays the avoidance and discreetness families, communities and society feel towards same-sex couples, a blatant case of homophobia.
Children are not exposed to the reality of same-sex couples; families keep it hush, avoiding the subject entirely. Books are pushed aside or even difficult to find that depict gay or lesbian individuals or same-sex partnered families. There should be absolutely no reason that these books should be kept out of schools or daycare centers. Same-sex couples are successfully raising children throughout the world. These children should not be made to feel different because they have two moms or two dads. Let it be known, stop avoiding the topic, and read books that depict same-sex partnered families. Children need to know that there are lots of different kinds of families. It is important to acknowledge the existence of same-sex partnered families and help children to see the diversity represented within families in their own neighborhood, community and beyond.
A wonderful post. The reality that children become more and more influenced to conform to heterosexist attitudes is indeed present. Simply walk through any large toy store and look at how the product is presented, and what the product reflects.
ReplyDeleteMedia influences may begin with racist and highly gendered and anti-immigration Disney films, but continue into tween and young adult films with the likes of the sexist to the point of abusive Twilight series.
Brilliant,highly educated adults design the marketing strategies that sell product to children. And we don't do nearly enough to stop this unfair exploitation of children. The film, Consuming Kids, by Media Education Foundation presents a powerful picture of the forces at work.
Thank you for your post! It was well written. I really appreciate the section on analyzing how mass media has influenced our children. I thought it was fascinating Tina in our multimedia resource allowed her son to wear a skirt to school. If I was in her shoes I have no idea what I'd do because my first thought would be is he doing this for the wrong attention? I don't even think about the fact people may think he's gay, I worry about his motives! But after reading your post and looking at how television, magazines, schools, etc. have programmed our children's interests I admire Tina for her bold actions.
ReplyDeleteYour detailed account of how your son picks out "girl" presents for his sister and "boy" presents for himself is a wonderful example of how the influences of the environment can overpower parental influences (as you shared you and your husband do not designate "boy" and "girl" toys). Your post reminds me of when I walked into a large chain toy store to see huge signs pointing out "girls" (in pink) and "boys" (in blue) aisles for specific toys. It was terrible to see such blatant gender stereotyping! How does that make children feel when they go into a store? Talk about making a child feel "wrong" if he or she wants a toy from the other gender's aisle!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Alicia. I could not agree with you more. If this is whats going on in the world children have a right to now. Children should be able to play with what ever toy they want. There is no rules or law that dictates a childs interest. My grandaughter plays with my grandsons trucks and he plays with her dolls. Their parents try to discourage this typs of play but when I'm there I try to encourage them to allow this. I have to use some of my education and experience to convince them and I don't know how they react wnen I'm not there but its a start. All I can do is keep encouraging.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoyed the look on children's faces as they look at the toys in the big Christmas books, when I worked in day care ,I use to take these books and the toy books from the various department stores that come in the Sunday paper to work for the children to look at. It always made me happy to see the children look and circle their favorite toys that they wanted. The parents would ask us ,for gift ideas and it made their shopping easier, knowing that they could use these books as guides. We never discouraged any of the children from circling toys of opposite gender. I remember one boy in particular , would circle the barbie house and dolls and tea sets and we told him that was fine.
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