The document discusses a study on the impact of gendered toy marketing and socialization on children's development of gender roles and identities. The study found that the toys most popular with participants as children strongly reflected traditional gender divides. Males predominantly played with construction toys and sports gear, while females favored dolls and domestic toys. The results provide some support that gendered toy marketing can influence children to associate toys with stereotypical adult gender roles and internalize those roles. However, the study had limitations and inconclusive results due to its small sample size.

1. Leaving the Dollhouse: The Constancy of Gender Roles Through the Socialization of Toys By Veronica Gomes

2. Manufacturers use deliberate gendering to market toys Naming & categorization (Freeman, 2007) Bicycle names: Top Gun, Bullet, Troublemaker, Rage; Miss Daisy, Wildflower, Dreamweaver Tickled Pink Gendered models are better bestsellers than the more unisex Online shopping websites divide children’s catalogues into links: “for boys” and “for girls” Same-sex modeling in commercials impacts child’s perception of what is appropriate for their gender (Ruble, Balaban, & Cooper, 1981) Infinite messages about age & gender appropriate behavior, images of expected gender-typed appearance and bodily/behavioral expectations

3. Ge nder constancy and sex-role development (Ruble, Balaban, & Cooper, 1981) Social learning theory: combination of media absorption and social interaction at home develops concept of appropriate sex-roles by preschool Cognitive-developmental theory: by age 5 or 6, children reach gender constancy and perceive gender to be an unchangeable quality “ Their [children’s] most important relationships are not with people but with products, contributing to a culture characterized by addiction to consumption” (Jackson, 2001, 143) Solidification of gender constancy impacts the interactive direction of children and their imaginative play The purpose of play is to mimic adult functions Gender roles typically the basis for child’s concept of adult interaction

4. This study expected to find that even into young adulthood, individuals perceive traditional male and female archetypes in childhood toys. Individuals who were raised to invest more significance in these sex typed products as children are more likely to construct their gender identities based on stereotypes and traditional feminine and masculine roles than their peers and less likely to subvert their genders in interests, fields of study, and careers.

5. Procedure Questionnaire Age, gender Two sections surveying the popular generic and brand name toys of each participants’ childhood Six open-answer questions about favorite toys, memorable commercials, opinions on toy design, and determining most important factors in toy selection Qualified 25 statements on a Likert scale (1 to 5, level of agreement) Asked to ascribe gender to all aforementioned toys Sample 45 students (14 copies returned) 8 female, 6 male Aged 15-19 (mean age: 18.1) Investigating effects of childhood socialization at stage of liminality between childhood/adulthood

6. Most popular generic toys for all participants stuffed animals (92.9%), scooters (85.7%), and sports-related paraphernalia and costume items (both 71.4%) All females (100%) had dolls and dollhouses, stuffed animals, and scooters Followed in popularity by sports-related & costume items (75% and 87.5% respectively) None (0%) owned skateboards All males (100%) had building blocks Train sets and stuffed animals next most common (83.3%) None (0%) claimed to have dolls, but 3 (5o%) had “action figures”

7. Most popular brand name toys for all participants LEGOs (85.7%), followed by Beanie Babies (78.6%) Females owned Barbies and Beanie Babies the most (87.5% each) None owned Transformers All six males (100%) owned Hot Wheels and LEGOs Nerf guns/Supersoakers, Beanie Babies, and Game Boy systems (66.7% each) None owned Barbies, Easy-Bake Ovens, My Little Pony merchandise, Heely’s roller sneakers, or Furby

8. All Participants Males Females Parents bought toys often 3.6 3.2 3.9 Watched television instead of being supervised 3.0 3.0 3.0 ‘ Dangerous’ toys denied 1.8 1.7 2.0 Encouraged to play competitive sports 3.2 4.2 2.3 Males make good babysitters 3.2 2.8 3.4 Dress-up was a playtime standard 3.3 2.0 4.9 Toys had sentimental value 4.5 4.5 4.5 Shared toys with children of the other sex 3.3 2.7 3.8 Parents preferred ‘educational’ toys 3.0 3.5 2.3 Play standards stricter than other sex siblings 1.5 2.2 1.9 Assertiveness should be encouraged in girls 3.7 3.7 4.3

9. All Participants Males Females Discouraged from ‘feminine’ toys 2.0 2.8 1.3 More likely to play outside than inside 3.1 3.0 3.3 Parents disagreed on toys 1.5 1.8 1.3 Role-playing gender-typical 3.5 4.0 3.5 Favorite toys reflect current interests 3.5 3.7 3.3 Toys brands should care about unisex advertising 3.3 2.8 3.6 Wanted toys that resembled TV/movie role models 3.1 3.2 3.0 Strong female characters are well represented 2.9 3.3 2.6 Superhero storylines promote aggression, especially in boys 2.9 3.5 2.4 Toys are integral to childhood socialization 3.9 4.0 3.8 Needed toys in order to play 2.1 1.8 2.4

11. Inconclusive (due to limits of study) Some patterns support hypothesis Children associate toys with role play with adult behavior Gender types are then internalized No toys ambiguously feminine or masculine – stereotyping perceives toys as either representing gender neutrality or feminine/masculine; little overlap exists Cross-sex interests Increasingly acceptable for females to explore interests in any category of play Remains a struggle for young males to be associated with femininity Males acceptance of gender neutrality and femininity is expanding, but still fear losing masculinity themselves Inhibited by social expectations and parental pressure to maintain a masculine façade

12. Research sample requires many more subjects from varied backgrounds More focused questioning in order to determine the degree to which stereotypes permeate social consciousness Specify questions to more clearly determine what is most perpetuated by commercial advertising vs. the toys themselves Revised version of the questionnaire combined with interviews, experiments with role-play and commercial advertising, and a much larger sample size would yield more definitive results