Boys and Girls\' Gender Differences

¶ … Toys RU.S. - Gender Issues Boys / Girls

Angela Mantz

Gender Issues in Children's Toys

A survey of the children's section of the department store reveals fundamental differences in the types of toys available to male and female children. The toys marketed to the respective genders are reflective of some of the most common social stereotypes and messages typically communicated by our culture with respect to male and female role identities. They obviously communicate some of the expectations about things such as what types of activities are suitable for boys and girls and what talents and abilities little boys and girls are supposed to focus on developing. Moreover, the types of toys marketed to boys and girls also seem to suggest what type of professional career interests children of different genders are expected to develop. Even more generally, some of the types of toys available for boys and girls also provide clues as to what aspects of themselves boys and girls are supposed to feel good about in terms of their self-esteem and self-worth.

The most noticeable differences between the toys intended for boys and girls, respectively, are that they mirror common social expectations about the gender identities most common in our society. Specifically, the toys marketed to boys are competitive games, cars, trucks, and toy tool replicas that are miniature replicas of the typical interests of males in our society, and, of course, sports-themed toys such as football uniforms and child-sized footballs, baseball gloves, soccer goals and hockey equipment. They also include uniforms and toy versions of the equipment used by firefighters, police officers, and construction workers.

By contrast, the toys marketed to little girls seem to match this society's common assumptions and expectations about the types of activities, interests, and careers that are usually associated with females. Their games are collaborative rather than competitive; there are miniature versions of homemaking equipments such as kitchen appliances; and instead of sports uniforms and equipment, there are displays featuring cheerleaders' outfits and nurses' uniforms. In addition, there are many toys for girls that emphasize cosmetic enhancements, such as play nail extensions and makeup kits and wigs displayed next to large pictures of female pop culture icons such as Beyonce and Lady Gaga. There are also racks of dolls of various types and sizes occupying shelf after shelf in the girls' toy section, many of which feature maternity themes. The closest toys to that in the boys' section are toy soldiers, astronauts, and the first responders manning the fire trucks and police cruisers.

The obvious implied messages to children are that boys are supposed to be competitive and to play rough games and sports while girls are supposed to play together collaboratively and non-competitively. The manner in which the toys emulating career choices and hobbies are matched to societal stereotypes about men's roles and women's roles obviously reinforces those expectations, such as that men are supposed to work as firefighters and construction workers while women are supposed to be homemakers or to work as nurses and secretaries. The boys' toys are generally available only in one or two colors; meanwhile, almost all of the girls' toys are available in numerous choices of colors. Finally, the fact that only the girls' toy sections include items relating to cosmetic enhancement reinforces societal expectations that males are judged by their achievements while females are judged by how attractive they are.

Gender Issues in Leadership and Human Development

A peer-reviewed research article in the journal Management Services offers cogent data on current leadership research that pertains to this topic and this paper. For example, eighteen percent of girls and almost half of boys believe that they have the potential to become leaders. This data comes as a result of two years of interviewing children between the ages of 5 and 18 by Hilarie Owen. Owen is executive director of "Renew, the Register of Executive and Non-Executive Women," and she is also the founder of the Institute of Leadership.

Owen discovered that even as young as 5 and 6 years old, children explained to the researcher that "there was a difference between how girls and boys practice leadership" (Management Services, 2005). Some of the quotes from the research: "Boys don't play with Barbie dolls…Girls become nurses and boys become doctors…Boys want to be active and play 'war' and girls want to talk and include everyone" (Management Services, p. 12).