To many parents, the ubiquity of separate color-coded shopping aisles feels natural, reflecting a belief in innate gender differences and discrete interests. Recently, however, campaigns such as Let Toys Be Toys and No Gender December have made international headlines for championing desegregated toy aisles, recommending reorganization by theme or interest instead. Rather than believing dolls and crafts are for girls while trucks and science kits are for boys, “we think all toys are for all children,” explains Let Toys Be Toys campaigner Jo Jowers, who lives in England.President Obama waded into the matter in December, when at a Toys for Tots event he suggested a T-ball set was an ideal gift for girls. “I’m just trying to break down these gender stereotypes,” he said at the time. “Children use toys to try on new roles, experiment, and explore interests,” explains Susan Linn, executive director of the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and a psychologist at Harvard Medical School.
“Rigidly gendered toy marketing tells kids who they should be, how they should behave, and what they should be interested in” — an unhealthily prescriptive situation.Recent research demonstrates today’s toys are divided by gender at historically unprecedented levels. “There are now far fewer non-gendered items available for children than in any prior era,” says Elizabeth Sweet, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California at Davis — even fewer than 50 years ago, when gender discrimination was socially acceptable. Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here How can this be? The answer lies in significant media industry changes during the 1980s, when the Federal Communications Commission’s television deregulation removed longstanding limitations on children’s advertising and widespread consumer adoption of cable allowed media owners to target more narrowly segmented audiences than ever before. As a result, marketers suddenly viewed children as a segmentable, highly lucrative demographic after largely ignoring them for 50 years.
Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that two of today’s most successful companies — Disney, whose Princess brand is the No. 2 licensed property in the United States and Canada, and LEGO, which recently surpassed Mattel as the world’s largest toy maker — were early adopters of the trend to meticulously segment the child market by gender in the late 1980s. The licensing success of Disney’s The Little Mermaid in 1989 prompted several additional princess film releases in quick succession, positioning Disney as a formidable power in the girl market. Likewise, in 1988, LEGO debuted its “Zack the LEGO Maniac” campaign, squarely positioning itself as a boy brand. A year later, LEGO began tailoring its minifigs’ historically gender-neutral faces to include lipstick and facial hair — clear gender markers. The ripple effects of these monumental 1980s-era marketing changes are evident today. Now, once classically gender-neutral toys are produced in “boy” and “girl” versions: Radio Flyer wagons, Tinkertoys, Mega Bloks, Fisher-Price stacking rings, and everything in between come in “pinkwashed’’ varieties, in hopes that families with children of each sex will buy twice the toys.
Meanwhile, Disney Princess’s record-breaking profits prompted a proliferation of princess items from competitors, and Disney bought Marvel and Lucasfilm, the Star Wars creator, to compete for the boy market. Similarly, LEGO competes for girls’ purchasing power not through inclusivity but by offering separate, stereotypically girlish themes, like Disney Princess and LEGO Friends. What does this mean for today’s families? Lori Day, an educational consultant and psychologist in Newburyport and author of Her Next Chapter: How Mother-Daughter Book Clubs Can Help Girls Navigate Malicious Media, Risky Relationships, Girl Gossip, and So Much More, argues that children’s play has been altered, with long-term consequences. “Boys and girls stop playing together at a much younger age than was developmentally typical until this recent gender segmentation,” she says. “The resulting rigidly stereotyped gender roles are unhealthy for both males and females, who are actually more alike than different.”
Sweet concurs: “This kind of marketing has normalized the idea that boys and girls are fundamentally and markedly different from one another, and this very idea lies at the core of many of our social processes of inequality.” Parents can push back against these problems, however, by raising critically aware children. Jennifer Shewmaker, a psychology professor at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, and author of Sexualized Media Messages and Our Children: Teaching Kids to Be Smart Critics and Consumers, suggests: “When you see stereotyped advertisements, ask the child, ‘What do you think about the way that depicts girls and boys? Is that how the boys and girls in your life act?’ ” Carolyn Danckaert, cofounder of Washington, D.C.-based empowerment resource site A Mighty Girl, adds, “When parents explain that some people think only girls or only boys are good at something but their family disagrees, children can recognize stereotypes for what they are.”Not all parents share such concerns, of course.
Jo Paoletti, an American studies professor at the University of Maryland in College Park and author of Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys From the Girls in America, attributes differing opinions to ongoing culture wars. “Adults who subscribe to more traditional, conservative gender roles see children’s preferences for stereotypical clothing and toys as natural expressions of innate differences,” Paoletti says. As such, Erin McNeill, founder and president of Watertown-based Media Literacy Now, advocates for integrating media literacy into the K-12 curriculum. “Some parents won’t notice or be concerned about the gendering of products. It’s important that all children have the opportunity to gain the critical thinking skills to understand how and why gendered ads target them,” she says. - Finding a summer camp that fits your child’s needs - 7 things every kid should master - Parents, you’ve been doing pep talks all wrong - More from the MagazineUnless you’ve been living with the cast of Utopia, you know LEGOs are insanely popular with just about everyone on the planet.
In fact, this year, LEGO earned itself the top spot as the world’s most-profitable toy company. There are LEGO theme parks and discovery centers, LEGO hotels, TV shows based on LEGOs and this year’s box-office smash The LEGO Movie. But at the core, it’s the beloved, old-school bricks that have earned the company fame, fortune and much adoration. No wonder there are already rumors of a shortage for the holidays. In other words, it’s time to get shopping. Here are some of our favorites from this year. LEGO Duplos are the perfect way to start younger kids off with bricks that are just the right size. The LEGO Duplo Deluxe Box of Fun ($49.99 at Toys R Us) has two cute figures as well as animals, decorated bricks and a wagon base. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 18 months–5 years If your preschooler is already obsessed with superheroes, give her this fun LEGO Duplo Batcave Adventure ($44.88 at Walmart). It features Batman, the Batwing, Batcave, Batarang and the Caped Crusader’s sneaky nemesis Catwoman.
Manufacturer’s suggested age: 2–5 years This year, LEGO introduced Juniors, a nice stop for kids who’ve mastered Duplos but aren’t quite ready for the classic sets. (The sizes will fit with the classics, but some of the shapes are already pre-made, so the process is a bit easier and less intricate.) The LEGO Juniors Pony Farm ($29.99 at Target) has enough figures and bricks to fully immerse an animal lover for hours. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 4–7 yearsWith Juniors Knight’s Castle ($49.95 at Barnes & Noble), young builders create a thrilling play space while a brave knight fights to protect his king’s treasure. The popular LEGO Friends line focuses on five female friends from Heartlake City. During their initial debut, the friends stayed close to home, but now they’re ready to head afield. For kids who love being in the great outdoors, Andrea’s Mountain Hut ($9.99 at Toys R Us) has spot-on details like a campfire, marshmallows, camera, map and squirrel.
Manufacturer’s suggested age: 5–12 years LEGO partners with other huge brands to create licensed products like its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sets, which expand on the story children know and love. ), Leonardo tries to stop Karai as she races away on her motorcycle with a stolen mutagen canister. It wouldn’t be Christmas without LEGO’s advent calendars, a sweet way to celebrate this special month with your family. ), City Advent Calendar ($29.95 at Amazon) or the Star Wars Advent Calendar ($39.99 at Toys R Us). Manufacturer’s suggested age: 5–12 years for the Friends and City calendars; 6–14 years for the Star Wars calendar From top left: LEGO Friends Advent Calendar; Star Wars Advent Calendar; and City Advent Calendar If your child is ready for her own train set, check out the awesomely detailed City Train Station ($62.50 at Kmart) and City High-Speed Passenger Train ($134.99 at Target), with a motorized locomotive with remote control. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 6–12 years for the Train Station;
6 years and up for the Passenger Train LEGO has Star Wars fans covered and then some, with a whopping 25 new Star Wars sets created this year. Go old school with the Millennium Falcon ($9.97 at Walmart), which is nicely priced for a stocking stuffer and includes the always-brilliant Han Solo. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 6–12 years ) that features characters from Guardians of the Galaxy. A new partnership this year between LEGO and Disney resulted in six princess sets. I’m particularly enamored of Rapunzel’s Creativity Tower ($39.95 at Barnes & Noble) because it’s so lovely and intricate. You’ll get plenty of bang for your buck with the Creator line: Each set can be built three different ways. ), or use the pieces to build a cute squirrel or teddy bear. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 7–12 years ), Mia pilots the chopper, and her friend Matthew handles the off-roader as the duo races to save a baby bear (aw!) in peril. The Ultra Agents are all about daring missions and fighting crime, and the sets have a digital twist: They come with a downloadable app that lets kids delve even deeper into pretend play.
With the Ultra Agents Riverside Raid ($11.99 at Kmart), they can build a quad bike and jet speeder, and then make sure Ultra Agent Max stops a bad guy from stealing toxic compounds. My son is particularly obsessed with superheroes, so he loves Batman: The Joker Steam Roller ($44.88 at Amazon) and its five mini figures, including the most compelling bad guy around, the Joker. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 7–14 years The LEGO Movie Cloud Cuckoo Palace (left) and The Flying Flusher For the gear-inclined, the Technic sets all have detailed functionality as well as a two-in-one design. For example, the realistic LEGO Technic Snowmobile ($14.99 at Walmart) can be rebuilt into a speedy snow motorcycle. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 8–14 years I’d try to explain the elaborate mythology behind the Legends of Chima, but it’s super complicated, so I’ll cut to the chase: good versus evil, humor and terror, tons of action and battles, and a Cartoon Network series that brings the storyline to TV.
With the Eris’ Fire Eagle Flyer ($23.99 at Target), Eris and her flyer can save Lagravis (good guy) from Strainor (bad guy), who has stolen Lagravis’ CHI (the source of life for Chima creatures). Dude, that’s not cool. If your child prefers ninjas, the Ninjago line has her name on it. Check out the cool X-1 Ninja Charger ($34.97 at Walmart), Kai’s insane fighting machine that allows him to do battle with the Nindroids. Brand-new Hobbit sets have just been released right in time for this December’s movie. ) is seriously cool for J.R.R. Tolkien fans, LEGO lovers and everyone else.Start with a cafe that serves up treats, and head over to the bike shop. Then rebuild this as an auto repair shop or flower shop. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 9–14 years I find childlike delight in LEGO’s Winter Village Series, with a rose-colored view of everything holidays. ), with its sleigh, reindeer, Christmas tree and, of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus. Manufacturer’s suggested age: 12 years and up