Augh!

[doronjosama]

ldragoon pointed out the most Sexist Toys of 2007, and she linked to the Rose Petal Cottage commercial on YouTube.

Well, I just have to share: (in the cut)

Watch on YouTube

Gasp! A place of her own where she can dream, dream, dream... OF DOING LAUNDRY?! Are they fucking serious?! You have GOT to be shitting me. Because of course, a little girl only needs to dream about cleaning, baking, having babies and doing laundry. These commercials make me so mad, I want to punch every toy manufacturer in the world in the face.

Rose Petal Cottage... set your imagination FREE! (Provided you only imagine being a domestic...)

Commercials really influence kids a LOT, since they're so short they really catch the attention. Thank god there was a commercial out when I was a little girl that influenced me to think I could do anything and everything:

Watch on YouTube

Okay, sure, that probably wasn't the ACTUAL intent of the commercial, but that's the message I got. Make your own money! Take care of yourself! And oh yeah, you can still be sexy, too. Much better than that whole "you can imagine doing laundry!" bullshit. Bleah!

PS I think the idea of a playhouse for little kids is great, all kids like to pretend to be grownups and do grownup stuff like housekeeping, working, etc. What I have a problem with are these ads, which are sending a horribly sexist message. I also have an issue with the playhouse stuff being marketed solely as "little girl toys"- it's all pink and flowery and frilly, and deeply gender coded. I much prefer the old Little Tykes playhouse, which is red, yellow and blue, and gender neutral... because trust me, kids will play with any toys that are handy. This whole "these are for girls only/boys only" thing irks me deeply.

Comments

[lazalanti.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's amazing. If I was so interested in doing laundry my parents would have made me do real laundry. Unfortunately for them I had no interest in doing laundry or the dishes. I hated baby dolls.

What bothers me about this toy is that there is no sense of adventure. It's just boring... like real life. Why the hell would any kid want that??

[lady-laguna.livejournal.com]

Haha. I hated playing house when I was a little goober. My friend always wanted to and I wanted to play "Turtles and Dragons." (I was the Koopas and she was a Ninja Turtles.) But I can't cook, clean, or wash my own clothes without ruining something (No loss, I own too much clothing as it is). I was raised by my dad and was a huge tomboy... But my dad was an immaculate housekeeper and good cook.

I missed a delicate balance in there somewhere.

Do kids even play with toys anymore? My half-siblings only care about videogames. The little sister is only concerned about makeup, clothes and hair.

[redcoatcat.livejournal.com]

That REALLLY bothers me!
I agree if it was gender neutral, hey kids like doing adult things I know when I was a kid I thought the washing machine was endless fascinating.... Till I had to do my own laundry, then it sucked!

But message this has is all a little girl will ever want to do is spit out babies like a pez dispenser, decorate, bake and do household chores.
Where is Rose pedal Office for the Corporate girl, where she can throw a cell phone into the trash, move her desk around, look out her giant office window, and have a little photocopier/fax machine to kick when it doesn’t work?

=^,,^-

[xianjaguar.livejournal.com]

Ok....why is that commercial so sexist? No one is forcing the girls to buy it or to like it.
What if a little girl LIKES that stuff? What if she WANTS to be frilly and pretend to do the laundry, because that's what she's interested in? And what if everything is gender-neutral, and she can't have fun, because no one is selling the pink frilly home-stuff she wants?

I hated dolls as a girl. HATED them. I played with MLP's and stuffed animals and art stuff. What if no one made My Little Pony, or stuffed animals or art stuff and everyone just made dolls? I woulda been bummed.

I knew girls who LOVED frilly home crap as kids. What if everyone just made the red, blue and green gender neutral playhouses, and didn't make those pink frilly playsets? Those girls I knew would have been mighty disappointed.

Freedom means "Having a Choice".
"Having a Choice" means that toys come in a VARIETY of interest....everything from gender-neutral toys (for kids like I used to be), to those frilly pink home-making toys (maybe there are girls out there who LIKE that), to things like toy guns and robots and GI JOE, and everything in between.

Trust me, girls are NOT going to be brainwashed into thinking they have to be a home-maker, because those toys aren't the only ones being made and there are tons of options out there with their own commercials being aired on TV.

When I was a girl, there were TONS Of Barbie commercials, doll commercials and kitchen playsets, and I sure wasn't brainwashed...because it didn't interest me, and there were a ton of OTHER commercials too that DID interest me.... Tonka trucks, MLP, Tinker-Toys, etc.

I hope we never become a nation where we have to censor our toys to always be 'gender-neutral'. That eliminates Choice and Freedom.

BTW, ironically, while the perfume commercial inspired you, it turned me off. What, I have to work my ass off as the Family Breadwinner at a 9-5 job, PLUS come home and cook for my man, PLUS sex him up too? I already did that for 10 years. It gets old real fast when you're the one running your ass off working multiple jobs, cooking, cleaning, etc. while the guy is earning less than you, and gets off work and sits on his butt... and THEN wants you to sex him up too. ARGH. >:(

[redcoatcat.livejournal.com]

Hey if a little girl is interested in it, then she is.
She'll get a shock like I did... Laundry sucks! :P
When my playmates played house I always played the dog or cat, doesn’t offend me now or then that those girls were interested in domestic things.
I was more interested in playing pretend as an animal (hahah mom now I draw furry art! XD )

But often PARENTS are sucked into gender role thing by media, I know my family wasn't thrilled I was a tomboy. They tried so hard for me to like the giant pink toy section even if I asked for GIJoe. Just I reaaaallly remember clearly being told 'GIJoe doesn't have girls on the commercials, that's a boys toy!'
Which it’s true, they don’t, how could I argue that! ;)

So I had to worm around it and have stuffed animals, they were apparently neutral, but masculine things like toy soldiers weren't okay.
I know MANY boys that weren’t allowed easy bake ovens because the parents felt it was a ‘girl’s toy’ (In my opinion it’s gender neutral) since often showing girls playing with them on TV and had PINK on it.
Heck I know few boys that wanted She-Rah figures because she was He-mans sister in the cartoon, but were denied due to marking said She-rah was ONLY a girls figure.

I agree freedom, but at the same time why isn't there domestic stuff for boys other then the fact many consumers probably won't buy it, when both genders will have babies and move out? ;)

Curse the late 19th century for making colours gender specific then none of this would be a problem! :P

Kids will be kids; there interests change with the next commercial and TV show (sadly these days it’s all Xbox and Wii instead of Saturday morning cartoons)
I have very little emotional involvement in this since I never plan on breeding, but I still do dislike late 19th century for gender-izing colours, pink look good on some men ;)

=^,,^-

[xianjaguar.livejournal.com]

I just have to say that I really really wanted an EZ-Bake oven as a kid.
Not because I wanted to be a homemaker, but because I REALLY wanted those brownies and cakes. NUM.
My parents, of course, forbid me to ever own that oven, because 1) OMG, I MIGHT BURN DOWN THE HOUSE! and 2) I'd be stuffing my face with cake before dinner.

It's ok, I have a Toaster Oven now, which is every bit as good as an EZ-Bake, about the same size, and it bakes tiny treats too! =D

They do offer domestic sets for boys...those are the tool workshops, and tool sets, where the guy gets to sit around and fix the house. That's pretty domestic. If the boy wants to be a homemaker, he'd use a gender-neutral playset, I guess. I've seen commercials before where both boys and girls are "cooking" in play kitchens that are neutral.
And there's always the Play-Doh kitchen...every boy I knew liked that. (ew! Green and Blue Hamburgers and Purple Spaghetti).

But I hear ya on the parent thing...a lot of parents do try to force their kids into a certain role (mine sure tried, and failed!)...although, more and more parents are beginning to NOT do that, and let their kids choose for themselves, which is good. =)

As for pink on men...remember the 80's? Miami Vice told us it was AWESOME for men to wear pink (and purple!) and white! =)
It'll be back...what's out of fashion, comes around.

[doronjosama.livejournal.com]

I have generally been the woman who works harder/more than the man in the relationship, in pretty much all my relationships I've been since I was 21. (Before that, I was in some not so awesome ones where I depended solely on a guy to provide for me, and thus got to reap the "rewards" of sacrificing every bit of my independence to someone else. It's always fun when the person who pays for everything decides that they don't want any more of your "backtalking" and kicks you out on the curb with nothing. I learned pretty damn quick that "control your own money"="control your own life/stability". It's a harsh lesson to get at 18-19.)

I think everyone should have a choice- parents, kids, women, men, whoever. If a boy wants to play with dolls, he should be able to; if a girl wants trucks and construction toys, she should have them. I have so many male friends who were denied toys they wanted as kids because the toys weren't "manly" or were "for girls", and that's just as fucked up as denying a girl toy dinosaurs or GI Joes or Star Wars men. (Not even really girly toys- things like Wonder Woman action figures or She-Ra! Since the characters were girls, they were "dolls", and thus, Not For Boys.)

My biggest beef with this toy is that a life of domestic drudgery is anything but imaginative! Lord knows I don't exactly dream of doing dishes, laundry or cleaning the catboxes. And yes, it's not the only toy being made for girls, but I see a ridiculous number of toy commercials every day (we tend to leave cartoon channels on while we work for background noise), and the "girl toys" are just getting ridiculous. I'm not talking Barbies, she's sort of a staple (and imaginative girls usually find creative ways to give her "makeovers"...), but the Bratz line is basically like a line of gold digging sluts- they have a passion for fashion, and apparently do nothing more strenuous than go shopping and night-clubbing. The Bratz Babiez are even creepier- babies in sexy makeup and tarty clothes! It's gross. And this stuff is being marketed at six year olds. Everything in the girls' aisles at the toy stores is, without fail, pink or purple now. There are no other choices for girls these days. I'm actually hoping the poorly considered Disney Fairies toy lines take off, because at least then little girls will be able to have toys in other color schemes. (And each of the fairies has a thing she loves to do, like paint or write or dance or something. Even Tinkerbell is retroactively getting a task- she's a tinker and makes things.)

I am probably one of the girliest girls I know- I love pink, I love glitter, I have been obsessed with fashion and fashion history since I was a kid, and I don't even have a problem with Barbie (I used to collect them). But some of this marketing is so pervasive- there are little girls now who believe their only goal in life is to look hot, wear makeup, get married and shop like crazy. It's a terrible message to send, that their entire self-worth and value as a person is based 100% on their appearance or their ability to clean house. It'd be nice if there were some other options with the same kind of marketing push as this kind of thing. Heck, they've even made Dora the Explorer into a princess now. It's too much.

[aaaamory.livejournal.com]

I liked playing with the tiny GI Joes action figures at my friend's house but I never had any of my own. They were cool because they bended at the ankles, the knees, *and* the wrists. I think it was probably because it never occurred to my mom to get me any. I got dinosaurs though and she encouraged them because they had long complicated words for names and I learned them.

My 2-year-old nephew has all sorts of toys. He has a vacuum that looks real but it's miniature-sized. He has a set of hairstyling tools. They're pink because they probably only come in that color. He has some Polly Pocket dolls, that, when you plug them onto a miniature stage and turn a crank, they gyrate their hips (one of them rotates her head completely around while she dances, it's super creepy but cool at the same time, I should take a video). My dad said, "Where's the stripper's pole?" He got an iron for christmas (probably so he'll stop trying to plug in the real one).

Of course he also has learning toys like puzzles and spanish-talking toys and gear sets and stuff.

[xianjaguar.livejournal.com]

I learned pretty damn quick that "control your own money"="control your own life/stability".

Me too, but I also learned that "No money"="Out of control life". Lately, I've been really scraping hard for money and it sucks. I'm almost to the point where'd I'd appreciate a little help from a guy. I just get tired of working constantly, and never having any fun. :(

If a boy wants to play with dolls, he should be able to; if a girl wants trucks and construction toys, she should have them.

I agree! I think all kids should get to play with whatever they want. Luckily, my parents never denied me toys for gender reasons. Their reasons were either 1) It's too Dangerous! or 2) It's too Expensive!
Grrr.

My biggest beef with this toy is that a life of domestic drudgery is anything but imaginative! Lord knows I don't exactly dream of doing dishes, laundry or cleaning the catboxes.

But see, just because *you* don't dream of that or don't like that, doesn't mean that no girl should. There's nothing wrong with being domestic, if it's from Choice. My mom loves it. I have one or two girls on my f-list who are 'homemakers' as well and LOVE it. They have no job, other than to 'keep the house' (and do a little furry art on the side for fun) and they couldn't be more thrilled. It's what they like! =)
Heck, at this point, even I would like to be a homemaker. There's something appealing about it to me at this stage in my life.

but the Bratz line is basically like a line of gold digging sluts- they have a passion for fashion, and apparently do nothing more strenuous than go shopping and night-clubbing. The Bratz Babiez are even creepier- babies in sexy makeup and tarty clothes! It's gross.

Okaaay....I have to agree with you 110% here. I mean, there's "Choice" and then there's "Poor Taste". I think the Bratz line is just awful... I remember when it first came out, and I couldn't believe it. The Bratz line just looks slutty. What's next, "Bratz Dildoes" for 7 year olds?

Dora is a princess now? Eesh... before she was just some adventurous kid in pants and a t-shirt with a jaguar buddy.

Some of the marketing *is* pervasive, and gives girls a terrible message, but that's been going on ever since Barbie was invented (who thought of those measurements, anyhow? Geez.).
Luckily, though, not ALL of the marketing is that way, and there really are other options available, but you have to go to a good toy store to find them (FAO Shwartz, anyone?)

(Some of the neat toys they have now that are marketed to both boys and girls are the robotic animatronic animals...they have everything from the soft FurReal line to the Aibo dogs to PLEO the dinosaur)

[ghostman99.livejournal.com]

Elin mentioned something about "even Tinkerbelle is retroactively getting a task" , which I think is kinda cool. Because: J.M. Barrie defined her in the book as a pot-mending fairy to start with , something not mentioned in any film depiction of Tink. J.M. Barrie inserted a lot of fairy facts(if you will) in Peter Pan , and giving Tinkerbelle attributes of the old pagan house - sprites reflects that.

It's part of being a kid!

[the-mouthpiece.livejournal.com]

It's true. children will play with whatever toys are handy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrPc9ARvoOs

[hecatemahadevi.livejournal.com]

I'm arriving at the party late. I haven't been keeping up on everyone's blogs, so that's why you haven't seen any comments from me.

I think they should make a matching boys' "Rosepetal Playhouse". It comes in dark and drab colours, has lots of beer in the fridge, a big-screen TV for watching sports, and a wife to give "love taps" to when dinner isn't on the table the second he gets home from work. That way, boys can learn their proper household role too, right?