doronjosama (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doronjosama) wrote2007-12-29 04:17 pm
doronjosama) wrote2007-12-29 04:17 pm
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Augh!
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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)
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:
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.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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