I recently wrote two papers focusing on how toys create gender roles in children, specifically cooking and housekeeping toys. After researching online stores for hours, it is still shocking to realize the extent to which a gender binary is ingrained in play time. It's no surprise that 80% of the cooking toys were marketed to girls, covered in pink and disney princesses. But for me, the worst part of it was that when marketers did decide to include toys for boys, those toys were blatantly in a power position.
The most striking example: a line of aprons called "Cute Sayings"
Boy apron
Girl apron
If colors are any indication of gender, then girls should wear the pink apron labeled "Super cute assistant" while boys get the blue apron that reads "I'm the boss."
Uhhh, no thank you. I think not...
!!!!
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