Commercials are about promoting and selling to one kind of audience, children. Their product must be appealing and often lie about the product but it gets it sold and children continue to want them. Article 4 (miller) Qualitative Differences among Gender Stereotyped Toys: Implications for Cognitive and Social Development in Girls and Boys According to what the article stated it was suggested that the early play experiences of girls and boys may contribute to gender differences in cognitive and social development, empirical support for this hypothesis is limited. (Miller, 1987) Such as girls or boys knowing the gender differences of toys and classifying them in a
Little girls learn that they are supposed to like dolls and pink, while little boys learn that they are supposed to like trucks and the color blue. Through various forms of guidance and direction from external influences, children experience gender role socialization they quickly learn what behaviors are encouraged by their parents and peers, and which ones are not. These ideas are further reinforced by the media's portrayal of traditional gender roles. As a result, children internalize these beliefs pertaining to gender roles and their behavior is modified accordingly. The child's first influence in regards to gender roles is the family.
Gender Stereotypes and Inequality Gender roles are taught at an early age. Toy stores across the world advertise baby dolls to be more appealing towards young girls than to boys. The media always shows these dolls only being used by girls. Why aren’t these marketed towards boys? It would most definitely be frowned upon if a boy was seen playing and caring for a baby doll, this is where the misconceptions of gender roles take place.
What I noticed walking through the aisle of the toys store was that the female section of the toy store was much bigger than the male side, possibly feeding into the stereotype that women have more material objects than men. Little girls could only buy dolls and kitchen sets, and the boys had access to action figures and weapons. I noticed that boys have shown to prefer more vehicles, weapons, and spatial temporal items while girls request more dolls, domestic items, and musical instrument. These items chosen by young children can lead them to improper gender role socialization and gender stereotypes. Through popular toys such as My Sweet Home doll set, My Little Helper Stove 2 in 1 vacuum set and the popular Elegant Tea Set.
All things nice are what apparently seem to be represented by girls. It is this labeling of characteristics to each gender that make it become the social norm. The media (various means of mass communication) affects and influences gender as a social construction of reality. For one point, children are always engaging with shows portraying gender stereotype roles from toys promoted as for boys or girls, to TV shows. It is very common for the children's TV shows to lay emphasis on the role of the male character as a hero who saves the weak female character.
Infant boys are dressed in blue, while baby girls are dressed in pink. The gender messages parents send their children become internalized at an early age, with kids as young as two years old being aware of sex role differences in adult tasks, clothing, and possessions (Weinraub et al. 1499). In addition, parents reinforce gender-typical behavior by promoting sex-typed activities and toys.
Society Creates a Monster Throughout our lives, as we grow from a child to an adult, we develop a sense of who we are through socialization and the way people assume the way we are supposed to act. For example; men are supposed to like cars, sports, play outside, get dirty, and all of that crazy stuff, but are men allowed to wear dresses, heels, play with Barbie Dolls? It is noticeable everywhere you go, children get brought up depending on what gender they are. Little girls get princesses, doll houses, and help mom clean while little boys are outside playing with Hot Wheels, helping dad with yard work, and playing sports with their friends. Why is it that when a boy gets hurt he is taught that boys do not cry and to rub dirt on it, while little girls get comforted and loved?
These societal influences are the leading cause relating to gender specific stereotypes. Boys predominantly play with trucks, soldiers, and tools and girls play with dolls, and kitchen sets. From greeting cards to toys, through marketing and advertising, stereotypical societal behaviors are encouraged on a daily basis. Overview of the Problem In conducting my field research, I frequented two stores that Parents most utilize for their children’s toys and greeting card purchases; Wal-Mart and Toys R US. I also went a little further with investigating; AmericanGreetings.com, Walmart.com, and Toysrus.com.
Pearson Education) Along with gender roles, gender stereotypes also play a huge role in assessing gender role behavior. In class, we learned that gender stereotypes are rigidly-held, categorical beliefs that certain personality traits are inherently associated with being male or female. There are several stereotypes associated with being a woman. For instance, marrying a man and having children is natural, women are terrible drivers, women are weak, women need to stay home to cook and clean while the men go out and work. Stereotypes
In the article, The Second Shift, the author describes a married couple who try to split their duties equally. However, the gender role women have unconsciously acquired makes them dependent on men and therefore women are labeled weak or insuffient. House wives are basically working for free and the lack of income subsequently leads to male dependency which creates a male power complex. This complex allows men to feel superior over women and act as the leader of a household. This is evident when we look at domestic abuse and violence where every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten, according to domesticabuse.org.