The differences in the gender begin from the birth of a child with the general question by everyone, “Is it a boy or a girl”? Gender and gender roles are integrated with us since our inception in this world. The concept of masculinity and femininity is known as Gender, and the Gender Roles are the traits, expectations, and behaviors associated with men and women and what it means to be “masculine” or “feminine” (Bem, 152). The gender roles are associated for male and female depending on their gender. Though there are traditional differences in the roles, it is difficult to define various roles for each gender. The boys and girls are socialized differently and this gender socialization is very much visible in family, profession, education, and career.
Socialization begins in the male and female from a very young age. Parents, teachers, community, friends and the surrounding play an important role in the upbringing and developing the mentality of the boys and girls as they try to adapt to the labels of male and female. The impact of the family contribution to the gender socialization is more than any other factors. The pink color is associated with a baby girl and blue color is considered for baby boy. For example, when parents buy toys they knowingly or unknowingly buy dolls for girls so that they learn to love and care and get trained to be future mothers. Boys are usually considered aggressive and they are given cars or any other toys that don’t require love and care. It is not only the males who are threatened by the changing gender roles but also the women who have acknowledged the obsolete roles and any changes as a threat.
The Toys R Urs is one of the largest toy retailers considered to be selling the best variety toys for boys and girls. When I visited the Toys R Urs store I was fascinated seeing the large area that was covered with variety of toys for both the genders, children play area, variety of accessories for the new mother to be, and the new born baby. The racks on either side of the aisle were filled with toys with a big price tag on them, and it was quite evident that the boys section was colorful and bright with shades of blue and the girls section was brightened with shades of pink. The toys for boys were into a blue and navy color section, and a pink and white section held the toys for the girls. The difference in the stacks for girls and boys was visible as the toys for boys contained action figures like Skylanders Giants and Toy story talking sheriff, and the recreational and vehicles section contained the Hot Wheels 20 cars set, shark plane, and garage set to name a few. The stacks for girls contained Bath, Beauty and Accessories that included toys like Hello Kitty train case, Barbie CD Player, Disney princess alarm clock and so on.
The toys for the girls represented a homely nature, for example the toys like My Sweet Home, Tea set, New born baby portrayed that the girls are supposed to look after the home and children. Most of the boy’s toys like the Erector set, Solar system set, and the building block set displayed that the boys are fit to accept any challenges and are interested in mechanical work. Some toys for boys also portrayed that the boys must gain experience of the outside world and must not restrict themselves to household chores. I found the toys from the Fischer price to be gender unbiased toys as they could be used by any gender. It can be clearly understood from the Toys R Us store that through toys gender socialization can be taught and the stereotypical gender roles can never be abolished from the society. A girl with a doll and a boy with a truck explain why men are from Mars and women are from Venus, why wives do housework and husbands just don't understand (Pollitt, 317).
Today, the notion that gender is purely a social construction seems nearly as outmoded as bra-burning or free love (Rosin, 2008). People teach children about their genders and the roles they are supposed to fulfill in the society. The society sees that the women must be at home and take care of house hold chores and men are required to work and look after the financial needs of the family. There are still inequalities in the society and the opportunities offered to women are far less than the opportunities given to men. A few examples of gender socialization can be related to the brain. The females use both the sides of the brain and are very active, they communicate well compared to the males who use only the left side of the brain. The male and female are perceived differently that has created a huge difference in the gender roles.
The observations made at Toys R Us reveals the buried sexism that takes place through children’s toys as a medium. It was also seen at the store that the girls section was considerable larger than the boys section. When the children are between three to four years they already would have fit into the stereotype of male and female. This stereotyping in gender can be a result of the information received from the parents, teachers, community and the toys played by them. To prevent children by adhering to these stereotypes that are displayed through toys, parents must support their children by allowing them to play with gender-neutral and cross-gender from the toddler age. When parents discuss gender-role development with children they must define the difference between sexes and gender clearly. This clarity will make the children understand that sex is a biological term and gender is created by the society. In many cultures it is understood that the duty of a female is to nurture and males are considered to be antagonistic. It is discouraging to accept the fact that toys hint that our society gives more importance to young boys more than girls. The toy companies must build toys that are gender-neutral, but will this solve the issue of gender socialization as the gender roles is set in us since generations.
Works Cited
Bem, S L. The Lenses of Gender. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. (1993). Print
Pollitt, Katha., Engendering Difference: Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls. (1995). Retrieved from http://www.uta.edu/faculty/fuston/Fall%2003/Boys%20and%20dolls.pdf
Rosin, Hanna. A Boy’s Life: November 2008 Atlantic Magazine. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/a-boys-life/307059/
