Toys by Age and Gender Term Paper

On the packages, only girls were playing with them, and the packages were decorated with bows.

Baby Born" is an infant doll that looks quite life-like. Again only girls were shown playing with these on the packaging. The girls' pictures were framed by hearts. Baby Born comes with bottles, rattles, and a blanket, so the toy is interactive. Thus girls are given interactive toys that nurture, while the boys are being given toys that encourage them to build and explore their world, especially at later ages.

The Wiggles" Musical Guitar" is a toy electric guitar that is played by pushing buttons placed along the neck. This toy is clearly aimed at boys. While it uses bright, primary colors, only young men are shown on the box, and the message is driven home as some of the buttons are shaped like boys as well. No girls are shown anywhere, perpetuating the stereotype that only boys play electric guitars.

At ages six to ten, real differences appeared. "My Real Puppy" was not packaged in a sex-preferenced way. It is a somewhat realistic representation of a puppy (or kitten) and comes with bowl, collar and leash. It makes animal sounds. The animals themselves hinted at gender, however. The dog has a royal blue bowl and a more assertive posture than the kitten, which also has a light pink bowl.

New Born Puppy/Bunny" is clearly geared toward girls.The toys act in ways designed to get a nurturing response. Supposedly newborn, they raise their heads and open their eyes. The packaging shows little girls looking adoringly at the toy and cuddling them.

At this age there were a lot of Legos kits, none of which seemed to appeal to girls. The STAR WARS kit allows the child to make a kind of starship used in battle in the movies. The package is colored in dark colors of browns and blacks, with orange and bright, non-pastel yellows. It shows a boy flying the starship.

Perhaps it makes sense to market the STAR WARS kit to boys, but all LEGOS kits were geared that way, even when girls could have been worked in. LEGOS' "Knights' Kingdom" is an elaborate set that allows the builder to construct an elaborate castle complete with architecturally-detailed towers and a working drawbridge. It comes with action figures - all male. Given the popularity of the Harry Potter books with girls as well as boys and the presence of important female characters in those stories, it seems as if LEGOS could broaden its market by including girls in this kit. It could be called "royal kingdom" or "medieval kingdom" and be more gender neutral. I did not find any toys that encouraged girls to build. The great majority of female toys encouraged nurturing and passive play......