Andrea G. alerted us to a Fisher-Price toy, called My Pretty Learning Purse, for children aged 6 to 36 months. Behold:
The purse comes with a dollar bill, a bracelet, a mirror, and a set of keys. It also sings songs about purple and pink.
Andrea writes:
With these props, a one year old can properly play “woman.” I felt this is an example of how we do gender and teach it to children, as young as a year old.
At least they’re admitting that femininity must be “learn[ed]?”
UPDATE: Jane, in the comments, linked to a Fisher Price product for boys that is very similar:
Get it! It’s a tool box and it includes keys, a screwdriver, a hammer, and a saw.
The play involved in each product is essentially identical (e.g., music, putting things in and taking them out), but the theme of the play is gendered. Do you think this is to please the parents or the kids?
NEW (Dec. ’09)! Monica C. sent along this page from a Target catalog featuring a girl playing with a kitchen and a boy playing with a tool set:
Also in teaching young children femininity and masculinity, see our posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 20
Trabb's Boy — June 24, 2009
I'm sorry about the pink and purple, and that the contents are disporportionately beauty related, because those things turn it into a "girl" toy.
Otherwise, I think the idea is FANTASTIC! Mommy's purse is an object of endless fascination to a toddler. Now, if they put an MP3 player, a little wallet with credit cards and a cell phone for the little bugger to hide in the couch cushions instead of the real ones from Mommy's purse, this would be a very big seller.
Duran — June 24, 2009
Next they'll be trying to imbue our toddlers with table manners. Fascists.
Anonymous — June 24, 2009
It doesn't actually say it's intended for girls, though.
Vettekaas — June 24, 2009
gah when I have kids, I feel like I'm going to make toys for them in a workshop in order to avoid gender conditioning x-( *should have payed more attention in shop class*
Vidya — June 24, 2009
It's also disturbing that this common play activity has been commercialized this way. I don't think I was alone as a child in borrowing my mum's old purses and filling them with 'grownup-like' accessories or imitations thereof that I found around the house. But now it's a plastic piece of crap to be purchased?
Jennifer — June 24, 2009
What is that between the mirror and the keys? Looks like a tiny fire hydrant or a jumbo tube of lipstick.
Dubi — June 24, 2009
My boy would LOOOOVE one of these.
Nerfmobile — June 24, 2009
I'm pretty sure that tiny fire hydrant is supposed to be a jumbo tube of lipstick.
Redhead Metalhead — June 24, 2009
This reminds me of other toys, like the oven kitchen sets, and certain games kids play, like store. They're not just teaching gender roles with all of this, they're teaching "adult" roles as well.
jane — June 24, 2009
This looks almost identical to a tool set my nephew got for Christmas:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=900004&e=storeProduct&pid=42984
The toys are obviously marketed to separate genders even though there is no difference at that age! This kind of stuff annoys me.
selfimmolatingsquid — June 24, 2009
Hi there! I'm a fan of your blog and I thought you might find it interesting but I couldn't figure out how to email this to you:
http://dlisted.com/node/32669
Cute Bruiser — June 24, 2009
Oh dear. This reminds me of the other day I was at the mall with my sister and she pointed out a girl who couldn't have been older than 7 wearing 3 INCH WEDGE HEELS while her mother held her hand to help her maintain her balance.
Andrew — June 24, 2009
I recently went into a toy store for the first time in years (since my own childhood, really) to find a present for a girl's 3rd birthday. I knew she'd be inundated with dolls, purses, tea sets, and pinkpurplepink everything, so I was trying to find something fun and gender-neutral that might give her a little break from the weird girly role-playing games. I was really disturbed by the selection, considering that the toys were completely segregated by gender. It amazed me how so many the girl toys - garish colors aside - were made to play-act roles that few girls in 21st century Berlin would ever witness their mothers performing. SOmebody help me out here - I can understand dress-up, fake purses, and dolls, but where would little girls get the idea of having a tea party? Who has done that in the last 100 years?
Sidenote re: the Pretty Learning Purse - most moms think a toy like this will deter a toddler from exploring the real purse, making expensive calls on the cellphone, tossing tampons out in public, setting off the car alarm, or getting lipstick all over the wall. But oh, they are always proven wrong.
You’re Never Too Young [Girl Props] by Funny Celebrity . info — June 24, 2009
[...] Pretty Learning Purse is for babies 6 months old and comes with a dollar bill, a bracelet, a mirror, and “lipstick.” The [...]
Julie — June 25, 2009
Well I do agree that the majority of the toys marketed to little girls are garrishly and outlandishly over the top with pushing gender stereotypes. But I think we also have to take a look at the parents because clearly no 1 year old is purchasing anything. Also we have to take into account the children's personalities. No matter what, there is little a marketer can do if the toy doesn't somehow speak to the child. I have 2 girls: one has a great affinity for sports; one has a great affinity for all things princess related. I am very anti-consumerism and rarely go into toystores. They still have tons of playthings, don't get me wrong. But, I believe in kids playing make believe- and when they do it generally follows their personality. Which means I have one child who attempts taekwondo on the back of the sofa and yes, one child who tries to wear heels to the store. But hey, neither one is asking me for video games or a DS, both love school, both do play sports, and both embrace their femaleness in different ways.
meerkat — June 25, 2009
I think the tool pouch keys are actually wrenches.
Penny — June 25, 2009
The truth is, in actual play, these things will soon contain random legos, playmobil figures, stray puzzle pieces, a doll's sock, etc. I wouldn't worry about what's in the set as sold--it's an interesting reflection of the toy designer's ideas, but kids I know rarely keep sets together past the day the gift arrives.
Why the plastic fake purse over the real hand-me-down purse: there's a belief that plastic cleans up easier. So the parents and daycares who are stressed about germs might choose the fake plastic purse on that basis. (Not saying this is a reasonable belief or choice, only that I can imagine this is the thought process in some cases.)
Obviously, if you want to give a girl the tan bag, or a boy the pink bag, go for it. Fisher-Price won't mind a bit. Or, if one of these comes into your kid's possession despite your hopes, you can always take a sharpie/stickers/paint and make it black, green, plaid, whatever. Teach a kid that they can personalize and alter and transform questionable mass-marketed items for their own tastes and needs. That's a lesson that they can carry into clothing, food, furniture, books, whatever, for the rest of their lives.
Rico Hendran — June 25, 2009
An open letter 4 publishing ( solution to stop torture by law enforcement)
Dear Mr. President,
Please help to stop the torture of people in Democratic Europe!
Law enforcement officers, primarily police and security guards, have the ability to arrest people, especially dark-skinned people, in the name of law, regardless of their guilt. They can escort these people to a room, such as a dressing room, a vehicle or another place without public views nor security cameras. There they can beat, torture or even sexually assault these people.
When victims of such cases try to stand up for their rights and seek justice, the guilty officers have the excuse: violent resistance to the law; thus it is their duty to deal with them. Law enforcement often censor such cases so society never hears about them from the media. There have been numerous cases all over the Democratic and Humanitarian Europe (for more information 120–cases) contact Mr. Juan Fonseca, chief of Discrimination bureau in Stockholm and former member of Swedish Parliament (Cell # +46 733421988) or Amnesty International’s EU Office. Some cases are covered by the media; for example, in Swedish Channel 4 News showed a video taken with a mobile phone where European police officers are seen torturing refugees in “torture rooms.” In Stockholm, a central police station had pictures of non-Caucasian officers with “SS” written on them. There are many other similar cases happening, possibly now as you are reading this letter, and the guilty parties suffer no consequences. If this type of violence committed by law enforcement isn’t stopped, victims will continue to be damaged not just physically but mentally. This type of behaviour may result in even more violence when victims want to release their anger and aggression for this injustice. There have been numerous cases in France, Sweden and other countries where people have obtained weapons for shooting, explosions, and so on. There are even more cases in the US and around the world available online as evidence to back up this proposal in order to end these kinds of barbarian behaviors
A possible solution to stop this type of violence would be to require all law enforcement officers to carry a small digital video camera (with a few GBs of memory), attach it to their uniforms, and require them to tape their actions on duty. It is not an expensive technology when you compare it to the costs of court when dishonourable officers are sued by their victims. The cameras should be encrypted and not able to be stopped or viewed by officers. The footage should be collected from all officers and archived daily, when they finish their working day.
There should also be cameras placed in all law enforcement premises and officers should not be allowed to take arrested people to any "blind" places. Law enforcement communication should be recorded 24 hours a day by a higher level law enforcement unit. This unit should consist of a diverse group of people from as many different nationalities and races available in that country. The recorded materials should be publicly available for use in court.
I sincerely hope that you will kindly consider this matter not only as President but as someone who deeply cares about humanity. I hope you will further this idea by talking to your colleagues around the world because it would have positive effects for every country. The next generation would remember you not only as the 44th President but as someone who has done good for the entire world, making big changes for justice and human rights by stopping racism and discrimination all over the world.
With best wishes and a hope for a better world for us and our children.
Yours truly,
Rico Hendran
Post Restante
104 60 Stockholm,
Sweden
Sociological Images Update (Dec. 2009) » Sociological Images — January 1, 2010
[...] C. sent in another great example of gendered toy advertising. In this one a girl plays with a kitchen set alongside a boy playing with a tool set. [...]
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