Also? The archer is a lefty.

I will point out that boys often play with dolls--I had any number of them myself. But you have to call them "action figures" because otherwise people might think you're gay. Especially with the way He-Man used to dress.

"Most people are less likely to think boys are being treated unfairly by not seeing images of boys playing with dolls or an Easy Bake oven..."

I love your observation here! Because of the dominance in our society of men, women have been getting a lot of boosts to take over more traditionally male roles - but men are still confined to those same dominant roles. When a man wears an apron and is cooking and cleaning, it's weird to our society - But a woman mowing the lawn is empowered.
If a man chooses to take over traditionally female roles (i.e., being a "house husband"), is he empowering himself in the same way that women have been empowering themselves by taking over traditionally male roles?

Unfortunately, we don't see boys as being treated as unfairly when they don't get to do "girl things" because girl things are considered inferior. It seems natural to people that girls and women want to do boy/men things because we see these activities as worth while. But a boy or man doing girl/women things is seen as somehow deviant because they are seen as wasting their time doing something useless.
But the truth is things that are usually labeled as feminine, are worthwhile. Boys certainly are disadvantaged when they are discouraged to learn how to take care of themselves. They are disadvantaged when they are discouraged learn empathy and social skills. Our view of all things feminine are inferior hurts both boys and girls.

Yep. What you said about a poor representation of boys playing with "girl things" is an example that sexism does exist-- against males.

Alyssa has it right. This is because masculine = inherently worthwhile and feminine = inherently frivolous.

Also, unless they are counting the "key" to the handcuff's there are only 7 items to the 8 piece FBI kit showing? Did they choose to leave the gun out of the picture? If it is including the key, that's pretty cool that the FBI kit doesn't the ephasize the use of a gun.

I find it interesting how the *girls themselves* are gendered. They are all wearing either pink or purple (or pastel purple!). The gendering of purple is maybe a little arguable, but I see purple on men frequently associated with homosexuality, and these girls are wearing warm, muted, or pastel shades of purple, not the cool, dark, rich shades men are sometimes shown to wear in popular media images. So to me, these images look like they're really emphasizing the femininity of the girls.

All excellent comments. I did want to take a moment to say that I have purchased many products from Toys to Grow on over the years for my nieces and nephews. They have an excellent selection of creative, non-commercialized interactive toys from which to choose, including those that encourage exercise. And practical skills like handling money, cooking, etc. Over all I think they try, and I'm glad to see some changes in the traditional gender - stereotyping of toys.

Now I'd like to see more boys playing with "girl" toys!
We bought our twin boys a wooden play kitchen for their 3rd birthday and every toy store, every toy online store frustrated my husband and me more.
Why isn't there more of an outrage, that the entire "girl-section" of toy stores is full of pink household items, dolls, strollers, toy cleaning supplies?!
As an open minded parent it's really hard not to get mad at stuff like this, when you shop for toys.
My kids get the toys they show interest in, they like their baby dolls just as much as their trucks, cars and toy tools.
Next on their wish list are strollers for their dolls. Sounds like a christmas gift to me!

This is awesome! My fave toy when I was in 5th grade was when my dad gave me his old scroll saw ...

I've observed in many families that while girls are celebrated for trying "boy" things, boys are made fun of and/or discouraged from trying "girly" things. For instance, I remember my uncle always being proud of his daughter for succeeding in archery and hunting, which were pretty male-dominated in the area they live in. However, he was quite upset when her son was playing with my sister's Barbies. It seems like many people consider little girls dabbling in the stereotypically masculine fine, but they disdain the stereotypically feminine in boys. I can think of several positive, fictional tomboys, but I can't think of many positive examples for the other way around.

As for me, I always played with my dinosaurs and animals as a kid, but I would have loved that archery set.

this makes me happy! i cant wait to have children so i can give them all dolls and racecars and barbies and toy tools, regardless of their gender, and then bitch at anybody who makes snide comments.

Maybe boys are discouraged from doing girl things not because they aren't "worthwhile things to do," but because they are classified as feminine.

What I mean is, it always feels like females who engage in male activities are now viewed as seeking some sort of non-sexualized equality; whereas, if a male participates in female activities his sexual orientation is questioned constantly. Gay rights were never as "popular" or forceful, historically, as women's lib in the past (whether it be for moral reasons or just under-representation), and I think this is an artifact of that unpopularity.

A female can work in an all-male environment and never have her sexual orientation questioned. A male working in an all-female environment is almost immediately classified as a homosexual without any investigation into whether it's fact or not. It is assumed. Just a thought.

It's unfortunate that we have even to go through any of this, but I'm just happy there's a company that's at least trying! :D

This is well and good, but why are all the girls wearing pink or purple?

I grew up with the Toys to Grow On catalog in the house. While I can't vouch for it now, I clearly remember being a little girl and noticing the children in the catalog. They used the same pictures for years so they became pretty ingrained in my brain. I remember a boy playing with a kitchen set and a boy being a pretend school teacher. I also remember a lot of photos of boys and girls playing together with the same toys... like doctors' sets and food sets and such. I think they are a pretty worthwhile place overall... my mom bought me a lot of things from them when I was a little girl.

I can't help imagining a marketer somewhere... "Do you realise that by advertising boys' toys to girls, we just DOUBLED the market?!!"

Actually, the girls were not used to model these toys. The girls were horribly Photoshopped into pictures with these toys.

One of my favourite stores actually sells 'girls' toys that are for boys. It is problematic in that the dolls, t-sets, washing machines etc come in pink and blue, but at least they are around. They also have boys and girls for many of the toys in their catalogue. You can see an example at http://www.kidscentral.com.au/elc/p-3429-my-first-stroller-blue.aspx

That is the most adorable little FBI agent I have ever seen.

This site is awesome! I am getting my little cousin his Christmas present from here. The cleaning trolley has a girl but at least the mix is decent elsewhere.

http://www.toystogrowon.com/sku114 A girl with a rocket launcher!
http://www.toystogrowon.com/sku654 A boy being artsy - the closest a boy seems to be getting to a girlier thing.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, as I have a four-year-old boy, and keep wandering into the 'girls' aisle at the big shops seeing if there's any toys there I might get him. (There is one of those stick to together dress-up doll sets he really wants, but it's a bit out of my price range ...)
My problem with the girls' toys isn't that they're 'feminine', but that they're BORING. I don't think ANY four-year-old should be encouraged to see ironing, washing, or vacuuming as 'fun' ... maybe cooking, which is kind of creative, like building, is fun, but the rest of it is just dull with a capital D. Yes, it's awful that these utterly mundane tasks, that are associated with ever increasing needs for 'hygiene' and uber-cleanliness, are feminised, but I don't think the solution is to encourage small boys to see them as viable games. Rather, we should relegate 'house-work' to the bin of borningness that it rightfully belongs, and encourage our kids to engage in imaginative stuff while it's still OK for them to have fun ...

The first thing I noticed was that the girls were using toys stereotypically assigned to boys. I then noticed that the four girls were wearing pink and purple, which struck me as especially silly when worn under a camo hat or covered in sawdust. Two of the girls are too busy smiling at the camera to actually play with the toys, but maybe most of the advertising images for boys look the same way.

Like a lot of the other commentators, I wonder and worry about where the boys who like cooking, sewing, and gardening might be.

I think that it is quite sad that boys can't embrace things that could potentially be healthy for them. Don't we all want fathers to be able to care for their children? I certainly do, so playing with dolls, go for it! You're just learning the skills that will likely be needed later. It really shocks me sometimes how people get onto little boys for playing with lighter colored toys, my nephew was out playing with a little pink car and his mom let him, he liked it and it suited him better. Didn't make me think to much, but she got told that she was 'sick' for letting her son play with a toy! How ...silly.

After reading all that I was left with two big unanswered questions that have me trapped in a chicken or the egg battle within my mind lol

Is a man being effeminate upsetting because he seems more like a homosexual or a man being gay is associated with femininity that’s so upsetting to some?

Are stereotypically feminine tasks/hobbies seen as negative because they’re associated with only women or are those tasks considered feminine because they’re inferior workload and thus assigned to women and labelled “feminine”?

I think people just generally want to turn everything into a political discussion. Yes, home care that is typically assigned to females IS considered a less valued type of work. And boys are clearly labeled sissies if they play with dolls as if taking care of a child is something they are incapable of doing. The point here is not the toys, or the tools--nor how they are represented. The point is that parents are responsible for encouraging their children to take on any type of work or play, and to emphasize the importance of all kinds of contributions to survival and prosperity. Children will be more likely to follow their own paths when they know that whatever they choose to do, it is supported by those who love and care for them. We can do without the politics, the racial issues, and the discussions about it. To do so only solidifies that boys and girls are valued differently.

PS: Childhood is a time for discovery, interest, practice, play, and changing minds. A girl may dress up as an FBI agent, and grow up to become a chef, a hostess, a homemaker, an FBI agent---or all of those throughout different stages of their lives.

I think Josh W needs to grow the f*ck up.

So girls play with boy's toys. Wow. the streets will run with blood and the earth will swallow up i...

LET KIDS PLAY. Stop making it political!

Stop the Bullsh*t!

This feminist rhetoric is getting seriously boring. Let kids play. Stop sexualzing everything.

Gender-stereotyping is not about placing one gender in a dominant/subservient role against the other, but rather it is the creation of expectations. There has been gender-stereotyping for thousands of years (I cannot think of a single civilization without it). However, it has not always deemed any one gender's role as being more "worthwhile," in fact, if my memory is correct, in most Mezo-American cultures the gender roles were seen as complimentary, and of equal importance. So, I would say the idea of gender equality has been around for quite a while, but the entirely different idea of breaking down gender stereotypes on a societal level is quite new.

Another interesting thought, the names popular culture gives to girls who act like boys (tomboy) and boys who act like girls (nancyboy) are both of the form -boy. I'd be interested in the etymology of them... Also worth noting is that "tomboy" now has a (quasi)-positive connotation while "nancyboy" is still very negative.

While there are still flaws in this advertisement, I think it's generally a step in the right direction. Like others said, I would really like to see boys playing with "girl" toys.
One of my greatest parenting fears--although parenthood is far away for me--is that no matter what I do in raising my child, he or she will just go along with whatever society says they should do, especially when it comes to gender roles. What my education courses at university have taught me so far on the subject don't ease my fears.
I think the overall view society pushes is not only that it's okay for girls to do "boy" things but not the other way around, but also that girls HAVE TO fill the feminine gender role as well as the masculine one (for example, having a "manly" job along with looking pretty and being responsible for child rearing and housekeeping, which is just plain unfair).

Хорошая статья. Мне понравилась.

Now a day every girl want to play with interesting toys. They don't care about, for who these toys are? Some times before girls used to play with soft toys but the way of choosing toys is changing with the time. Now they are trying to play with all the toys they feel interesting to play.

nice site Toys to Grow On and was surprised when he noticed that girls were used to model a number of toys! thumbs up!!

great website!! now we can play with boys toys!!!

At least we still know who's job it really is to take care of the kids:

http://www.toystogrowon.com/sku851

The sad thing is it really seems the small effort for some gender neutrality of toys has actually regressed over the years. Back in the 80s I remember boys being in the Cabbage Patch Kids commercials, and anyone remember My Buddy? I'm pretty sure he even existed *before* Kid Sister. Normal non-combat non-aggressive dolls that were ok for boys to have. You don't see that much these days. (Granted few would probably be given a female Cabbage Patch or Kid Sister, but it was a start.)

As for the inferiority thing, I'd have to agree and have for a long time. Whatever is associated with girls/women still, even now, has an underlying feeling of it being inferior and not good enough for boys/men. I think the fact that men in this day and age still use womankind, and related, as insults for each other helps prove it. You wouldn't use us to offend each other if we weren't considered inferior...

It's restrictive of boys/men, not being able to branch out the way women have been able to, and insulting to girls/women that whatever is stereotypically related to us is not good enough for them.

I have to completely agree. There is always this offensives if women are told that's a man's profession etc. Somehow men seem to take pride in not wanting to do things women predominantly do.

Sigh!

Not to mean it in a bad way, but don't understand why there needs to be a competition between men and women. God made Adam and Eve and we need to appreciate that.

Commercials should show boys & girls playing together with the same toys, so children grow up with gender neutral attitudes. I'm sick of men acting like enjoying something that women like makes them lesser beings, which also displays their low opinion of women.