Back in 2009, Lisa posted about microscopes and telescopes in a Toys’R’Us catalog. In both cases, the pink version was the least powerful option.
Reader Claudia, who lives in Ireland, found a similar example. Back in October, a supermarket outside Dublin sent out a mailer that advertised boys’ and girls’ laptops. The boys’ version has 50 functions; the girls get just half as many:
Also, it looks more like a packet of birth control pills than a laptop.
Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.
Comments 30
relish5k — November 28, 2012
It absolutely does.
James Offer — November 28, 2012
The lack of apostrophe in "its" bugs me slightly as much as the blatant gender stereotyping.
Sartora — November 28, 2012
This reminds me - was there ever a post here (or somewhere else) discussing the weird tendency to code white smartphones/tablets/laptops as female and black ones as male?
Andrew S — November 28, 2012
I wish there was some sort of interview with whomever it was that made the decisions on this.
The price is lower on the girls, which could partly be because it's smaller, looks cheaper (smaller screen, no track pad) and costs less to make. But perhaps it's because a pink version of the "Boys" wasn't expected to sell as much, so the profit per sale is the same on each?
I suppose this asks if the products are gendered -- at this point -- because the consumers act on gender stereotypes, or if if they're gendered because the marketers/producers simply feel that consumers will act on gender stereotypes.
Aside from the vocal group of non-gendered-toy-buying-parents, as my nephew has, it seems that perhaps it's the consumer who is to blame here.
It's not explicit, but these posts almost always seem to put the blame on Toys 'R' Us or the advertiser or the producer. Is it their "fault"?
All I'm asking for is perhaps a bit more insight into why this is the way it is, rather than just one more example of what is "Wrong" with society.
Kelsey — November 28, 2012
Being pink is function enough.
Laura Lee — November 28, 2012
But if you count being pink and decorative, that's two more functions right there.
Girls vs. Boys “Laptops”: Guess Which Does More? » Sociological Images « National-Express2011 — November 29, 2012
[...] on thesocietypages.org Sharen mit:TwitterFacebookGoogle +1TumblrPinterestEmailMoreLinkedInLike this:LikeBe the first to [...]
More Awful Gender Stereotyping From The Toy World — November 29, 2012
[...] Sharp of Sociological Images recently posted this image that was sent to her from a reader called Claudia. The image was on a mailer that was sent out from [...]
Iaminnocenttheblood Ofthisjust — November 30, 2012
So who cares about "Slave made goods FLom Amiable VeneLable Cathay" as long as it's "Equal Opportunity" sweatshop garbage...?
Swedish Toys R Us Catalog Tries to Blur Gender Roles | Ad Strength — November 30, 2012
[...] Roll your mind back to 2008, when we wrote about Sweden’s kerfluffle over allegedly sexist Lego advertising that showed a little girl in a pink room outfitted with ponies and a little boy in a blue room full of fire trucks. That same year, a complaint was lodged by a class of Swedish sixth graders about the Toys"R"Us Christmas catalog. Well, four years later, TOP-TOY, the company behind the catalog, has decided to update their Christmas publication by tossing in a few gender-neutral images. This year’s Christmas Toys"R"Us catalog shows a girl with a Nerf gun, a boy with a doll and children of both sexes playing with everything from a a kitchen playset and babydoll changing table to a pink Barbie Dreamhouse. Not all of the images defy stereotypes; there are still plenty of girls with pink playthings while boys enjoy toys of every other color, but recognition of diversity doesn’t require a complete 180. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either pink or blue; there’s just something wrong with saying only one gender can play with a toy because of its color. The move has created a lot of publicity for TOP-TOY and some outcry from an irritable British man who writes for The Telegraph and worries that boys playing with baby dolls will grow up to be girls, as opposed to, say, fathers. Chances are good that this war over gender roles will have many more battlegrounds than just Norway. In Ireland, for example, one woman noticed in an ad that girls' toy laptops were not only pink, but also half as powerful as the ones advertised for boys. [...]
Andrew — November 30, 2012
Even the toy computer I got for Christmas in 1988 had more than 50 functions. This one is a bad deal.
But what I wonder most is, what were the 25 functions that they had to omit from the pink one to make it suitable for girls?
Anyone have a link to the product data?
Swedish Toys R Us Catalog Tries to Blur Gender Roles | Giant Balloons Company — November 30, 2012
[...] Roll your mind back to 2008, when we wrote about Sweden’s kerfluffle over allegedly sexist Lego advertising that showed a little girl in a pink room outfitted with ponies and a little boy in a blue room full of fire trucks. That same year, a complaint was lodged by a class of Swedish sixth graders about the Toys"R"Us Christmas catalog. Well, four years later, TOP-TOY, the company behind the catalog, has decided to update their Christmas publication by tossing in a few gender-neutral images. This year’s Christmas Toys"R"Us catalog shows a girl with a Nerf gun, a boy with a doll and children of both sexes playing with everything from a a kitchen playset and babydoll changing table to a pink Barbie Dreamhouse. Not all of the images defy stereotypes; there are still plenty of girls with pink playthings while boys enjoy toys of every other color, but recognition of diversity doesn’t require a complete 180. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either pink or blue; there’s just something wrong with saying only one gender can play with a toy because of its color. The move has created a lot of publicity for TOP-TOY and some outcry from an irritable British man who writes for The Telegraph and worries that boys playing with baby dolls will grow up to be girls, as opposed to, say, fathers. Chances are good that this war over gender roles will have many more battlegrounds than just Norway. In Ireland, for example, one woman noticed in an ad that girls' toy laptops were not only pink, but also half as powerful as the ones advertised for boys. [...]
Some Mashup of Masculinity & Femininity « Jamie Lewis Hedges — November 30, 2012
[...] like. I have witnessed pressure to be nothing other than male and female as society defines them. (The Society Pages just published another great example here.) This includes men shouldn’t be nurses, women [...]
Bright Spot? | rosiesaysblog — November 30, 2012
[...] then, when it seems like it will never end, I stumble on this ad for toy computers in which the boy computer (blue, obviously) has 50 functions and the girl computer (guess what [...]
Swedish Toys R Us Catalog Tries to Blur Gender Roles | Bed Bug Treatments — November 30, 2012
[...] Roll your mind back to 2008, when we wrote about Sweden’s kerfluffle over allegedly sexist Lego advertising that showed a little girl in a pink room outfitted with ponies and a little boy in a blue room full of fire trucks. That same year, a complaint was lodged by a class of Swedish sixth graders about the Toys "R" Us Christmas catalog. Well, four years later, TOP-TOY, the company behind the catalog, has decided to update their Christmas publication by tossing in a few gender-neutral images. This year’s Christmas Toys "R" Us catalog shows a girl with a Nerf gun, a boy with a doll and children of both sexes playing with everything from a a kitchen playset and babydoll-changing table to a pink Barbie Dreamhouse. Not all of the images defy stereotypes; there are still plenty of girls with pink playthings while boys enjoy toys of every other color, but recognition of diversity doesn’t require a complete 180. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either pink or blue; there’s just something wrong with saying only one gender can play with a toy because of its color. The move has created a lot of publicity for TOP-TOY and some outcry from an irritable British man who writes for The Telegraph and worries that boys playing with baby dolls will grow up to be girls, as opposed to, say, fathers. Chances are good that this war over gender roles will have many more battlegrounds than just Sweden. In Ireland, for example, one woman noticed in an ad that girls' toy laptops were not only pink, but also half as powerful as the ones advertised for boys. [...]
Phoenix Implant Dentists — November 30, 2012
[...] Roll your mind back to 2008, when we wrote about Sweden’s kerfluffle over allegedly sexist Lego advertising that showed a little girl in a pink room outfitted with ponies and a little boy in a blue room full of fire trucks. That same year, a complaint was lodged by a class of Swedish sixth graders about the Toys "R" Us Christmas catalog. Well, four years later, TOP-TOY, the company behind the catalog, has decided to update their Christmas publication by tossing in a few gender-neutral images. This year’s Christmas Toys "R" Us catalog shows a girl with a Nerf gun, a boy with a doll and children of both sexes playing with everything from a a kitchen playset and babydoll-changing table to a pink Barbie Dreamhouse. Not all of the images defy stereotypes; there are still plenty of girls with pink playthings while boys enjoy toys of every other color, but recognition of diversity doesn’t require a complete 180. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either pink or blue; there’s just something wrong with saying only one gender can play with a toy because of its color. The move has created a lot of publicity for TOP-TOY and some outcry from an irritable British man who writes for The Telegraph and worries that boys playing with baby dolls will grow up to be girls, as opposed to, say, fathers. Chances are good that this war over gender roles will have many more battlegrounds than just Sweden. In Ireland, for example, one woman noticed in an ad that girls' toy laptops were not only pink, but also half as powerful as the ones advertised for boys. [...]
Corgi . — December 1, 2012
I found this product on Amazon.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Benross-Group-Function-Laptop-Computer/dp/B009CSSPQW) -- there's no real description anywhere I can find for what it actually DOES, but it seems to be a 'laptop' in the same sense that a moped is a 'motorised vehicle'. It's a toy that has buttons you can push, and may not even have the functionality of a good calculator. It doesn't excuse the sexist presentation one bit, but it's a bad job all around.
perfectnumber628 — December 1, 2012
Wow this makes me angry. I've totally seen this same message in subtle ways so many times- like "in an effort to be more inclusive, we made a dumb version for the girls! And it's pink!"
SociologyIsForDummies — December 8, 2012
Some girls may like the "boy's" laptop, but I think most would go for the pink one.
The Optimist: A Brief Look Back at 2012 | The Sequentialist — January 4, 2013
[...] – This. This. This. [...]
rankle — January 15, 2013
Laptop is great tool for success life.I want amazing awareness about branded laptops and related items. http://www.just4laptops.co.uk
Christmas is coming - sexist toys encounter! — February 14, 2015
[…] This year sexism seemed to reaching new heights when I saw this, a short article with a picture showing a boys’ laptop with 50 functions and a larger screen while the girls’ laptop has 25 functions and a smaller screen with keys that look like contraceptive pills in their packet: report by Gwen Sharp, PhD here. […]
Tim Riggins — November 13, 2017
Question are they made by the same company? Or did you find one company that had a 50 laptop function and another that had a 25 function but only focused on the boy one and the girl one when the one company did make a 50 function for girls and the other a 25 function for boys.