It is 9:32AM. What messages have my 3 daughters, ages 4, 6, & 9, gotten about gender today?
First thing early morning, I played Connectagons with my youngest child. I bought this toy, by the way, when LEGO Friends came out. I was so annoyed by LEGO’s gender segregation, I sought out new building toys. I may have even blogged about Connectagons as a possible alternative to LEGO. Check out the front of the box.
The back of the box? The 3 boys play Geometry, Treetop, and Under-the Sea.
The 2 girls? They play butterflies
and hearts.
Then onto Chutes and Ladders. Again, boy in front. Same old ratio, 5 boys, 3 girls counting the tiny one in the way back.
And then, even though it was just 8:30 and foggy, we opened the new Slip n’ Slide. The box cover features 4 boys, complete with quotes from Michael and Randy about how much fun they’re having.
My youngest daughter got cold, came back into the house, and handed me a book Stories for Girls. Look at that, 3 girls. All on the cover.
Think girls are born obsessed with princesses, ballerinas, and mermaids? Or do you think, just maybe, that girls, like all children, are self-centered and want to see themselves front and center, the stars of the show?
Okay, it’s not even noon. Are you kidding me? I’m ready for a nap. This Fourth of July vacation blogging relapse was fun but sadly, over. Back to Fairyland for me. See you all soon.
Hi Margot,
I don’t think princesses are necessarily bad (unless they’re the sole occupation of girls in a fantasy world), and here’s a cute story about two queer princesses who rescue each other, both being strong in their different ways:
http://strangelykatie.com/princessprincess/
Makes for a wonderful bedtime story, if you don’t mind.
I think I had a pretty good, non-segregated upbringing. I never had an Easy Bake Oven, but I did have a Creepy Crawlers one (I loved it, and my mom bought it and then assembled it with me to show me that we didn’t need daddy to assemble it). I had dolls, but not many, especially compared to my brother’s and my giant rubbermaid bucket of matchbox cars, our Playmobil, and our Darta racetrack. We had lots of Lego and we loved building reindeer and then playing out character dramas with the reindeer. We later got a Rokenbok set too. Of course all our cars and Rokenbok trucks had names and personalities, and there were often car families involved. We did also play with Barbies, but my brother and I BOTH had Barbies and we played with them together. I did go through a pink phase, before actively rejecting the colour for years. My sister definitely got hit harder with the pink/mermaid/princess/ballerina stuff – she is 7 years younger than me.
I really appreciate this blog, though, the sexist marketing towards little kids is quite disturbing. Almost hard to know how to shield kids from it, but I think this blog has great suggestions about using critical thinking skills to make it a learning opportunity. I would definitely try to give my (future) kid(s) a similar upbringing to mine, but also incorporate some of what I’ve found on this blog. I’ve already started keeping a list of books, games, and TV/movies with strong female characters.
When I was little, I had an Easy Bake Oven, and a Creepy Crawlers one (where you make plastic bugs!). I had dolls, and I had cars. I grew up in a household where “girl things” didn’t really exist, and I plan on passing on that belief in the future.