Blog 5

Gender has played a huge role over time in what kind of toys are played with. From the start, boys have played with GI Joes and girls have played with Barbies. Even though they are very similar toys, there are huge differences and huge implications when confused. GI Joes are played with to instill aggression and competition while Barbies are played with to promote beauty and other femine attributes. As kids get older, boys are drawn to Nerf guns and water guns, while girls are pushed towards easy bake ovens. And finally toys related to sports and other outdoor type activities are promoted to boys during middle school and above and toys revolving around makeup and other accessories are promoted to girls.

When it comes to marketing toys companies take different approaches when it comes to boys and girls. Toys market to boys are shown as strong and dominant while toys marketed to girls are shown as dainty and submissive.

Toys definitely influence the way children play. They promote aggression and dominance in boys and submission in and cooking skills in girls. Boys play with GI Joes and water guns which are very mch associated with aggression and girls play with easy bake oven.

I think they toys kids play with influence who they become. If everything you play with instills some sort of characteristic or trait, you are bound to be influenced some how. I played sports from a very young age and now I am drawn to sport, I'm sure if I had been introduced to ballet at that same age and grew up around it I would have a similar interest.

My favorite childhood toys are: Playmobile, Linkin Logs, GI Joes, Legos, and anything related to sports. I loved Playmobile, Linkin Logs, and Legos because I loved to build things and I loved sports so anything related I enjoyed.