Is This Toy For Girls or Boys?

By 11 commentsboys and girls, consumerism, feminism, hilarity, kids, marketing, rant, social media, toys, ,

Thanks to A Mighty Girl’s Facebook feed for this contribution to the saga of retailers insisting on labelling toys for girls or for boys:

How to tell if a toy is for boys or girls backinasex tumblr version | Sacraparental.com

Flowchart via backinasex.tumblr.com

 

Update

I’ve since spotted this prettier version from Kristen Myers, and done one of my own, since the above one (the earliest I’ve located) is now offline entirely.

Image by Kirsten Myers, based on the above flow chart.

Image by Kristen Myers, based on the above flow chart.

 

Image description: Is this toy for boys or for girls: a quick guide. Flowchart with one question: 'Do you operate the toy with your genitals?' Yes: This toy is not for children. No: This toy is for either boys or girls.

Image description: Is this toy for boys or for girls: a quick guide. Flowchart with one question: ‘Do you operate the toy with your genitals?’ Yes: This toy is not for children. No: This toy is for either boys or girls.

And for more ideas for feminist parenting, head to this post full of phrases you can add into everyday life.

39 phrases for feminist parenting (4)

For more on how we ‘over-gender’ our kids and their books, toys, adjectives and clothes, you might like to read:

When Words Fail

I’m Not Bossy I Just Have Better Ideas

Can Your Daughter Be a Hero?

A Mighty Need

Wanted: Rainbow Baby

Some good news stories on this front are here:

Toys for Future Engineers #1: Roominate

Toys for Future Engineers #2: GoldieBlox

Architect Barbie

A brilliant petition asking Lego to make their figures male on one side and female on the other, so kids can choose the gender of their characters.

If you have other examples or stories of gendered toys to share, please leave a comment below. Ranting encouraged 🙂 but all opinions welcome.

If you’re newish to Sacraparental, you might like to check out the Sacraparental Facebook feed, with daily links and resources, my Twitter feed and my Pinterest boards, especially the topical Gender Politics.

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11 comments on “Is This Toy For Girls or Boys?”

  1. Alex Reply

    I think this may be my all-time favourite thing ever shared on Facebook. 🙂

  2. andrew Reply

    would the targets that are put in toilet bowls for little boys to aim at count as genital operated?

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  7. Heather Sharpe Reply

    I love this but would love it even more if it said: this is a toy for everyone, rather than creating the binary definition of gender as “boys” and “girls.”

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