Combating Misogyny in the Toy Aisle

[formergothardite]

10 hours ago, TSOWOATNK said:

If however you have no idea what to get for a little boy or girl, and you are just looking for gift ideas the gender filter is helpful for narrowing down the search results. It is also valuable to be able to search by age. If I can filter the bazillion of gift ideas for children 3-5 by putting in girl versus boy because I want something that is often liked by boys versus girls, all the better. If I don't want a gender filter I don't have to use it. Gender filtering isn't mandatory.

Actually the filter is mandatory in a lot of stores. I have to go look at "girl" shirts and then "boy" shirts section when shopping online. Remove that label, just call them all children's and I could just sort by shirts. I could then narrow it down by size, color, sleeve length, shirt type, but I would see all the shirts in one spot instead of going to do two separate searches. Same with shopping in stores. Instead of having a girl section or a boy section, go to a children's section and i can see all the clothing. 

If you don't know what to buy a child narrowing it down by toys people have decided are for girls and toys people have decided are for boys isn't going to help you one bit because you don't have a clue if the kid is going to actually like those things. My daughter never played with dolls, but people did what you are suggesting and wouldn't ask what she like and bought her pink dolls and "girl" stuff. So if you don't know, ask. Saying that we need to shove children into boxes with their toy choices because you don't want to ask the parents what the child likes is rather ridiculous. 

 

[Terrie]

If you're that clueles about a child's likes, dear god, do NOT use the gender filter. Ask their parents what they like. Or if that's not an option, get them something generic and non-gendered. Art supplies, blocks, a stuffed animal. One says "I don't know what you like" instead of "I assume I know what you like." 

Fun fact: Hanna Anderson has a filter for My Kid Loves: unicorns, dragons, lion,s etc... I want  more filters like that. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

13 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

He carried dinosaurs and dirty rocks in his purse.

as a grown woman with two penguins and a dirty rock in my purse atm I like your kid.

[Terrie]

I think everyone (here, at least) agrees that boys should be allowed to wear pink, paint their nails, try on high heels (originally for men anyway), and do whatever they want, just like girls. Which removing boy/girl labels from toys will help. A friend of mine never wears makeup, except for nail polish, which she also lets her son wear. We were talking about how five year old boys who wear nail polish have the best attitude about why one should wear makeup, based off what her kid said. "I like colors."

[AliceInFundyland]

18 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

as a grown woman with two penguins and a dirty rock in my purse atm I like your kid.

I just bought my “not boyfriend” who is 41 and as manly as can be...a stuffed baby penguin for Christmas. A small, tasteful one, but a penguin. Penguin love is for all. (He gave me a unicorn on my birthday. I figured, never too young for a cuddle)