I grew up in a house where we did establish that there were girl toys and toys aimed at boys' toys. However, I was never told that I couldn't play with toys aimed at boys because they were boy toys. If I wanted to play with my little brother's "Star Wars" lightsaber, my parents never stopped me. They never stopped my brother for playing with my Barbies in addition to his action figures. Growing up, I was not constrained to the social construct of gendered toys.
A friend told me a story that made me ask others the question below. She works at Walgreen's and saw a parent refuse to let a little boy buy a toy because it was a "girl's toy." This is how many parents feel and it is ridiculous.
So then I asked this question to gain the opinions of others. Should boys be able to play with girls' toys without an argument and vice-versa? Here's what some participants in the survey had to say in support of not giving toys a gender:
“All kids should be able to play and explore with whichever toys they feel drawn to. In today's society, gender roles are not as defined as they once were, and encouraging kids to explore toys will help them to discover their strengths and weaknesses and who they will become.”
“In my opinion, there are no such things as girls' toys and boys' toys. They're all children's toys. If a boy wants to play with a Barbie, there's nothing wrong with that. The same applies if a girl wants to play with toy cars. If they're happy with their toys, it doesn't matter what gender society has assigned to each toy.”
“It is important for boys and girls to be taught that gender is not a barrier. There are no objects that are restricted to one gender because genders are equal in capability. By separating boy and girl things, we are teaching children the base concepts that lead to gender dysphoria, psychological limitation (such as emotional stunting), educational limitation (such as career choice) and homo/transphobic thoughts. These are just a few ramifications. It is hard to separate two things without comparing them: This leads to the belittling of one gender to further another. This is the root of sexism. By integrating gender neutral ideas into a child's play space (and, therefore, educational space) you are preventing many of these harmful thoughts.”
“Because toys aren't gendered.”
These are only a few of the responses, but they are all saying the same thing. Toys aren't gendered They shouldn't be separated as “boy toys” and “girls toys," they should just be labeled toys. Children toys are just that. Children toys. Why is something as simple as a toy affected by a social construct. A child's imagination is a precious thing. I believe that limiting the toys they can play with can also limit their imagination. It's keeping a little girl from pretending she's a superhero or keeping a little boy from imagining he's a nurse. Limiting their toys to gender-specific roles forces stereotypes on children at a young age. It can create insecurities in who they are and that's not cool. So leave gender out of the children toys. Let the little girls play with batman. Let the little boys play with baby dolls. It won't hurt them. It can make them more well-rounded, open-minded adults and that's what the world needs.
