Strollerderby : boy toys

Time for Post-Holiday Gendered Toy Balancing?

Miriam Axel-Lute — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:30:00 GMT

I never really understood people who wanted to go shopping right after the winter holidays, except maybe for the very thrifty stocking up on cheap wrapping paper for next year. But suddenly I find myself contemplating it.

I blame it on my fellow 'Derby blogger who wrote about recent research arguing that traditional "girl toys" discourage the development of problem solving skills useful in science and math: "The toys reported [by parents] as girls' favorites didn't teach anything specific, allowing, rather for imaginative play mostly related to childcare. Boys' reported favorite toys, on the other hand, encouraged action, learning of new things, use of reading and problem solving skills as well as imagination."

See, I keep thinking of that post now, because it's striking, after all the grandparents have weighed in with their prezzies, how heavy my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter's haul is on the tea sets and dolls. Now, I'm not complaining. It's not like anyone was on a mission to make her a little princess. The personalized map of her neighborhood made for her by her GIS-enabled uncle is awesome and all about the abstract thinking. The just-like-daddy's painters' jeans and the red leather jacket are anything but prissy. And she adores each instance of the dolls (some of which came from us) and tea sets and jewelry. I don't have a problem with anything she got (even the pretty sexist Richard Scarry classic What Do People Do All Day? because it's awesome in so many other ways and such a nostalgia trip for me). In fact, it's all pretty great.

But I'm nonetheless finding myself aware of the gaps, aware that intentionally or not, the balance of her new possessions is clearly on the "caring and nurturing" side over the "making things, using their hands and solving problems" side. This is leading me to fantasize about spending money I don't have on a tool set or TinkerToys or Montessori counting rods (or the Free to Be reissue).

I am, of course, probably overreacting and should just take a deep breath, let life return to normal, and keep my eyes on the garage sales. It's not like imaginative nuturing play will limit her ability to develop other skills. It's more that I'm concerned about her getting to the age of developing a gender identity, which isn't far off, and deciding that based on the evidence so far, these are girl toys and she should eschew the others. Any other parents of daughters feeling the same way? (Or, for that matter, parents of sons having the reciprocal problem?)

Photo by Doeth, via Flickr.

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Do Early Childhood Toy Preferences Encourage a Gender Gap in Education?

Do Early Childhood Toy Preferences Encourage a Gender Gap in Education?

Shannon LC Cate — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:00:00 GMT

As I reported in the Morning News: A new UK study finds that children's toys are more gendered now than ever before (so much for free to be you and me) and consequently, that girls--whose toys encourage little learning and more docility than boys'--are behind in math and science.

Furthermore, the study blames parents for this problem, suggesting parents push their children towards traditionally gendered toys. How did the study find this? It asked parents for their impressions of what were their children's favorite toys and parents of boys picked boy-toys and parents of girls picked girl-toys. Study author Becky Francis of Roehamptom University believes the parents' choices had more to do with what they thought their kids should like rather than what they really did like:

"The very clear message seems to be that boys should be making things, using their hands and solving problems, and girls should be caring and nurturing," she says. "It is likely that many of the boys in the study sleep with a teddy, but this was not noted by parents as a favourite toy."

Francis has a good point but I do wonder about the circularity of her reasoning, at least as presented in the Guardian. How does she know parents failed to report teddies? Maybe all the boys in the study slept with Thomas train cars.

But the study's look at the toys parents reported about was more convincing. Francis found that most of the toys reported as girls' favorites didn't teach anything specific, allowing, rather for imaginative play mostly related to childcare. Boys' reported favorite toys, on the other hand, encouraged action, learning of new things, use of reading and problem solving skills as well as imagination.

Okay, it's anecdote time. Bring 'em on. Tell me how your child has been raised completely gender-neutral by you, but is drawn to gendered toys anyway.

Here's my own n of 2:

My daughters (18 months and almost 4) aren't particularly drawn to girl-gendered toys. They are both girls and definitely have their fair share of dolls and stuffed animals. But they love reading books above all else (the older is quite an independent reader already), and can spend hours building and knocking down block towers and running motorcycles, cars and trains around my hardwood floors. I don't think either of them have figured out the pink/blue code yet and I attribute this to my limiting their exposure to television advertising, toy stores and herds of other children supervised by only one or two adults (ie: school). In fact, I asked my older daughter the other day whether she wanted t be a boy or a girl and she replied "I want to be me."

I know it will be harder and harder for her to do just that as she gets older and the pressure to conform gets stronger, but I for one, will always have her back.

More stuff my 3 year old broke

Brett Singer — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Today: nerdy stuff edition.

3. Internal power supply on a desktop computer: this one is truly impressive. I have an old PC hooked up to the television so we – ok, I – could watch web video on a real screen. After about a month of YouTube + Couch = Happy Daddy, I observed Thing 2 wandering over to my little Shuttle XPC box and fiddling with it. Hey, what could he do, I thought to myself. The next time I wanted to settle in to check out the latest episode of "Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager", my plans were dispatched faster than Darth cut off Luke Skywalker's hand – the Shuttle would not turn on. I took it apart, cleaned out the dust, reseated the video card, and did other nerdy things, but no luck.
Solution: buy a new power supply and keep the computer away from the kid (or the kid away from the computer – whatever works.)
(Update: I recently replaced the XPC's power supply and, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, it works. So yes. My 3 year old broke an internal computer component. Impressive.)

4. Die-cast metal Speed Racer car: Now, this was technically his toy, so it shouldn't count. But it does, and I'll tell you why. First of all, this car is really cool. Unlike most movie-related toys, this thing has some heft. It's made from metal, not plastic. It also probably qualifies as a "collectible", which in nerd-speak means that if you keep it in the original box, or at least in decent condition, someone nerdier than you might pay far too much money for it several years from now. Within days after receiving the car as a birthday present, Thing2 had removed one of the really cool rear fins from the back of the vehicle. (Yes. I know it’s a toy. Whatever.) I managed to glue it back on, but one day later it was gone again. Then a week after that, he broke the other fin. Both are long gone.
Solution: None. This is why Thing 2 can't have nice things. Also, I need to buy my own toys.

One more coming soon…

image: Amazon

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Brett Singer — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:05:00 GMT

I was going to say, "I'm glad I have boys" but that didn't sound quite right. That is, I would love girl-children just as much as I love my guys. But there are a few ways that having boys has made my life – mine, specifically – a little bit easier.

1. No pink ponies: It doesn't seem like having a Y chromosome should automatically mean that one is interested in superheroes, videogames, and action figures inspired by superheroes and videogames. But experience says otherwise. While there are definitely girls who love trucks and boys who follow the Frasier and Niles Crane path – a love of opera, Broadway and snappy clothing – my guys are way into Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Pokémon, Wii, Playstation 2, and so on. If I had to learn whatever there is to know about My Little Pony, I think my brain would crawl out of my ear.

2. Miley-free zone: Thus far Things 1 and 2 have shown zero interest in Billy Ray Cyrus' little ~~meal ticket~~ girl, which means I can continue to go through life knowing almost nothing about her. Maybe this will change when they get older, but hopefully by then Miley Ray Hannah Montana Stewart Cyrus will have either pulled a Britney Spears and had a meltdown, grown up and started singing jazz standards, or retired to spend her days sitting on a giant pile of cash gazing longingly at Nick Jonas. OK, I guess I sort of know something about her, but that's just from trying to keep up with pop culture. I have nothing against Miley or the Jonases, but not having to listen to their music or attend their concerts is something I will never, ever complain about.

3. No batting of eyelashes: My wife has pointed out many times that if we had had girls, odds are I would be putty in their hands. I wish I could say I disagree but I think she's probably right. Little girls are so cute, and seeing them cry is much more painful than seeing boys cry. I know that's stupid, sexist, and stupid (did I say that one already?). But I've seen, more than once, little girls who lead their dads around by the nose. It's probably best if we never find out whether or not I would join their ranks.

4. Less irrational over-protectiveness: Again, I am fully aware that this is unfair, stupid and sexist. But if I had girl-children, I would be very tempted not to let them leave the house until they were 30. I guess going to school would be OK, as long as they dressed like those Mormon sect people.

5. No High School Musical: When this monstrosity first started airing on the Disney Channel and the CD went to number one, I tried to watch it out of curiosity. I made it through about 15 minutes before I realized that it would probably be more fun to chew glass. The songs are lame, the characters are dull, the story is… Feh. Anyway, the boys seem immune to whatever charms that thing has, and for that, I am grateful.

image: Amazon.com

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