Senate Misogyny, Entitlement, and Pop Culture

Today in Wal-Mart, I noticed some licensed fishing supplies for kids, and for the boys they where branded with Spider-Man and The Avengers, and for the girls, Disney Princesses and Barbie.

Like I said earlier, girls can't be superheroes?

 

That's a rather useless complaint.
There's no moral direction behind the branding of those items, they just do what sells.
If you want to change it, you need to start a toy company.

 

Why are those stereotypes asinine?
Why are they outdated?
Why should it be discouraged?

If you think a commercial company has the moral obligation to cater to niche markets, you're in favor of ruining the world economy.

 

Well here's one way to get women to be paid equally to men. Get us men to realize that working longs hours does nothing for us except letting life pass us by. Losing times with our families and friends. And when I mean families I mean brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and moms and dads. Not just at a reunion or holiday weekend. Get us to realize that not when we are older but when we are younger in our mid to late 20s.

You don't need to have a child to have a family. You were apart of one when you were born. As men we forget that instead of putting our careers ahead of ourselves until its too late.

 

I have no family. I sprung from the earth.

 

Niche markets?

Gender stereotypes are unhealthy... they send out the message to kids who do not fit into the peg that they are somehow abnormal--that they are, somehow, less 'feminine' or 'masculine.' It's an outdated and unhealthy way of thinking.

These companies have the right idea...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/07/kids-clothing-lines-break-gender-stereotypes_n_6925592.html

 

I have a 3 year old cousin-in-law (if that's a thing) who loves Frozen, Peppa Pig, baby dolls, toy kitchens, toy cars, dinosaurs, dragons, Marvel superheroes, DC superheroes, Star Wars, and computer games.

 

Are Legos specifically aimed at one gender or both? I get the impression that it's both.

 

Legos are pretty gender neutral, yes.

 

That's the word I'm looking for!

 

I don't think Lego are, really. Duplo is, but I'm not so sure about Lego.

http://www.lego.com/en-us/friends?icmp=COUSFRFriends

http://www.lego.com/en-us/city?icmp=COUSFRCity

Both of these could have both genders as characters.

And there is no 's' at the end of Lego.

 

It's a pretty diverse brand... sure, they cater to 'girly girls,' or whatever, because they are out there, and that's fine, But their other sets aren't specifically packaged for boys. I played with them when I was growing up... not just Duplo. Today, I have a pretty big collection.

 

Well Disney cater to boys and girls, but there are still Princess fishing rods marketed to girls, and superhero fishing rods marketed to boys.

 

I'm not denying that. I'm saying I'd like to see it change and become more universal.

 

Lego is pretty gender-neutral, but they have a series called Lego Friends aimed specially for girls that has pink and lavender blocks, but for some reason is segregated from the regular Lego stuff, and is usually placed in the girls' aisle.

It's stereotypically girly stuff, but with a Lego spin to it.

 

I feel like I should clarify... I'm not saying that pink or princess stuff is bad. If kids are into that sort of thing, that's awesome. Every kid should be allowed to love what they love without judgment from anybody else. What I have a problem with is girls who do not like pink princesses being told (or shown through cues) that they are not normal--that their behavior and preferences are 'masculine.' Same goes for boys... if a boy wants to play with a princess doll, he should be able to do so without judgment. That's what I'm saying. I don't think every toy or clothing line needs to be 100% neutral. I feel there should be more options for everybody.

 

Lego, Duplo, Sticklebrix (is that still a thing?), Mechano, all that creative play/building blocks stuff is unisex, as it should be. I don't mind if Lego want to specifically target sexist parents by making sets that exploit traditional gender roles, it's not like there are girl bricks that are incompatible with boy bricks.

 

We've bought two fishing rods for our oldest. The first was a Star Wars one featuring a Clone Wars-style Anakin. A year ago, on his first fishing trip, he decided that he wanted to do one last cast after we had packed everything up (and while I was bringing the car around). My wife and dad barely caught him before he followed the pole into the water. As far as I know, it's still sitting on the bottom of the reservoir.

After making him earn $10 to replace it (doing chores for a quarter each), he got a new fishing pole. This one has "Diego" (evidently a character related to the Dora the Explorer show) on it, but we didn't buy it because of that. We bought it because it will actually float if dropped in the water. (Fool me once...)

Both our 4-year old son and our 2 1/2 year-old daughter love it, and enjoy practicing casting it in the back yard. Neither one cares what it looks like. They only care if they get their turn with it.

 

Yes, Diego is Dora's cousin. He has an older sister named Alicia, and a friend called Baby Jaguar who is a baby Jaguar. His Camera is named Click (voiced by Rosie Perez). He also has a Rescue Pack, which is of great aid to him.

 

Things are better than when I was a wee one - I was embarrassed to check out the "Boy's Sherlock Holmes" from the library because I wasn't apparently supposed to read it. I always wanted to play with my brother's Lego and Lincoln logs (or get my own) when I didn't want to play with my dolls (anyone remember Little Kiddles? I always made "houses" out of shoeboxes and decorated them, too).

But the comment about ruining the economy - oh, c'mon, get real. Marketing "pink and fluffy with sparklies" or construction toys - whatever - should be on the shelves just as now. Just not with displays/ads only showing one gender playing with whatever or segregated.

 

Who decided girls have to like pink things in the first place? Ok I understand it was used when it determined if it was a boy or girl during and after pregnancy but really who decided after that? Who decided that things had to be pink to represent girls. Seriously, women don't wear pink all the time. Imagine what female fashions would be like if they were still following the commercial interests of girls with pink everything.