Toy catalogue promotes gender diversity

Post Reply New Topic

"Boys will be girls, as they say in Sweden, especially if you're Toys R Us. The firm's Swedish franchise has been through its Christmas catalogue and made it gender-neutral. Boys now pucker up to the camera clutching baby dolls. Girls wave guns at the reader to reassure us that females can be violent too."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/th ... ost-women/

For the most part, that article is utterly stupid. So, if a boy plays with dolls, he's a girl? If a girl plays with guns, she's a boy? I really don't know what to say to that. The only thing in the article that I find strange is when it mentions that pregnancy was ruled as an illness so that women could get off work. Well actually, that's why women get maternity leave. Equality doesn't mean that everybody should be treated exactly the same, just that everybody should be treated fairly. That's why disabled people get disability benefits and non-disabled people don't, it's also why women can take maternity leave and men can't.

That's just a lie, pregnant women get sick leave if they get ill during pregnancy, pregnancy itself is not treated like an illness..

Do you mind fixing your quote tags? I'm not sure, the article linked to another one that mentioned a group of women not getting benefits due to some difficulties caused by their pregnancies and got a court to rule that they should by liable for sick benefits. What I'm saying is that they should betting maternity leave, normal sick leave usually lasts a few days:

http://www.thelocal.se/29338/20100930/

When i was a child people seemed to care lesser, about that gender stuff and so on. When we had playtime in kindergarten, everyone of us was allowed to play with whatever he/she wanted. I always liked the lego, because i didn´t have one on my own, because of my fathers "Lego isnt fpr girls..."

So due to the topic start, "Boys will be girls", when exactly will my penis start to grow? For the moment, me and my partner are quiet sure, that i am still a girl. And whats so weird about boys playing with dolls? My neighbor had lots of dolls: A He-man doll, a Skeletor doll, a Man-at-arms doll...., still no breasts. ^^

Um...The Local is about as trustworthy as Fox News. ^^

the original "article" isnt even an article, it is an opinion piece and a fairly ranty one at that.

most of the PR from that catalogue has been positive here in denmark, the impression of how the swedish received it shows something quite similar( 1 our of 10 people the danish reporter asked had any critique and he sounded as ranty as the blog posted by tuffy)

Most of this opinion piece is lies. What he fails to mention is that that pre-schools in Sweden are supposed to work for gender diverisity, meaning more opportunities for boys and girls.

Does anyone remember the BLF,Barbie Liberation Front(I think I got that right)? They bought G.I.Joes and Barbies that were the "talking" ones,switched whatever was inside the toys so that G.I.Joe said, "Let's go to Shopping," Barbie said something like " Shoot to kill".
Then they returned them to the store.One little boy said he liked his "shopping"G,I.Joe.

Some years ago there were boy & girl icecream that caused an outrage & were quickly removed, much to the dismay of all the boys (& girls) whom loved the very cool "girl" icecream. *cries*

What is next? A Swedish Hans und Lars doll set?

ruveyn

No, it will be Mother's little Olle and Pedobear. >.o

How children play is something fairly innate, we don't tell little girls to play with dolls they just do. We don't tell little boys to play war, they just do. Give a boy a doll and they'll use it as a gun. I remember back when I was kid beanie babies were really popular, a little plush animal, me and my brothers would play fight them with each other. The relics of those that survived have been handed down to my young sister it's funny how completely different plays with them.

There are exceptions and it shouldn't be discouraged but this seems more like a political statement for adults more than anything.

The original link actually does have interesting concept that I've never heard before; that stripping boys and girls of their gender roles gives rise to a more sexualized culture since then the physical differences between the sexes become the only differences.

(1) You mean all the TV adverts with girls playing with dolls never existed?

Except that we do. All the time. See (1).


* psychopath


But are you sure that was innate? And not the littler brothers falling from peer pressure from older brothers to act "manly"? (And at the same time, the older brothers being victims to the whole gender lameness).


Just saying, when I was a kid I lived in the same house as my girl cousin of about the same age. The fact I am in this forum should tell you that I didn't really have any friends. So we played together most of the time.

I remember playing with dolls with no issue whatsoever until I learned through TV that boys are not supposed to do it. Then I became the kid that does not play with dolls. Made so much effort to avoid not looking like a boy.

* just saying *


Which makes this catalogue a good thing. Surely, since all tastes are innate this won't affect the taste of any boy who wants to "play war".



You say it like it was a bad thing.



You say it like it was a bad thing.



Oh yeah it is a interesting theory. It is also BS.

My best friend when I was little was a boy,mostly we played with cars and 9volt batteries(yes,we were strange little kids)but we also played with these dolls that had a head like a smiley face,neither male or female.We pulled them around in toy cars by a string.That is until his mean older brother threw them down the storm drain.Cause you know boys aren't suppose to play with dolls.

That's a very annoying posting style vex, I guess that's probably the point rather than actually having a point. Going sentence to sentence expressing disapproval adds very little to a discussion. Your own observations, experiences, and opinions are interesting enough on their own if you take the time.

I think it's silly to suggest that all play and gender differences in general are socially constructed rather than innate. That's a political belief rather than one based in reality in my opinion. 'And As I said there are exceptions, there are little boys that play with baby dolls and having tea parties I guess but that's not necessarily normal and I don't mean that in judging or discouraging way.

I don't think my own experience would of been much different if I didn't have any brothers or if they were sisters or whatever, I can't speak for my brothers I guess. Then again, I wasn't the most normal child either. I was the oldest so there's that too, the most independent and pioneering in spirit(a nice take than just simply a loner lol) Not to go off topic but I was never really bored as child, I was always able to occupy my time whether I was alone or not. My sister who is much younger than me is just the exact opposite, maybe kids are just more overstimulated nowadays.